International Festival Premiere | Restored Classics | Out Of Competition
Japan, 1965/4K 2025, 79’, Japanese
Directed by: Yuasa Noriaki
Screenplay: Takahashi Niisan
Cinematography (color): Munegawa Nobuo
Editing: Nakashizu Tatsuji
Music: Yamanouchi Tadashi
Special Effects: Tsukiji Yonesaburo
Producers: Nagata Masaichi, Nagata Hidemasa
Cast: Funakoshi Eiji, Sugata Michiko, Kiritachi Harumi, Yamashita Junichiro, Uchida Yoshiro
Date of First Release in Territory: November 27th, 1965
Seeing the success of rival Toho’s Godzilla series and Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller
The Birds (1963) with Japanese audiences, Daiei president and uber-producer Nagata Masaichi decided that his studio needed something similar. When health inspectors objected to the live rats that were to star in this kaiju (monster) project, titled
Nezura (a play on “nezumi” or “rat” in Japanese), Nagata rebooted with a film about a giant turtle. He dubbed it Gamera, despite objections within the company that the name sounded too similar to Godzilla.
Daiei had experienced special effects staff, but they were working on a tight schedule and a low budget, especially in comparison with the kaiju films of Toho, which under the direction of special effects titan Tsuburaya Eiji dominated the genre. Also, when director Yuasa Noriaki agreed to take on the film, colleagues warned him that it might be a career-ending move. But he had only one other credit as a director, a musical comedy that had flopped at the box office, so he didn’t feel he had much of a choice. As it turned out, despite being filmed in black-and-white and featuring some risible effects, such as miniature ships that looked too much like toy boats,
Gamera, the Giant Monster was a hit that spawned seven sequels, all but one directed by Yuasa.
The title monster is unleashed when a plane of an unnamed country is shot down over the Arctic and its nuclear payload explodes, freeing a giant turtle from its icy tomb. An Inuit elder tells Dr. Hidaka (Funakoshi Eiji), a zoologist conducting research in the area, the creature is Gamera, a legendary monster among his people.
A common-enough kaiju origin story, but in contrast to the scarier incarnations of Godzilla, Gamera is framed as child-friendly, saving a turtle-loving boy, Toshio (UchidaYoshiro), from falling to his death. Toshio becomes Gamera’s biggest fan and friend, even though the beast destroyed his lighthouse home.
Also, Gamera can not only breathe fire – a standard kaiju talent – but also suck in flames and other non-organic materials to build up his energy stores. He can, we are told, even eat an a-bomb.
On returning to Japan, Dr. Hidaka and his beautiful-but-all-business assistant Kayoko (Kiritachi Harumi) meet up with the military to strategize using its latest weaponry – a freeze bomb – against the big-tusked creature. The explosions flip Gamera on his back but instead of flailing helplessly, he starts spinning and then flying in a fiery circle that is one of the film’s more impressive effects.
Realizing that nothing in their arsenal will stop the monster, the Japanese anti-Gamera task force calls in Russian, American and other experts from around the world for a conference to brainstorm solutions. The result is Z Plan (which might as well be called “Last Plan”) that begins by luring Gamera to Oshima Island.
The film’s bridging of Cold War rivalries in the name of saving the world from Gamera may be naive but feels heartening even today, when new rivalries – and dangers – have arisen. And though Toshio is something of a pill, popping up everywhere to loudly defend his scaly hero, he is also a relatable stand-in for the film’s target audience – kids who believe, like Toshio, that a pet turtle can morph into a 60-meter-tall pal. Though watching him destroy half of Tokyo, including the headquarters of a certain film company, adults may have another way of describing him.
Yuasa Noriaki
Yuasa Noriaki (1933-2004) was a Japanese film and television director best known for his works of “tokusatsu” (special effects). He began his career as a child actor then he graduated from college and joined Daiei Studios in 1955 as an assistant director, training under filmmakers like Kawashima Yuzo, Shima Koji, and Inoue Umeji. His career breakthrough came in 1965 with Gamera, the Giant Monster, a low-budget kaiju film, and directed six of the subsequent Gamera sequels.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
1964 – If You’re Happy, Clap Your
Hands
1965 – Gamera, the Giant Monster
1967 – Gamera vs. Gyaos
1968 – Gamera vs. Viras
1968 – The Snake Girl and the
Silver-Haired Witch
1969 – Gamera vs. Guiron
1970 – Gamera vs. Jiger
1971 – Gamera vs. Zigra
1980 – Gamera, Super Monster
1984 – Anime-chan