Hello and welcome back to picsandportraits.
In the mid-1950s, a new film genre emerged in Japan.
Kaiju, translated ‘strange beast’ features giant monsters battling each other and wreaking
havoc, usually in an urban setting.
While 1954’s Godzilla is generally considered to be the first kaiju film, the genre’s
roots can be found in folklore, puppetry and western cinema.
With the impending release of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, I wanted to take a look back
at the origins of kaiju and some of the people that brought these monsters to life.
The etymology of the word can be traced back to Shan Hai Jing, a classic Chinese text collecting
ancient mythology.
The Japanese would have been exposed to the word and idea sometime after 1853, as for
230 years Japan had been an isolationist country, meaning trade and travel was limited.
They would use it to refer to Palaeolithic creatures, dinosaurs, as well as mythical
beasts from other cultures.
Film was still a new medium in the early 20th century though as it’s language was developing
it became clear the possibilities it presented.
Willis O’Brien, perhaps more than anyone pushed these possibilities and what could
be portrayed on screen with his use of stop-motion animation.
Now, we covered the basics of stop-motion in our Wladyslaw Starevich video, check it
out if you haven’t, but O’Brien’s work took it a step further, bringing life to creatures
that had been extinct for millions of years.
While his early films focused on dinosaurs, O’Brien’s towering achievement came with
1933’s King Kong.
Through stop-motion and miniature work, King Kong showcased special effects and scenarios
never before seen.
This is the birth of kaiju and would inspire everything that came after it.
In 1949, O’Brien was hired as special effects supervisor on Mighty Joe Young, with most
of the actual animating falling on his assistant, Ray Harryhausen.
Harryhausen had previously worked on George Pal’s Puppetoons and idolized Willis O’Brien.
Together they would win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, for their work on Mighty
Joe Young.
For his next project, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Harryhausen was given full control
over the film’s special effects.
It featured a prehistoric creature awoken by an atomic test.
Sound familiar?
It’s title in Japan, an atomic Kaiju appears, is the first time kaiju is used in this context.
At the same time, Japanese cinema was in the midst of its Golden Age.
Much of the country’s early film history had been lost over the course of the war,
where many of those who came to define it cut their teeth on state-sponsored propaganda.
In 1939, the Japanese government had taken control of its film studios and any film released
had to follow strict guidelines as to what was shown and how.
With the passing of the Film Law, Japan used the medium to promote its ideals in its colonies,
positioning itself as a shinning beacon of light, opposed to the west.
Eiji Tsubaraya had began his career as a camera operator.
Pioneering kaiju’s parent genre, tokusatsu, or special effects film, he introduced many
innovations, including super-imposition, miniatures and the country’s first use of a camera
crane.
Tsubaraya would contribute to the war effort by creating the special effects for several
propaganda films, the most notable being The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya.
In it, Tsuburaya recreates the attack on Pearl Harbor.
His was work was apparently so convincing, that when it was seized by the Allies, it
was released as actual news footage of the attacks.
While Tsubaraya served with his talents, other filmmakers, like Ishirō Honda, were drafted
into the military.
Honda had worked as an assistant director and after the war he returned to the film
industry, collaborating with his mentor and friend, Akira Kurosawa, in addition to directing
his own films.
In the early 1950s, both Honda and Tsuburaya were working at Toho.
The two would collaborate on Eagle of the Pacific, based on the career of navy admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto.
In 1954, they teamed up with producer Tomoyuki Tanaka for what would become Godzilla.
The project started as a co-production with Indonesia that would focus on Indonesian life
post-Japanese occupation, though it was cancelled due to political tensions.
Imagine that.
The recent success of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms lead Tanaka to the idea of producing
a similar giant monster movie.
As mentioned earlier, in that film a monster is awoken by a nuclear blast.
Now, i feel it’s pretty common knowledge that Godzilla is a rumination on nuclear power.
After all, Japan is the only nation on which a nuclear bomb has been used, on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
However, the more immediate inspiration came from the Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident.
The United States had been conducting a series of thermonuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in
the South Pacific.
Known as Operation Castle, these tests were to determine the viability of the hydrogen
bomb.
The first test, Castle Bravo, took place on March 1, 1954.
Nearby residents had been advised of this test and a danger zone was implemented, but
the blast was more than twice as powerful as expected and some residents were exposed
to fallout, suffering radiation sickness.
A Japanese fishing boat, the Daigo Fukuryū Maru, also came in direct contact with the
fallout as chemical dust rained down on the crew.
Upon returning to land, they were diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome, with symptoms
including nausea, headaches and severe burns.
This condition is treated, in part, by blood transfusion, but the Daigo’s crew’s was
botched, resulting in them contracting Hep. C
Jesus Christ.
All but one, their radioman, Aikichi Kuboyama, survived.
Tsuburaya had envisioned Godzilla as the monsters that inspired it, in stop-motion, but with
the resources available it would have taken seven years to animate.
The compromise, having an actor embody the creature through a costume, often made of
rubber, would become a kaiju staple, dubbed suitmation.
Side note: the first instance of an actor portraying a monster in a rubber suit was
The Creature From the Black Lagoon, with a costume designed by Millicent Patrick.
This predated Godzilla by just a matter of months.
Hm, the more you know.
Tsuburaya’s team recreated areas of Tokyo for Godzilla to destroy.
I can’t imagine the feeling of watching the panic of a city being leveled with the
memory of the nuclear bomb still so fresh.
The idea that someone who experienced it first hand could be reliving it with relative realism
is terrifying.
This was an early criticism of the film, with some critics seeing it as exploitive and other’s
claiming it absurd.
However, it was warmly received in America when an altered version, starring Raymond Burr,
was released there in 1956.
Over time, it has become one of the most important Japanese films ever made.
While it began as a somber reflection on the nuclear bomb, Godzilla would go on to spawn
a genre riddled with camp.
It paved the way for Rodan, Mothra and Gamera, and created a universe that continues to captivate
to this day.
Though it was clearly influenced by external factors, I see kaiju as an extension of bunraku
theatre, with the puppeteer using their body to animate.
They are intricately designed puppets with more complex kaiju requiring a small team
to operate.
Kaiju have been embraced the world over, and while CGI has largely replaced the need for
suitmation, the practical effects and charm conveyed by the actors and puppeteers I don’t
think can be replicated.
Now I’m no expert, so feel to correct or comment down below.
We will exploring this topic further in a process video, over at patreon.com/picsnportraits.
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