I'm really digging the Dryden Theatre's summer popcorn movie series. Last night they showed a double feature of Godzilla movies. As I'm a tremendous fan of trash culture, you know I was there.
First up was the original (subtitled) Gojira from 1954. Surprisingly, it's a serious movie. Any laughs during this one were unintentional, and had more to do with wooden acting (noticable even in Japanese) and corny effects. It's a pretty dark movie, thematically and visually. Filmed in grimy black-and-white, it's all nuclear paranoia and dying civilians, and even a contains a line of dialogue about surviving Nagasaki only to be confronted by Godzilla's rampage.
The second half of the double feature was the day-glo, campy Kaijuto no Kessen: Gojira no Musuko, known to us as "Son of Godzilla," from 1967, also screened in subtitled form. Lots of battles between Godzilla and son and giant insects. Gotta love it. Godzilla movies are ultimately all about fun, though both movies had underlying themes about the consequences of experimenting with and altering nature too much.
No comments:
Post a Comment