Gojira Vs. Shichinin no Samurai

Movies, as a form of art, take much of the world at large to create. Whether intentional or not, directors and writers alike take images and ideals of their time period and enter them into their work. With such poetic sense, movies can be classified once more, beyond their stereotyping as a genre. With this thought in mind, I will take two very different movies, set in two very different time periods and show how the share the same common goal. These movies are both Icons in the Japanese Movie Industry, the original Kaiju Monster Movie “Gojira,” and the Epic Historical Drama of “Shichinin no Samurai.” These eight beings alone are a terrible force to match, yet we find that they are of the same goal, and for this we should look into the times at which these movies were produced closely, as well as the relationship between the two directors of these movies, “Gojira”’s Honda Ishirou and “Shichinin”’s Kurosawa Akira.

First, I will take a stab at giving my own personal impressions of the meaning of each movie. First up is the titanic titan Gojira. As we watch the course of the movie, it is brought to our attention almost instantaneously that this giant mutant lizard was awakened, and subsequently enraged by H-bomb testing out at sea. This brings up the first hint of my meaning, that humankind’s aggressive existence is unsightly. Then Gojira himself starts to appear on land, no longer content with attacking sea vessels. It is now when the true villains of this movie show their rotten faces. These men and women, all wanting the destruction of Gojira, wanting to kill the living fossil before their lives are threatened. While it can be argued that, this movie rallies the nation with a sense of a unified Japanese Nation, with the Japanese Self-Defense Force mobilizing to take on the giant creature. Yet these foolish human weapons do nothing to deadly giant, as he demolishes Tokyo unimpeded by Electrical Fences, Artillery Strikes, Tanks, and Bullets. Nothing could stop Gojira’s vengeance upon these warmongering people. I argue that the movie’s point was to show that military might means nothing in today’s world. Instead, it was the brilliance and self-sacrifice of Dr. Serizawa, who originally did not want to use his inventions as weapons. In addition, he alone stopped the beast. With this, we can see that Ishirou put in a more pacifistic view into Gojira, making the Military powerless, and instead put science in the highest seat.

So the militarists were stopped/stomped soundly in Gojira, but is that the same idea in “Shichinin no Samurai?” I would argue that it is indeed the same basic premises. We have the Bandits that look upon the tiny village to pillage, these men arriving in their Ouyoroi armor (whether stolen from dead Samurai or if the head of the bandits was a ronin is not really explained, though the former is more likely). These men are obviously men of war, and as they ride off their mere appearance sends the town into a state of deep mourning and depression. Then, they go and bring back Samurai. These honorable men of war are not like the bandits. The Samurai are smart, able to quickly build traps and defenses to confound the bandits. The Samurai are brilliant leaders, able to rally the poor farmers to battle for themselves, unlike the bandits who resort to killing deserters. The Samurai destroy nearly half the enemy forces in a tactical victory, slaughtering them in a surprise attack. It is clear these Samurai are not your average military men. In fact, the entire half of the movie dealing with their recruiting shows that all the Samurai, in one way or another, are farthest from the Militaristic Warmongering bandits.
However, this alone is not enough for them to be totally free of the evil militarist meaning of their role. Yet then we have Kikuchiyo. In a scene, directly following the discovery of a weapons cache, the Seven are disenfranchised after finding out that the villagers hunted wounded Samurai, killing them and taking their weapons. Yet this non-Samurai looks at them and spits in their face. Yet, what is the reason why these poor farmers turned to cruel practices? Because the Samurai (Military) had raped, pillaged, and defiled farmers’ villages. This chastisement brings forth a new view, that these brilliant, saviors - These Samurai are dirty. Just like the Bandits. Just like the Farmers. These military men, no matter how noble they claim, have lived in a life style that is truly low. Then, after a spectacular battle, we have finally reached the end of this movie. The meek, weak, and defenseless villagers have risen up, destroying the evil bandits, and ridding themselves of the terror they had felt time and time again. And we have an image, perhaps it was meant to be there, perhaps it was just coincidence. Katsushirou, a novice of a Samurai, is found watching the villagers. As if he is Longing to stay with them. To give up the warrior life he barely started. Yet he cannot, and goes to join the other two remaining Samurai.

The question now is, “Why are these two very different movies so very similar in message?”. For that, we need to take a look at the times they were made in. Of course, these two movies were both created in 1954, nine years after Japan lost World War II. This is incredibly important to their meaning. These two films make a play to strike a heavy contrast between the Militaristic Nippon and the new Democratic Nihon. The country had lost a war, lost their ability to wage war, and even heavier, were told that all that they have been taught all their lives was wrong. And these movies were there to ease the nation into the new country, as it pulled itself up from the ashes of the fire bombings. In both movies, the hero(es) destroy the Military, which had been personified as evil for the first time in the nation’s history. And not only did this warmonger side die, both movies give morals that are complementary to one another. Dr. Yaname mused that if humankind did not give up on their deadly weapons race, another Gojira will appear to crush them, urging the country/world to give up their deadly nuclear weapons research. Kanbei mused that it was not the Seven’s victory, but truly the victory of the villagers, reminding the people that they had the power to change their world. Both lovely messages are delivered with no other chance to change the character’s opinion, making them the strongest emotions listed in the respective films. It is very interesting that Shimura Takashi is the actor who portrays both Yaname and Kanbei, both very compassionate characters whose wisdom stands above those around them.

And upon the last point, the directors of the movies. Honda Ishirou, the director of “Gojira,” actually started his movie career working as the Assistant Director to Kurosawa Akira, the director of “Shichinin no Samurai,” working on the movie “Stray Dog.” Honda was a soldier in the Imperial Army, and a prisoner of War, which could easily be the main reason that he put in many anti-military symbols in “Gojira.” However, Kurosawa didn’t have that sort of experience like Honda. However, he was directing films during the war. The Militarist Regime strictly supervised his movies, culminating in the creation of the propaganda film “The Most Beautiful,” a movie about Japanese Women working in an optics factory, manufacturing parts that would eventually find their way to the Imperial Japanese Military. Then Kurosawa’s first film after the war was a movie called “No Regrets for Our Youth,” which was inspired by the story of Ouzaki Hotsumi, a spy for the communists during World War II. In that movie, he was finally able to lash out at the corrupt Militarist Regime, and it was one of the first movies to promote a Pacifist Ideal in Japan after the War, which Kurosawa followed up with numerous other titles, including “Stray Dog,” that took a deep look at his Japan. And as a fitting end, both Directors ended their careers working together on their last five movies, Kurosawa on his own volition, however Honda had died in the same year of their last movie, “Madadayo.”

And it is in these ways that the Kaiju movie “Gojira” and the historical drama “Shichinin no Samurai” are alike. They both carry a heavy anti-military, anti-war message, and urge the audience to learn from the mistakes made in the films and by the Militarists who had controlled Japan through the War, and to never do them again.