Godzilla

“Ogata, if the Oxygen Destroyer is used even once, the politicians of the world won’t stand idly by. They’ll inevitably turn it into a weapon. Bombs versus bombs, missiles versus missiles. As a scientist - no, as a human being - adding another terrifying weapon to humanity’s arsenal is something I can’t allow.” This is the first time I’ve watched Ishirô Honda’s Godzilla and it really blew me away. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect in terms of the level of filmmaking but the second the film started I could tell that I was going to love it. The black and white cinematography was immersive and stunning to look at, the special effects were I think the best I’ve seen from this era of film, the performances were believable and memorable, and the story that was filled with heavy social commentary was both memorable and impactful. I watched this on the Criterion Channel which I got today (honestly took me long enough) and I definitely want the physical of this one too as it might be my favourite 50s Horror/Monster film now (though I haven’t seen that many from the 50s yet.) The plot of Godzilla is basically: Hydrogen Bomb tests cause a creature from the depths of the ocean to awaken or mutate and it begins an attack on Japan’s people. It primarily follows a palaeontologist (Takashi Shimura), his daughter (Momoko Kôchi) and her boyfriend (Akira Takarada) as they try to discover how to stop the death and destruction. The special effects in this film were genuinely mind blowing to me as several scenes in this executed things in a way that I was unaware was possible in this era. The depiction of destruction in this was just so excellent and believable. While Godzilla himself was clearly a guy in a suit I felt like the destruction was believable enough to still be immersive. I loved the acting in Godzilla as well and Takashi Shimura’s performance in particular. He played a man that was scientifically curious about Godzilla and wanted to avoid killing him. He was an interesting character that really showed so much emotion using his face (one of Shimura’s biggest strengths in my opinion). There were so many shots that I loved in this film and I think the cinematography was immersive and stellar all across the board. Though I will say that I think my favourite camera shot is the one in the background picture I chose for this review. It’s Godzilla’s head rising above a hill and I thought it resembled a mushroom cloud quite a bit and I would not be surprised if that was an intentional move due to the themes and social commentary in the film. Overall Ishirô Honda’s Godzilla was a really bleak look at humans and the horrific things they do. While Godzilla is definitely more aggressive and villainous in this one I think it’s clear that if nuclear testing hadn’t been occurring then it’s likely that Godzilla wouldn’t have awoken.