Compare And Contrast Gojira And Godzilla

Julie Y. Moon
ANTHR 2560
Paper 2: Godzilla vs. Gojira
Prof. Hirokazu Miyazaki

Godzilla: Gojira, stripped

The film Gojira, released in 1954 by Toho Studios, was a tremendous success to the Japanese public and the first postwar film to gain an international audience. Gojira is a science-fantasy film about a mutant creature from the Jurassic period with nuclear powers, brought to life as a result of the atomic explosion and nearby nuclear bomb testing. In 1956, Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released in the U.S. as an American version of the original Japanese movie. This version was heavily edited with English dubbing and the deletion of various scenes, altered strategically in a political fashion for the American audience as a
cheesy monster film. Whereas Gojira addresses Japan’s postwar trauma such as the atomic bombings, destruction, and defeat, the portrayal of such crucial messages are lost in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The original movie sends a strong anti-nuclear message and educates the audience of moral obligations behind scientific and technological advancements. Importantly, it serves as a reminder to the Japanese audience not to forget the atomic bombing and the aftermath of the bomb, not to forget that they are all survivors thus to act with courage and responsibility as individuals. It serves to remind the nation’s people to unite and work together as a nation for the security of Japan’s future.

The large discrepancy between the sequence of events that lead to Godzilla’s initial appearance in Gojira and Godzilla may account for the difference in the depiction of the creature. In Godzilla, the scenes are rearranged so that the movie begins by showing the hospital, crowded with injured people from Godzilla’s destruction in Tokyo. The narration starts with an ominous tone that build suspense and horror while suggesting that what had happened was a direct attack to the human population by an unknown force that is not only extremely powerful, but merciless. Godzilla continues by rewinding back to the first Godzilla incident, the explosion of the ship. Subsequently, more ships and rescue ships continue to meet the same fate without any knowledge of what had caused it. The American version prolongs the suspense by not revealing any clue to the audience of Godzilla. Unlike Gojira, which introduces to the viewers Godzilla’s footprints and evidentiary information of its origins and radioactivity before the creature’s first appearance, Godzilla keeps Godzilla as a mere rumor of a ‘monster’ by the islanders. Whereas Gojira portrays Godzilla as a rather neutral creature and explains the science behind its awakening (which humans are responsible for and Godzilla was unknowingly exposed to), Godzilla terrorizes the audience with the image of a vicious, merciless monster straight out of a horror movie. Shown only in large-scale scenes of hospitals bombarded with wounded people, the impersonalized portrayal of the victims creates a distance with the viewer and gives the impression of merely the aftermath of a large disaster. Whereas Gojira emphasizes the creation and awakening of this monster and explains the science and technology behind it, Godzilla oversimplifies this aspect and portrays Godzilla just as this terrible creature that appears out of nowhere and brings destruction upon the world.

The emphasis on scientific research and technology is left out in the American version of the film. For example, in the newspaper pressroom, the reporters discuss Dr. Yamane’s argument for prioritizing scientific research on the existence of Godzilla. Godzilla is focused on its part as a monster-film genre – the suspenseful, loose, monstrous creature destroying the world and a sudden solution out of nowhere to kill it. The American film does not consider the scientific aspect at all and is just casually mentioned enough to string the plot along. Gojira is significantly more sensitive in presenting scientific information and Japan’s movement towards modernism by employing technology such as conducting defense strategies or the communication of information within the government and with the public, and ultimately ending on a triumphant note with Japanese science successfully killing Godzilla during the final battle with the creature. In her essay When Godzilla Speaks, Susan Napier implements the scientific and technological basis of Gojira to meticulously construct this very precise definition of Godzilla and its underlying intentions: ‘His [Godzilla’s] massive footprint, his steady stance, and above all the destruction he leaves behind are both terrifying and impressive.
Many scholars, myself included, believe that the initial Godzilla – with his links to nuclear testing and radiation – may in many ways be seen as a displaced version of the atomic bomb. His story and its ultimately happy outcome – Godzilla is vanquished through Japanese science – may, therefore, be read as a form of cultural therapy, allowing the defeated Japanese to work through the trauma of the wartime bombings in the scenes of panic and destruction, and, with the film’s happy end, giving them a chance to reimagine and rewrite their devastating
defeat.’

The scene of the evacuation along the coastline to execute the electrocution defense plan is an example of what is cut out from the American film. This scene shows the military hoisting up children onto trucks and citizens running away from their homes in terror. Instead of showing just mass destruction scenes of buildings, bridges, and trains, the Japanese film shows up close the kind of chaos the people are going through. In another scene, Godzilla tears down buildings and hotels, the mother holding her child sitting against a building wall says, ‘A little longer, a little longer and we’ll be with your daddy.’ This kind of personalization with the victims in the Japanese version brings the audience to connect closer to these people. Rather than just focusing on the massive demolition capabilities of Godzilla, one can clearly see what effect it is having on the Japanese people.
In Gojira, the scenes capture the swarm of families demanding answers and their anguish when they discover that their loved ones weren’t among the survivors. There is a more personalized view of the disaster as well as a more nationalistic approach that seems to unify the Japanese people together to find a solution and end this nightmare. The American version, perhaps inevitably, depicts the destruction of this scientific nightmare in a foreign point of view. The death is not his family or his relatives, nor his home or his neighborhood. This demolition is not upon his nation, it is in a country that is not his. Although such aspects of the ‘Americanization’ may have been unavoidable, it inevitably creates a distance between him and what is happening in the movie, which provides ground for further displacement between the disaster occurring and the audience.

Gojira highlights the inner conflicts within the characters that are not displayed in the American version.
Portraying these inner conflicts allow for the audience to build a more intimate relationship with the characters in the movie, as well as creating an opportunity to convey crucial ideas that provides the basis for Gojira. This in turn allows for examine their own moral compass – to ask themselves what they would do in such a situation, thus educating the viewers of their moral obligation and responsibility for their actions and inactions, especially in light of scientific and technological advancements. Emphasizing the stances of the zoologist, Dr. Tamara, and the scientist, Dr. Serizawa, brings out an important statement Honda wishes to communicate to the audience. Scientific advancements come at a high price, and the burden of responsibility that Dr. Serizawa repeatedly states in various ways resonates with the invention of the atomic bomb. Many of Dr. Serizawa’s passionate assertions are cut out in Godzilla, such as when he expresses his concern for his invention of the Oxygen-Destroyer to fall into the wrong hands and the magnitude of destruction it can cause. Behind Dr. Serizawa’s words are Honda’s message that science and technology must be used with caution – otherwise, another catastrophe like the atomic bombing can occur again. Taking in the words of Dr. Serizawa, it becomes nearly predictable that he will end his life with the usage of the
Oxygen-Destoyer in Gojira. Although the elimination of Dr. Serizawa’s statements in Godzilla adds more shock value when he makes his own death with his own invention, it takes away an important message of the film that should not have been overlooked.

An aspect of Gojira that is not brought out in the American version is the dilemma Emiko faces and the ultimate decision she has to make. In Godzilla, Emiko simply tells Steve Martin and Ogata about the Oxygen-Destroyer in the middle of a crowded hospital without any hesitation. There is no appearance of inner struggle or debate – it takes place as if it were going to happen anyway. The original film shows Emiko’s personal struggle of what she needs to do: the possibility of saving Japan, if not the entire world, is at her hands but at the same time, she has given her word to Dr. Serizawa that she would not mention the Oxygen-Destroyer to anyone. She is given a most difficult choice to make and the movie shows her inner debate of what to do. Whereas in the American film, Dr. Serizawa confronts Emiko to see his invention, in the Japanese version, Emiko questions Dr. Serizawa about his research first. Dr. Serizawa asks her if she would like to see it but keep it strictly confidential, and she says yes.

It is only after Emiko observes a little girl crying as her dead mother is taken away in the hospital she confesses Serizawa’s secret to Ogata privately up a staircase in the hospital. The film reveals the scene of the terrifying moment when Emiko saw what Serizawa’s invention was and their conversation after that. When asked why he is working on such a horrible project, Serizawa said he would only use the device when he is convinced it will help mankind. Later, upon confrontation by Ogata and Emiko and after he watches the broadcast of the children singing for the dead and wounded victims of Godzilla, he allows for the Oxygen Destroyer to be used once. As Emiko cries while Serizawa burns his research papers for the Oxygen-Destroyer, he says, ‘Don’t cry, Emiko. This is the only way to be sure it does not fall into the wrong hands’.

Ogata, in a discussion with Dr. Yamane, says, ‘Isn’t Godzilla a product of the atomic bomb that still haunts many of us Japanese?’ Such a question is so profound, as it grasps the idea behind Honda’s theatrical project. Such inserts of phrases and images are, I believe, inserted throughout the movie to portray a very strong message to its viewers. Although the message was rather nationalistic and Godzilla was for the most part, a problem within the nation, the adaptation of the movie to the American audience stripped the movie not only politically but of its interrelated fundamentals regarding morality and morals underneath all the thunder of scientific technology and illusions of control mankind seem to attain with it. The differences between the two films are obvious and by comparing the two films, one can differentiate the intentions behind the original Gojira directed by Honda Isiho. The American version cuts away numerous scenes and important dialogue to take out the political aspects as well as the original movie’s stance on anti-nuclear testing. Gojira is clearly a post-war movie designed to send a message to its viewers on numerous aspects such as scientific or technological advancements vs. moral obligations, personal responsibility as an individual as well as a part of a nation, as well as finding and establishing one’s own voice and making it count.