Godzilla!

August 17, 2004 @ 9:17 pm

GodzillaI just watched the original Godzilla (1954) at the Michigan Theater and found it weirdly moving. It certainly wasn't what I've come to expect from monster flicks. The real monster in this movie is mankind's desire to create destructive weapons. Godzilla is awakened by nuclear weapons testing and eventually destroyed by an equally destructive weapon, whose inventor kills himself so that its secret will never be revealed.

World War II looms large over the film. In one scene, a man and a woman are on a train and the woman says, "What if Godzilla attacks Tokyo?" The man replies, "You'd be the first to go" and she retorts, "I survived the bomb in Nagasaki. I'm not going to let Godzilla get me." This comment puts the destruction of Japanese cities later in the film into a weird context. When Godzilla finally sets Tokyo on fire, I couldn't help remembering that Tokyo really did burn to the ground, and not long before this movie was filmed.

Despite all this, as Godzilla is finally defeated, we hear not a triumphant fanfare but a dirge. I was left feeling sad for Godzilla, which is hardly how I expected to feel when the movie began. Overall, this movie was a surprising treat on an otherwise boring Tuesday night.

Replies: 1 Comment

You must have seen the "unedited" version. In the US version Ramond Burr has been edited into the movie and most of the WWII references edited out. That's why the true meaning of the film seems "wierd" to those of us who grew up watching the western versions. Thanks for your insightful review.

kaz Drofla said on October 18, 2005 @ 12:42 am