My first encounter with Godzilla was back in the 1990s, when, as a bored teen in the small hours of Boxing Day, I flicked on to Channel 4 and was confronted by a giant lobster-like beast pincering a couple of unfortunate boatsmen as they rowed desperately in the sea. Godzilla isn’t even in the title – the film is called Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) – but the notorious reptilian monster soon made his presence felt, as he is awoken and fights the crustacean in a gruesome battle to the death. The dubbing was awful, but I fell in love with the film – it boasts more risk-taking and imagination than Hollywood monster movies can dream of.
I was hungry for more, but Godzilla films proved elusive. Luckily, a couple of Christmases later, a selection of older Godzilla films were shown, again on Channel 4. Some were much darker and sinister in tone. The first film, released 70 years ago, came out less than a decade after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and reflected Japan’s contemporary anxiety around nuclear destruction, with Godzilla existence itself a result of radioactive fallout.
I’ve longed to show kaiju (translated from the Japanese literally as ‘strange beast’) movies in the Cinema for years – these are big, thrilling films that deserve to be seen on the big screen - but rights issues have made it near-impossible. While Godzilla films are a mighty cultural force in Japan, until recently kaiju movies have been the subject of ridicule in the West. Now respect for Gojira is much higher, with Godzilla Minus One winning an Oscar last year.
All Kaiju Attack! is a film programme running throughout August, where we will show a selection of these great monster movies from across the decades, in Japanese with English subtitles (no excruciating dubbing here). It’s been a challenging season to say the least – I’ve set my alarm for 3am trying to call Tokyo during working hours to get hold of Japanese rightsholders more times than I care to mention.
Godzilla isn’t the only monster in the season. Mothra, one of the most jaw-dropping of all kaiju creations, is a female giant moth accompanied by two miniature priestesses who speak on her behalf. And don’t miss the opportunity to see one of the strangest, wildest kaiju films as part of our Outdoor Cinema season, where Godzilla battles a mighty smog monster in Godzilla Vs. Hedorah (1971), a marvellous cult curio packed with psychedelics, eco-friendly messaging a genuinely ghoulish mud-flinging villainous beast. Miss it at your own peril.
All Kaiju Attack! 6-25 Aug
