Book Reviews: The Kaiju Film: A Critical Study of Cinema's Biggest Monsters

Link to my book review

http://www.spoilerfreemoviesleuth.com/2016/09/kaiju-book-review.html

The Whale God AKA Kujira gami (1962) featuring Shintaro Katsu

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

 

 

The Homeless (1974) Review

The Homeless 1974

This is another film that has surprisingly never seen a proper Western release, a blockbuster starring Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi), Ken Takakura (many popular yakuza films), and Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood), directed by veteran Buichi Saito (The Rambling Guitarist), produced by Katsu Productions, and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. It is a remake of the 1967 French drama Les Aventuriers starring Alain Delon, which was based upon a novel by Jose Giovanni. Even with this amazing star ensemble, it was a failure at the box office and somewhat marked the end of the Japanese mega productions in favor of television. Audiences were choosing to stay at home more in favor of watching their stars on the television set instead of making a trip to the cinema. Hence the move for Katsu and his Zatoichi character over to the small screen for a series that ran from 1974 through 1979 and produced 98 episodes.

Despite its failures theatrically, this deserves some examination for its stunning cinematography and brilliant character performances from the three leads. The story involves two prisoners who get released on the same day, both with their own personal obsessions they seek to achieve. One (Katsu) is hunting for a sunken treaser and the other (Takakura) is seeking vengeance for the death of his sister. They both help a prostitute (Kaji) escape from her Yakuza bosses and the trio’s paths continue to cross during their personal journeys. In the end, all three need each other and the narrative feels as much a vehicle to explore these characters and their relationships than anything else.

The direction and cinematography are striking. Saito displays his abilities to expertly to place and guide the camera, providing some great angles and beautiful scenic shots. He makes excellent use of the environments and traditional Japanese settings and period costumes. It should be noted that this does take place in the early 1900’s, so there are some additional modern elements in it as well. There are superb close up shots of all of the main actors, providing wonderful expressive moments for all three. It contains several memorable scenes, most notably a fantastically filmed duel. It has a nice score that features the same theme song changed up throughout the picture, using a variety of orchestral, electric organ, horns, acoustic guitar, and other instruments.

The performances from the three co-stars are marvelous. Katsu stands out and is absolutely infectious in his portrayal of this jokester conman obsessed with finding treasure, sporting a modern white suit and white straw pork pie hat. He falls somewhere along the lines of his Zatoichi character and a lighthearted version of Eli Wallach’s Tuco, displaying a unique brand of physicality and facial gestures.  His ability to create a persona using every part of his body demonstrates the type of master that he was at his craft, delivering an unforgettable performance. Takakura is good and pretty much plays the straight man or tough guy, similar to his prior yakuza characters. He is more than one dimensional though, developing a friendship and bond with Katsu. Kaji is the most unrecognizable out of the trio, stepping away from her tough girl persona and moving into one that is a prostitute seeking a new life. She is a victim and weak, a polar opposite from her previous roles.

It’s fairly obvious why this didn’t succeed. It lacked the action and exploitative elements that were common threads of most of these stars well known roles. While there is a minimal amount of action and yakuza elements, at the heart of it all this is a period drama. It is missing the wild sword fights, grand gun battles, and the large amount of violence and nudity that the audiences had come to expect. Regardless, it is a picture that ought to be seen by the fans of these actors.

Score 7/10

Kogarashi Monjiro: The Withered Tree (1972) Review

Kogarashi Monjiro: The Withered Tree (1972) Review

It is rather surprising that the 1972 Toei produced jidaigeki Kogarashi Monjiro: The Withered Tree has never received a proper Western release, especially with its similar style to the spaghetti westerns and Clint Eastwood’s “man with no name.” With an interesting story, lead character, and violent sword fights, this is one forgotten gem that deserves some attention. Kogarashi Monjiro is a lone samurai who agrees to take responsibility for a murder that his friend committed so that he can stay with his dying mother, with the expectation that his friend will confess and get him pardoned once she dies. Monjiro is sentenced to an island for prisoners. When he discovers that his friend’s mother has died over a year ago, Monjiro seeks to escape with a group of prisoners in order to get his revenge.

The similarity to Eastwood’s character and the film being influenced by the Italian westerns is obvious with the style in which it is presented. Monjiro’s signature look is the Japanese version of Eastwood. He wears a straw hat, sports a cloak that covers his entire body, and always has a long wooden toothpick in his mouth. His eyes are somewhat squinted like Eastwood’s are in the Italian westerns and his character is rather stoic, usually not speaking very much in order to absorb his surroundings. The music even feels like a hybrid of a more modernized Japanese style infused with the sounds that are familiar in Italian westerns.

The cast and crew contain a core group of Toei veterans. It was directed by Sadao Nakajima, who has 64 film and television credits to his name and has never worked outside of Toei. Lead actor Bunta Sugawara has 171 film and television credits in his long career. During his time at Toei, he appeared in Gendai Yakuza and the popular Kinji Fukasaku yakuza series Battles Without Honor and Humanity. He would appear in one more picture as Monjiro that was also released in 1972. The camera work by Nakajima is done well, with a noticeable preference to using more lengthy sequences as opposed to heavy editing. There are also several scenes in which they incorporate handheld cameras, mostly for certain fight sequences involving people running around in different areas.

The fight sequences are good and match other similar jidaigeki of the time, with loads of blood and extremely violent battles. The overall tone is also bleak, especially for any character other than Monjiro. Besides the sequel, the character was popular enough to produce a television series about him starring Atsuo Nakamura. It began in 1972, but I was unable to obtain any information regarding if it ran longer than that year.

While not the greatest jidaigeki ever produced, it is worthy of taking a look at because of the fascinating lead character and bloody action.

Score 7/10