Gojira (1954)

Director: Ishiro Honda
Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada
Runtime: 96 minutes

Synopsis: American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable, dinosaur-like beast.

Verdict: Around 200,000. That’s the number of lives lost in 1945 when the United States shocked the world by detonating two nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It’s an unparalleled massacre that left an entire nation mourning for their loved ones, a bloodbath that resulted in years of paranoia.

Less than a decade later, “Godzilla” (or Gojira) was brought to the big screen. Revived and empowered by the radiation left by various nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean, he’s a clear symbol of destruction, maybe even the embodiment of the United States itself. The seemingly indestructible giant lizard’s only goal is to demolish whatever stands in its way including a number of Japanese cities inhabited by fearing civilians.

But what captured my attention in this classic of the monster genre is the main characters’ response to the threat. They all quickly come to the conclusion that all existing weapons won’t help them in killing the beast, and they unanimously understand that the use of science is the only solution they have. The parallels to the States’ position during the final year of the Second World War cannot go unnoticed, as they faced a similar conundrum.

Dr. Yamane (played by the legendary Takashi Shimura) is convinced that his people are fighting a losing battle against the creature and that they should take the opportunity to study it. To him, the key is to understand the enemy instead of blindly attacking it. Dr. Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata), on the other hand, already has invented a weapon capable of taking Godzilla down but understands that the repercussions of introducing his invention to the world may have destructive consequences if it falls in the wrong hands. This paves the way for a fascinating internal conflict, one where he has to decide whether to remain in the shadows of the war or end it with the knowledge that potentially greater massacres could take place if his invention sees the light of day.

I don’t usually mind Hollywoodized remakes of foreign films (yes, even significantly worst ones), but considering the themes of “Godzilla”, I now find western reboots of this property to be almost insensitive. Turning a symbol of fear caused by a nuclear holocaust into a cool monster feels like an extremely tone-deaf move by the country that engrained that sense of terror in Japan. I urge you to check this one out instead.

FINAL GRADE: 9/10