GODZILLA (1954)

For as long as I can remember, for as long as I've been aware of Godzilla's existence, I have loved him. Having said that, I know for a fact that the first time I became aware of Godzilla, it was not a result of seeing the original 1954 film that introduced him to the world. It wasn't even the American rejiggering of that film, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS!. It was definitely one of the sillier entries that Godzilla is known for, like GODZILLA VS. MEGALON. Knowing that, you can probably imagine my surprise when I finally saw 1954's GOJIRA. I suppose it's fitting for such a film but when I finally saw it, it hit me like a bomb.

That's the thing. For me and for most of us, I'd wager to say...when we thought of Godzilla movies, we thought of them as nothing more than ridiculous smackdowns between giant monsters. Because that's what they were. For a long time, a large portion of Godzilla's history, his films were essentially pro wrestling shows featuring men in monster suits. I am in no way insulting that stuff by saying that either. Those were my introduction to the character, and I love a lot of those films. I have no doubt that if you're reading this, you probably grew up loving them too. However, watching the original GOJIRA doesn't make me feel great about my enjoyment of those films. GOJIRA proves that Godzilla movies can be so much more than monster fights.

For anyone that hasn't seen GOJIRA, you should just stop reading now, go watch the film and come back to this. As much as I'd love to, there's truly no way to put into words what GOJIRA really is. Or what GOJIRA means. Or how GOJIRA feels. GOJIRA is simply something that must be experienced. Having said that...if you are reading this with no working knowledge of GOJIRA, to give the simplest synopsis is to simply say that radiation has brought back what basically appears to be a dinosaur to Japan. Said creature, to be known as Godzilla, starts by utterly destroying Odo Island and is making its way to Tokyo, leaving a trail of destruction throughout Japan with no conceivable way to stop the beast.

Now, yeah, that sounds like a cool monster movie. And it is. GOJIRA is a fantastic monster movie. But it's so much more. Once I realized that it's this brilliant metaphor for the atomic bombs dropped on Japan and the film is Japanese people trying to express their feelings about having these bombs dropped on them, I feel like it's much harder to go back and watch something like GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS! (the aforementioned rejiggered version of GOJIRA created for American audiences). Because yeah, with no knowledge of GOJIRA, watching a giant monster destroy everything in its path seems like a fun time. The problem with that is GOJIRA is absolutely not a fun time. It's not supposed to be. This is the work of Japanese artists doing what artists should do and sharing their feelings with anyone willing to look at what they've created. As a result, GOJIRA is truly scary on a particular level. It's a film dealing with the anxieties felt by people who had this literally devastating event happen to them. This event that devastated their small country. With no idea what the effects would be in the long term. As such, it's also quite a somber affair. I don't know how you can watch GOJIRA and not feel all the feelings that director and co-writer Ishirô Honda is pouring into, and projecting through, this piece of art.

I don't really believe a recent film like Christopher Nolan's OPPENHEIMER could exist without the context of a film like GOJIRA. I don't know that Nolan has ever claimed GOJIRA as an influence on OPPENHEIMER—the way that he did with the influence of BLADE RUNNER on BATMAN BEGINS or HEAT on THE DARK KNIGHT—but I do feel like whether he did or did not, it certainly feels like a great example of artists in conversation. I don't want to give too much away (not that one can necessarily spoil a 70+ year old film) but watching it now after having seen OPPENHEIMER, the Serizawa character in GOJIRA in and of himself definitely feels akin to J. Robert Oppenheimer. A man of science who has found that he's made the ultimate weapon and can't live with the weight of having created it, let alone its use.

I personally can't really just watch GOJIRA on a whim the way that I could watch the aforementioned GODZILLA VS. MEGALON or KING KONG VS. GODZILLA or things of that ilk. I know that by the end credits roll on films like that, I will have been entertained. I'll have had a good time.  I have never had that experience watching "Gojira" and that is in no way something that I would consider a bad thing. The best art is created by artists with something to express about their perspective on the world and their place in it. Honda absolutely did that with GOJIRA. The man created a work that is truly dripping with emotion and with ideas far greater than I feel like he often gets proper credit for.
It's my belief that the best Godzilla movies are the ones that adhere closest to what Honda did with this movie. Even if you change the metaphor. Films like SHIN GODZILLA and GODZILLA MINUS ONE even more recently...they may not be about the fears of the dawn of the nuclear age, but they are still films with something to say regarding deeper ideas and greater themes. Content regarding the relationship between nature and mankind, the human experience, etc. They just happen to feature a giant monster in them. And that's why I feel like films like that ultimately will stand the test of time in the same way that "Gojira" has. There's an opportunity with projects featuring the character of Godzilla for greater thematic content than there is with most monsters and that's what makes Godzilla truly special.

I obviously hold GOJIRA very closely but I want to be absolutely crystal clear that in all I'm saying about this film, how special and meaningful it is to me, that is in no way discounting all the different Godzilla projects that have come in its wake. There's room for all of them. I was annoyed at film fandom pitting GODZILLA MINUS ONE and GODZILLA X KONG against each other. I enjoyed both those movies. I dig most Godzilla movies. I like the original GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA almost as much as I enjoy any other Godzilla movie, despite it being much lighter in every way than GOJIRA. The beautiful thing about Godzilla is that the character works in almost any context for all kinds of stories to be told. That, even more than the fact that Godzilla is a giant creature, is what is truly impressive.