Welcome back to my Dark Corner of this Sick World
'It's weird'
'Mmmmm'
This week we're looking at Matango.
‘Matango, a kind of mushroom’
known in the US as Attack of the Mushroom People…
and it’s the US dub we're looking at, which does have consequences,
such as singer Mamie, not knowing the words to a song
#La la la la la la la la#
and some lines that presumably sounded less dumb in Japanese.
'It's been raining for a whole week now'
'It must be the rainy season'
One thing I knew about this film going in was that it came close to being banned in Japan
because the mushroom people's costumes were so reminiscent of mushroom clouds.
And of course director, Ishiro Honda has form in addressing Japan's nuclear scars via a science fiction concept in Godzilla.
'A good example of mutation caused by radiation.'
So I expected this to be another struggle between man and metaphorical monster...
'Not exactly'
It's not. This is much darker and deeper than Toho studio's usual output.
'I've waited a long time to hear you say that'
Based on a short story by William H. Hodgson, it's one of those films which puts a disparate group far from the constraints of civilisation and sees how quickly they turn on each other,
a genre that includes films like Lord of the Flies and Stagecoach.
‘It’s all your fault we’re in trouble now’
‘What’s that?’
With the caveat that John Wayne never turned into a mushroom .
The biggest question about this film is: does the mushroom stuff enhance the point, or undermine it?
'Everything seems pretty weird'
There is a lot to like about Matango.
Yes, it starts slowly.
'I don't want to tell you the story'
Yes it's not subtle
'The weak restraints of society disintegrate in the face of the will to survive in harsh circumstances'
Everyone got what the film's about? Good.
‘Oh shut up'
But the character stuff is dynamic and tense as rifts form between the shipwreck victims; sexual...
Violent.
'But I'll do my damnedest to get off this island, even if I have to kill everybody to do it'
Social
‘You depended on me to support your mother and brother's didn't you.'
’I put you through college and gave you a job in my company.'
Again; not subtle.
But how do the mushrooms come into this?
'Well, that's a question.'
There's not a lot to eat on the island except...
'Mushrooms'
But...
'Don't you even touch the mushrooms'
Initially they don’t seem to have any strong reason for this prohibition,
but soon they are then menaced by nocturnal visits...
I’m not sure what happened there.
‘Did you eat some of those mushrooms?’
the mushrooms are definitely hallucinogenic.
But they haven’t eaten them yet so that scene is a little mysterious.
'There must be a reason'
Like the conch shell in Lord of the Flies, the mushrooms represent a vestige of civilisation -
we haven't got many rules, but there is this one.
'Can't we eat the mushrooms now?'
Yeah, can't we?
That's probably a no.
'I might be wrong'
About backhanding her across the face? Yeah, I’d call that an overreaction.
'Is that all you've got to say?'
But having built this air of danger around the mushrooms, the reveal is thrown away
'I didn't tell you that once you've eaten it, you become a mushroom too'
As if Honda is going 'Let's get this out of the way quick, cos it's a bit silly'
'They're half mushroom'
I may be wrong, but it feels like Honda wanted to make a film about societal breakdown.
‘We found it and it’s first come first served around here’
but was only allowed to do so through a sci-fi concept and, unlike in Godzilla, it does weaken it.
‘Ah, I’m just telling you what I think’
There’s also a lot of stuff, including more nuclear metaphor that never really pays off.
‘You shouldn’t talk that way you know’
Still, it's a well made film...
and the central point remains intact.
'Tokyo ‘s not so different from that island'
Sort of...
‘Then... I ate them.’
Apparently – and opinions differ online - this line was changed for the dub, i
n the Japanese version he says 'I never ate the mushrooms',
a far bleaker conclusion saying that societal degeneration isn't because of what we do,
it's who we are
'Sure, but I think we're very different from the basic run of people.'
We're all mushrooms.
'What the hell's the matter with you?'
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Does anyone know if the Japanese line is "I didn't eat the mushroom"
Let us know in the comments below we genuinely like to know
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