the war of the gargantuas (cinema history class)

Session: Giant Monster Month, week 3
Movie: The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
Directed by Ishiro Honda
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
Two gargantuas -- one good and one bad -- battle over Japan. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:
After three weeks of 1950's era science fiction -- films that, for me, epitomized good 1950's sci-fi -- this movie seemed a bit out of place. As a classic Japanese monster movie, it seems like a different genre. Of course, it did fit the theme for the session -- giant monster movies.

Going in, I wasn't really sure what a "gargantua" actually is. I am still unclear. In the context of this movie, it could mean any giant monster, or it could specifically mean a sasquatch-like giant. The definition in dictionary.com doesn't seem to fit. By the way, true story: When I was a kid there was a family named Gargiullo who lived down the block from me. For some reason I had trouble with their name and kept calling them the Gargantuas. Mrs. Gargiullo thought it was the funniest thing.

Actually, there's a lot to like in this movie. The opening scene, on the ocean with the giant octopus was really a great way to open the film. One of the best opening scenes I can recall. I also enjoyed the way the bad gargantua would eat people whole, and then daintily spit out their clothes. And the scenes of the military shooting the bad gargantua with lasers were particularly well done.

Perhaps the best part of the movie is something I wouldn't have caught if Keith hadn't explained it to us. The war between the good gargantua and the bad is an allegory for Japanese society and its changing relationship with the modern world. The bad gargantua represents World War II (and before)-era Japan, while the good one represents post-war Japan. This was clearly played out in what happened to be one of my favorite scenes.

The bad gargantua is lazing in a dale in the forest, having eaten a bunch of people. He looks kind of like a middle-aged suburbanite in a food coma on Thanksgiving. The good gargantua happens by, and notices him. Then, noticing the clothes of the now-eaten people, gets a horrified look on his face, and starts swatting at the bad gargantua with a tree. "We don;t do that anymore," he seems to be saying.

But despite all the good things in this film, I just couldn't get past Russ Tamblyn's comatose performance, From the first time he's onscreen, he's just not into it. Over and over again, there are scenes that call for real feeling, and he's like Barbara Bain in Space 1999. That really killed it for me.

The ratings:

• Joe: 9.5
• Dave9 
• Sean 4 (on a scale of 1 - 4)
• Scott: 9.5
• Ethan: 8
• Me: 6.5

This was the rare occasion when my giving a film a low rating earned me a rebuke from Keith. Usually, when I rate something low, he'll nod and think and say "that's fair" or somesuch. This time he felt I was unfair to the film. Oh well.

The War of the Gargantuas fails the Bechdel Test.

Extras:
This class was hosted by Keith's friend, film historian Joe Cascio. Cascio specializes in Japanese monster films, and has reviewed a number of them for DVD Drive in. In introducing this film, he gave a lot of tidbits about the personalities involved, and some of the interpersonal relationships. For example, everyone was shocked by the performance of Kipp Hamilton, who played the lounge singer. Why, we all wondered, did they get such an atrociously awful singer for this movie? Afterwards he explained that -- according to rumor -- Hamilton may not have been a good singer, but she did get the part by using her throat in another way.

Cascio also warned us of the sedated performance of star Russ Tamblyn. Years later, Tamblyn was at a rerelease party and acknowledged that he had phoned in his performance. Apparently, his performance also made it hard for his costar, Kumi Mizuno, who had little to play off of.