Dir. Ishiro Honda
89 Minutes
Japan
1964
Starring: Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yu Fujiki
***1/2/*****
The fourth film in the Godzilla "Showa" era brings Ishirô Honda back to direction (so far only sitting out Godzilla Raids Again), and he appears to finally find a nice balance between his desire to use the monster as an opportunity to critique various cultural and political institutions and Toho's desire to focus on the spectacle of giant monsters attacking one another. The result is the best Godzilla film since the original.
With its title beginning with Mothra rather than Godzilla, Honda takes his sweet time before the revealing of the lizard that haunts Tokyo (although the lack of belief in Mothra by some despite being attacked by Godzilla on three separate occasions deserves its own amount of pause, but suggests the cyclical nature of people who cannot seem to believe what is staring them in the face). He settles nicely into the rhythms of his earlier Mothra film, giving the picture a slower, dreamier quality, as the two tiny guardians of the behemoth beg for its egg back after a storm washes it on the shore. The egg is discovered by some greedy businessmen who hope to make a quick buck. All soon realize that the same storm has woken up Godzilla and suddenly it is Tokyo that is pleading with the inhabits of Infant Island for Mothra to assist with taking him down once again.
With the human characters basically either providing some standard point of identification for the viewer or operating as a stand-in for some commentary that Honda is exploring, the bulk of the film is devoted to the brawl between the two kaiju, and it is quite the spectacle! The miniatures, costumes, puppets, and performers all look great, with Godzilla given some more tailoring following a rather clunky looking outfit in the previous King Kong vs. Godzilla. And it is always a moment of curiosity as to what exactly will take down the "evil" monster (at least temporarily). On that note, there is a shift in focus from Godzilla as savage beast bent on destruction and more towards him simply being a harbinger of chaos because of his size and lack of coordination (for example, he knocks down a large tower not out of malice but because his tail gets caught in a fence---in another similar moment his foot lands on the side of small incline and he collapses onto more landmarks). These seem to be hints are the more "child-friendly, Gamera style" directions that the series will soon move towards as a result of the characters popularity with kids. But in terms of how the series develops following the haunting original, Mothra vs. Godzilla is a real treat and a probable high point.
April 27th, 2020
Part of the ongoing Godzilla Project, notes on selected films in the Godzilla franchise.