“Daily diary”, yeah right.
I’ve been kept busy these past few days, so I figure it’s best to cover events in roughly chronological order. Friday was a slow-ish day, at least initially. I started reading Goldberg for my course, and I had to put the book down after the first sentence due to breaking into uncontrollable laughter. The sentence in question is reproduced below so that you too may enjoy it as I did.
After spending about half-an-hour laughing, I decided my idleness simply would not do, but as I could not continue reading the text that day I decided to go to the Regal in Hazleton and catch some movies back to back. I saw Studio Ghibli’s “The Boy and the Heron” (dir. Hayao Miyazaki) and Tojo’s “Godzilla Minus One” (dir. Takashi Yamazaki), in that order. Fitting that both are Japanese, I suppose, nice theming and all. At risk of spoilers, both deal with the Second World War, with the bulk of “The Boy and the Heron” taking place during the War and the bulk of “Godzilla Minus One” taking place after the War. Full disclaimer, I saw the English dub of “The Boy and the Heron” and I saw “Godzilla Minus One” in the original Japanese with English subtitles.
“The Boy and the Heron” is a fantasy film in the finest of Ghibli traditions. The main character is Mahito Maki, a pre-teen who loses his mother in the firebombings of Tokyo. His father Shoichi, the well-to-do (especially considering the already teetering state of the Japanese economy) owner of a factory building planes (because this is a Ghibli film and you’ve gotta have the airplanes) for the military, soon marries his late wife’s younger sister Natsuko, and the family relocates to Mahito’s aunt’s sprawling countryside estate. Mahito doesn’t take the adjustments well: on top of the expected issues Mahito’d face with his father choosing to remarry so suddenly, his family’s wealth isolates him from his classmates, and he finds himself being stalked by a talking grey heron, which mocks him at every available opportunity and beckons him to a strange tower on the family’s estate with claims that his mother lives. The tower was built by Mahito’s great-uncle during the Meiji Restoration in a vaguely European style. It’s said that he was brilliant… until he went mad from the things he read and then, one day, vanished into thin air (if that sounds like something out of a Lovecraft pastiche, there’s another revelation later in the movie which furthers it).
Without spoiling any more of the plot, the animation in the film is gorgeous, with Miyazaki and the fine folks at Ghibli outdoing themselves yet again with another instant banger. Specifically, the way the film captures movement and fire is sublime. Admittedly, I found the plot a touch dense, but the gorgeous visuals allow one to easily grok Miyazaki’s intended vibes. I’d write more, but this film has to be seen for oneself.
“Godzilla Minus One” is the other piece of pure kinography I saw on Friday. Filmed on a microbudget by epic monster movie standards, it more than delivers. The film starts in the final days of the Second World War. The Empire of Japan is on the brink. The mainland is a bombed out ruin even before the United States dropped the sun on it twice. And yet they’re still throwing young men into the meat grinder. The main character- Shikishima- is one such young man, a kamikaze pilot who resolves not to throw his life away and feigns engine trouble, landing on Odo Island, where the Empire has a tiny outpost set up. It is shortly after that Godzilla, pre-nuclear weapons exposure, shows up. Shikishima is ordered to get in his plane and fire upon Godzilla, but he once again can’t do it, and all on Odo are slaughtered except for the lead mechanic, Tachibana.
The Second World War ends, and the Empire’s soldiers are sent home. Shikishima’s neighbor, Sumiko, wants nothing to do with him for his desertion, blaming “cowards like him” for Japan’s defeat. Chance unites Shikishima with a scavenger (some would say thief) named Noriko and an infant girl named Akiko. They aren’t related by blood, but Noriko has been taking care of Akiko as a surrogate mother, both were left without family by the War. Shikishima ends up becoming Akiko’s surrogate father. Although Shikishima and Noriko come to love one another, Shikishima doesn’t marry Noriko because he’s haunted by the ghosts of his past. Shikishima takes a job as a minesweeper aboard the Shinsei Maru, while Noriko ends up getting an office job. Life is stable. And then, in 1947, the United States engages in nuclear weapons testing at Bikini Atoll (known for its appearance in acclaimed animated drama SpongeBob SquarePants) and ends up both irradiating Godzilla (granting him dramatically increased size as well as his signature atomic breath) and enraging him. And so Godzilla begins to make his way towards Japan to reassert control over his territory…
This film is excellent. Of the modern Godzilla films, it and Shin Godzilla (dirs. Anno and Higuchi, 2016) are easily the best. “Minus One” powerfully explores themes of trauma, sacrifice, and survival; the narrative of the human characters is engaging, the screenplay is well-crafted, the pacing is immaculate, the visuals are spectacular (especially on a $15 million budget; Napoleon, for reference, cost $200 million and looked terrible), and I experienced genuine suspense throughout it. What else can I say? It’s great.
Saturday comes around. As usual on Saturdays, I game with my long-time group. However, our misadventures could really use a recap of its own, especially as the current campaign comes to an end. On Sunday, I did a water fast in preparation for an appointment with my psychiatrist (long story, have to get this entry out sooner rather than later), I had the appointment on Monday, then broke the fast with some brunch and a matinee showing of Die Hard at noon. Die Hard needs little summary, it was kino. And then yesterday I had that cavity filled. It took all of about two minutes to do the procedure and about fifteen of waiting around for the dentist. And now it’s Wednesday, my dudes.
Sierpinski Tetrahedron 