Another somewhat forgotten gem from Japanese production
company Daiei Studios is the 1962 release of The Whale God AKA Kujira gami, which was based upon a 1961 award
winning novel with the same title by Uno Koichiro. Bearing similarities to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, it is the story of a small
whaling village that has devoted many generations of men in order to kill a
giant whale that they refer to as The Whale God. It has been many years and the
townspeople are obsessed with destroying the monster. The wealthiest man in the
town has offered up his lands, title, and daughter to the man that kills the
whale. The main local resident Shaki (Kojiro Hongo) is looking to avenge the
deaths of his father and grandfather. A stranger from out of town, Kishu (Shintaro
Katsu), is solely interested in the potential inheritance. This is an excellent
film that features a strong story, powerful themes, and a wonderfully dark
performance from Katsu.
The
screenplay was written by Kaneto Shindo, who was also a talented director as
well. He ended up with 177 writing credits and 41 directing credits, which
includes the highly acclaimed Children of
Hiroshima (1952) and Onibaba
(1964), among many others. It’s a complex story that deals with obsessions,
family, love, rape, and the whaling culture. It was directed by Tokuzo Tanaka,
who has 51 directing credits including The
Snow Woman (1968), The Haunted Castle
(1969), three Zatoichi pictures, and Sleepy
Eyes of Death: The Chinese Jade (1963). It was shot in a very dark black
and white film, which ends up producing some stunning shadows and helps the
whale look more realistic. The camera work is superb in this, with some nice
long tracking shots and good camera movement during certain important scenes. There
are many sequences in which the camera stays on the action or a character for a
lengthy time, such as the whalers departing into the ocean and a special
ritual. This helps balance the battle sequences with the whale that are highly
edited, which has a justifiable reason behind it.
It should be noted that the whale is not real and the effects are something similar to a kaiju movie. They use a combination of techniques in order to bring the creature to life and make him look genuine. All of the sequences involving the whale where filmed inside of a studio with some type of tank set up and the walls painted to resemble the skyline. It appears that there were two versions of the whale, a smaller version that was used with miniatures and a larger version that the actors could climb onto in the finale. Edited into that footage are real scenes where the men are in the ocean on the boats, combining it all together in order to create the illusion of it all being real. This combination works tremendously and the frantic editing during the whale battle scenes creates an extra element of tension. The creature effects look fantastic and could be viewed as an early influence to Godzilla and other kaiju in cinema. It is also shockingly violent for the era, featuring a great deal of spraying blood not typically scene during this era of filmmaking.
The
acting from the entire cast is great. Hongo plays the main character, who is
the sort of Ahab of the story. He’s admirable and moral, yet has a deep seeded
obsession with killing the whale in which he is willing to sacrifice his life
for. He gives a good performance, but it is vastly overshadowed by Katsu who
dominates during his on screen time. His character is the polar opposite of
Zatoichi and is quite possibly the most evil person that he has ever portrayed.
He did play Hanzo the Razor who interrogated women by having sex with them,
however it turned into a moment of ecstasy for the women and the situations are
more outlandish to really take seriously. This is a really bad man, who cares
for nothing but whatever pleases himself.
Bottom
line, if you’re a Katsu fan, then this one is an absolute must see.
Score
8/10
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