Beyond Godzilla: Gamera 3 Revenge of Iris

Of all the kaiju, he is the only one who could challenge Godzilla for his crown. Understandably, Japan has a bit of a love hate relationship with the flying turtle. They can rely on him to destroy even worse rampaging kaiju, but he often leaves a massive swath of destruction in his wake. Tragically, that includes Ayana Hirasaka’s parents and Tokyo home. To extract vengeance, she will psychically bond with a mutant gyaos bird, as troubled teens will do, in Shûsuke Kaneko’s Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris (trailer here), which fittingly concludes the Japan Society’s film series, Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema.

Gamera just saved everybody’s butts Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, but Hirasaka doesn’t want to hear about that. She blames Gamera for the death of her parents, which he sort of, kind of, inadvertently really did cause. Such is her hatred for our shelled hero that when she discovers a gyaos hatchling in the woods, she decides to raise it to fight Gamera. Tatsunari Moribe tries to convince her this is a very bad idea. Of course, she doesn’t listen, but she should. As part of an apostolic line of guardians vigilantly keeping watch for earth spirits, he is pretty well attuned to monsters and their intentions.

Meanwhile, Mayumi Nagamine is coordinating government research into gyaos and the increasing frequency of their attacks. She will find a close ally in Asagi Kusanagi, a young woman who once had a psychic link with Gamera, but not as co-dependent and symbiotic as Hirasaka’s connection to “Iris,” the juiced-up gyaos. However, she will not be well served by the advice of Mr. Saito, a former video game designer now working as a government advisor, who also happens to be a borderline psychopath.

Forget the Gamera movies MST3K used to mock. The late 1990s Hesei reboot trilogy marked a dramatic improvement in production values over the more formulaic 1960s releases. In this case, the creature battles are impressively brutal and Kaneko’s screenplay, co-written with Kazunori Itô, even features some intentional wit. At one point, the weary Nagamine turns to a government bureaucrat to ask which monster they will be discussing at their meeting. He replies: “does it matter?” That pretty much sums of the totality of life in a kaiju universe.

Although Gamera 3 still isn’t what you would consider an actor’s showcase, the cast is consistently polished and professional. As Nagamine and Kusanagi, Shinobu Nakayama and Ayako Fujitani get to play relatively proactive and forceful women characters. The film easily passes the Bechdel test if scientific analysis of the gyaos doesn’t count as a conversation about men. However, Hirotarō Honda’s catty Saito just cries out for a Dynasty­-style slap-fest, but he gets off too easy.

Granted, there are still a lot of things G3 that strictly speaking, do not make any sense, but it is a more than credible attempt to freshen up the franchise and realize the special effects at a level equivalent to that seen in major Hollywood releases of the time. Frankly, it is a shame the planned fourth film so clearly set-up in G3’s closing scene would not materialize, but you can’t keep a good kaiju down for long. Recommended with affection, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris screens tomorrow night (4/8), concluding the Japan Society’s Beyond Godzilla series.

Beyond Godzilla: The Secret of the Telegian

Like David Hedison in The Fly, a Japanese scientist has developed a teleportation device with tragic results. In this case, the invention works perfectly, it has just been used for evil purposes by a killer with a few scores to settle. Human nature combined with Promethean science inevitably produces mayhem in Jun Fukuda’s The Secret of the Telegian (trailer here), which screens during the Japan Society’s ongoing film series, Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema.

It is a case of bad karma dating back to WWII. In the chaotic days leading up to the Emperor’s surrender, Lt. Onishi and his corrupt unit intended to hijack a shipment of gold to set themselves up with a comfortable future. However, Corporal Sudo and Dr. Nikki, the scientist they are supposed to be escorting to safety, object to such villainy (Dr. Nikki’s area of expertise? Matter transference.). Onishi and his accomplices believed they had left Tsudo and Nikki for dead, but apparently, they were not dead enough.

Fourteen years later, Sudo starts picking off Onishi and his men, one by one. No matter what precautions they take, he always manages to reach his prey and avoid capture. It baffles the cops, led by the no-nonsense Det. Kobayashi, but his old college buddy, science journalist Kirioka is much better prepared to pursue a killer like “The Telegian.” He also develops a romantic interest in Akiko Chujo, the unfortunate high tech component sales associate handling Sudo’s account (set-up under an assumed name).

In many ways, Telegian is a close cousin of The H-Man. Both were produced by the same studio, featured special effects designed by Eiji Tsuburaya, and combined elements of the hardboiled crime genre with science fiction-monster movies. However, Telegian is much less judgmental regarding the inherit nature of scientific discovery. On the other hand, it unambiguously suggests human nature is basically rotten to the core.

Happily, Telegian also has its eccentricities, including scenes in a military-themed night club that presents dancers cavorting in Goldfinger­-style body paint. Yet, what most distinguishes Telegian is the WWII backstory and its cynical portrayal of the Imperial military. Frankly, Sudo’s victims mostly have it coming. He just gets a little too cocky in his execution—and a little too public, particularly during the clever opening sequence set in a carnival fun house.

Yumi Shirakawa (another H-Man alumnus) and Kôji Tsuruta develop such likably innocent romantic chemistry together, it is almost a shame Fukuda backburners them in favor of more Telegian terror. Tsuburaya’s teleportation effects look pretty cool for 1960, while the dodgy victims are appropriately colorful, in an EC Comics kind of way.

Look, if you can’t find enjoyment in films like Telegian and H-Man than we just can’t help you. They are products of their time, but they strove to entertain, playing it straight down the middle. In fact, films like these are really indispensable for anyone trying to understand the post-war Japanese collective psyche. Highly recommended, The Secret of the Telegian screens this Saturday (4/1) at the Japan Society, as part of Beyond Godzilla.

Beyond Godzilla: School in the Crosshairs

Millions of Japanese students have suspected cram schools are evil, but it took a maverick like Nobuhiko Obayashi to conclusively prove it. In this case, the elite Eiko tutorial school is secretly coopting brainy but pliable students to become the brown-shorted advance team for the impending alien invasion. Fortunately, a teen idol with telekinetic powers will defend her high school and planet Earth in Obayashi’s School in the Crosshairs (trailer here), which screens during the Japan Society’s new film series, Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema.

Yuka Mitamura is at the top of her class (no cram school for her), but she is still popular with the rest of the slackers. This definitely includes her ambiguously platonic guy pal, Koji Seki. Studying really isn’t his thing. He is the star of the school’s kendo team, but he still isn’t very good. However, a little help from Mitamura will make him a hero at an important meet.

Obviously, if the tightly wound new transfer student Michiru Takamizawa wants to win the hall monitor election as the first step towards global domination, she will have to go through Mitamura. In terms of psychic power, they are rather evenly matched, but Takamizawa has more back-up, including Kyogoku, the evil overlord from Venus, who has been trying to lure Mitamura to the dark side of the Force for several weeks.

It probably goes without saying when it comes to Obayashi making high school movies, but School in the Crosshairs is really and truly nuts. Like his mind-melting House, Crosshairs features Obayashi’s hand-crafted analog special effects, but this time around they are even more defiantly cheesy looking. On the other hand, the student morality patrols Takamizawa organizes and decks out fascist uniforms are maybe even creepier today than when Crosshairs was originally released in 1981, thanks to rise in campus speech codes and thought policing.

Yet, Crosshairs is really just amazingly sweet, thanks to the appealing almost but not quite ready to be boyfriend-girlfriend chemistry shared by Mitamura and Seki. Teen idol Hiroko Yakushimaru (a Japan Society favorite from Sailor Suit and Machine Gun) is unflaggingly plucky and charming, but also disarmingly self-effacing, while Ryôichi Takayanagi plays Seki as a big old likable lug of a guy. However, it is strange Masami Hasegawa did not go on to greater teen stardom, because she is terrific as the uptight, glowing-eyed Takamizawa.

There is so much random weirdness in Crosshairs Obayashi practically creates a trippy new standard for normalcy. Regardless, it is all good, virtuous fun. There is a real story in there too. In fact, it is based on a YA novel by Taku Mayumura that has also been adapted for television and anime. It is easy to see why viewers would enjoy weekly visits with characters like Mitamura and Seki, as well as even their boneheaded but free-thinking gym teacher. Honestly, this film is the reason Edison and the Lumières invented moving pictures (they just didn’t realize it at the time). Very highly recommended, School in the Crosshairs screens this Friday (3/31) at the Japan Society, as part of Beyond Godzilla.

Beyond Godzilla: Latitude Zero

It was released in 1969, but this Japanese-American co-production (more Japanese than U.S., since Hollywood bailed mid-stream) eerily predicts the fashions of the disco era. There is gold lamé, plunging necklines, and sporty scarves. Keep in mind, we’re still just talking about the guys here. That is just how they dress in this technologically advanced Atlantis. Two scientists and a Yankee journalist will see it for themselves in Ishirō Honda’s The H-Man (trailer here), which screens during the Japan Society’s new film series, Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema.

Japanese team leader Dr. Ken Tashiro and his French colleague Dr. Jules Masson had invited Perry Lawton to document their undersea exploration mission in James Cameron-style submersible, but an unexpected volcano eruption swept them away from their life lines. Fortunately, the two-hundred-year-old Nemo-esque Captain Craig McKenzie was there to save them. He commands the submarine Alpha, the flagship of Latitude Zero, a utopian combination of Shangri-La and Galt’s Gulch, where principled scientists are free to pursue their work confident it will not be ill-used by either side of the Cold War.

Alas, not every two-century-old genius inhabiting these deep equatorial waters is as progressive as McKenzie and his colleagues. There is also Dr. Malic, a traditional super-villain bent on world domination. He hunkers down in his lair at Blood Rock, sending out the Black Shark sub and its tragically loyal captain Kroiga to do his bidding. Like Dr. Moreau, he has a thing for grafting humans and animals together, blowing them up to gigantic size to create kaiju. Inconveniently, Malic has just kidnapped Dr. Okada, a Japanese with a game-changing formula to counteract the effects of radiation, who had intended to defect to Latitude Zero.

Latitude is certainly enjoyable as a groovy time-capsule, but it never taps into the Japanese national subconscious in the way Honda’s The H-Man and Godzilla do. There is a bit of hand-wringing on behalf of a more neutral Cold War position, which has not dated well in retrospect.

Yes, that is Joseph Cotton, from Citizen Kane, Niagara, and The Third Man sporting the V-neck as Capt. McKenzie. He plows through as best he can. That is also Cesar Romero hamming it up as Dr. Malic. Since this is post-Batman, you know his performance will come in only one speed: high camp. However, Akira Takarada and Masumi Okada maintain their dignity while looking relatively alert and willing as Tashiro and Masson (remember, he’s the French one). Linda Haynes is also far better than snarky reviews have suggested as Latitude Zero’s bikini-top rocking Dr. Ann Barton (also looking ready for a night at the discotheque). However, it is a little awkward watching Richard Jaeckel embrace just about every crass American stereotype as Lawton.

Honestly, Latitude Zero is so ludicrous, it can’t miss. It too is a film that was released in multiple cuts. Logically, the Japan Society has opted for the 15-minute shorter Japanese-language version, which wisely jettisoned Cotton’s unnecessary voice-over narration. Judging from the American version, the Japanese cut is probably the one to see. Amusing in a giant flying Griffin way (yep, that’s in there), Latitude Zero screens this Saturday (3/25) at the Japan Society, as part of the ongoing Beyond Godzilla series.

Beyond Godzilla: The H-Man

For obvious reasons, Japan has long held conflicted feeling about nuclear energy. There is no better example of their inherited collective memory of atomic devastation than the king himself, Godzilla/Gojira. The annual leveling of Tokyo was definitely a macro, big picture event. In contrast, this radiation monster operates on a micro level, flowing under doors to dissolve its prey, one by one. The production team from the original Godzilla reunited to bring to oozing life the monster of Ishirō Honda’s The H-Man (trailer here), which launches the Japan Society’s new film series, Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema.

As so many monster films do, H-Man begins with a maritime disaster. The crew of the Ryujin Maaru II are basically fodder for the goo, but a few will survive to tell their tale. Shortly thereafter, a mid-level drug trafficker named Misaki meets a rather strange fate, apparently dissolving on the streets of Tokyo. This is not some sort cartel acid attack, because Misaki’s disembodied clothes were left behind unharmed. Therefore, the cops initially assume he is still alive and proceed to hassle his innocent girlfriend Arai Chikako, in hopes of finding a missing shipment of drugs.

Straight-laced young Prof. Masada understands this not a garden variety gang war. The phenomenon is nuclear (the “H” for Hydrogen might be a bit of a misnomer, but whatever). He has even recreated predatory radioactive goo in his lab, using frogs (or rather toads). Whichever, this is science, it doesn’t have to be precisely accurate. Regardless, the cops are determined not to get it, until it is too late. Still, they are not necessarily wrong to be concerned about the gangsters operating at the night club where Chikako performs. Naturally, the drug smuggling subplot will come to a head right when the H-Man strikes, because that is how it always works.

It is hard to think of a film that purees more genres than H-Man. It is sort of a kaiju film, but also somewhat akin to a Universal-style monster movie, especially following Black Lagoon. There are science fiction elements, but also old school gangster shenanigans. Plus, there are exotic Cotton Club-style night club floor shows that are far more surreal than anything involving the H-Man. Yet, it all fits together relatively logically and flows pretty smoothly, thanks to Honda.

Yumi Shirakawa is convincingly innocent and vulnerable, while still rocking the sequined Josephine Baker outfits. Kenji Sahara’s Masada is unflaggingly earnest and tireless in the service of exposition. Technically, there is not much of an H-Man to brood or emote, but Makoto Satō chews enough scenery for the two of them as Uchida, the ruthless drug kingpin.

H-Man is weird and crazy in all the right ways. Frustratingly, it is one of those films that was chopped up and redubbed for its original American release, so it has often been presented in prints and cuts that do not do it full justice. Happily, the Japan Society will present The H-Man as it should be seen (in color and subtitles) when it screens this Friday (3/24), kicking off the Beyond Godzilla film series.