Japanese Cinema

Focusing on Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Godzilla and some films by Ozu

Seven Samurai

Strangely for a foreign-language film, Seven Samurai did very well during the 50s in
the USA. Why? Because it was influenced by western ideals and culture – John Ford
is arguably the biggest influence on Kurosawa’s direction of Seven Samurai. The
characters ride on horseback, and are framed against wide, open landscapes, just
like the westerns of John Ford, notably The Searchers.
It has been suggested that Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai heavily influenced The
Searchers. A Notable scene that is seen in both films is the burning of a village –
both heroes of the films travel to a village or homestead to find that it has been burnt
down by the antagonist/villains of the film.

Seven Samurai was a cultural advancement in Japan – it was the highest-grossing

film for many decades, and heralded a new era of films and directors. Notably, it was
the forerunner of many modern action films, and began many clichés we see today –
slow motion, the reluctant hero, a love interest and a mission that the hero must go
on.

Interestingly, Seven Samurai and Godzilla were both in production at the same studio
at the same time, and because Seven Samurai was heavily over budget, the two
films almost completely bankrupted the studio. It was only thanks to both films’
success that the studio was able to continue making films.

Rashomon

Based on the short story “In a Grove” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, it introduced

Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune to a worldwide audience. It was successful across the
world and many Western critics praised it for its style and daring. The Japanese
didn’t get it – they dismissed it as fantasy and were baffled as to what it was about. It
was dismissed as being too Western – all the characters have flaws and problems,
and reject authority, a common theme in American films at the time, but not in Japan.
This can be seen as a reaction to the events of World War II and the H-Bombs. The
rejection of authority can be seen as a mirror to that of the event that took place
when people felt they could no longer trust their emperor, Hirohito, who lied and told
the population that they were winning the war. The Emperor also went against the
traditional code of honour – he did not commit the Japanese ritual suicide of Harakiri,
and instead surrendered.

The Japanese government didn’t like the film, and when it was entered into the
Venice International Film Festival in 1951, they tried to have it removed, saying it was
“not representative enough of the Japanese movie industry.” They thought a film by
Ozu would be better suited – he was considered a traditional Japanese filmmaker –
he believed in tradition, and this was often shown in his films.

Godzilla (Gojira)

A kaiju film directed by Ishiro Honda, it brought sci-fi to Japan, and arguably, made
sci-fi more revered in the west. The main story is very blunt – Godzilla has been
disturbed by radiation from atomic bombs, and so he wreaks havoc and revenge on
Tokyo, until he can be stopped. The opening scene mirrors a real event – two fishing
boats are bobbing along when they are destroyed by an unseen force, in real life, this
was caused by the dropping of a H-Bomb, and it was a sore point for many years in
the hearts and minds of the Japanese people.
The film shows many scenes of death, radiation burns and suffering. If any film is an
allegory for the dropping of the H-Bomb, it’s definitely Godzilla. Honda deliberately
wanted the film to be a warning about the dangers of these weapons – the end scene
for example is reminiscent of a rolling nuclear attack; one by one, the lights go out in
the cities, just like it would after the spread of radiation. It has been suggested by
some that Godzilla contains actual footage of victims of the bombing at Bikini Atoll,
especially the hospital scenes.
Godzilla arguably made sci-fi the genre it is today – we see many hallmarks begin
here. We have the scientist played by Takashi Shimura, whose job it is to explain
Godzilla’s existence to the main characters. Oh, and for some reason he has an
Oxygen destroyer too, which can kill Godzilla. Though he is angered by the events
caused by Godzilla, he is reluctant to use the Oxygen destroyer, as he believes this
is only going to make events worse. They do eventually use it, but he asks at what
cost? He says that if we continue to use nuclear weapons, Godzilla may return…