Kaiju film assesment
- 1. Kaiju Film Case Study Katie H-M
- 2. Godzilla (2014) Godzilla is an American Hollywood blockbuster directed by Gareth Edwards who is known for his independent kaiju film ‘Monsters’. It had a budget of $225 million, of which $160 million went into the production of the film which was produced by legendary Pictures. The Japanese company Toho still hold the rights to Godzilla, therefore Edwards was in close contact with the company throughout the production of the film as he wanted it to be an accurate representation of the original monster while incorporating his modern concepts for the film. The movie was distributed by Toho in Japan and Warner Brothers worldwide and made $529.1 million in the box office. Edwards tried to include deeper social and political themes in the film and maintain the themes of the original movie, throwing light on issues such as the entitlement of humanity and how the government conceals things of importance from the public. However, although Godzilla contained more of the typical military conflict and action scenes than Monsters had, Edwards managed to incorporate some difficult themes such as the impact of human behaviour on nature and the idea that the government is hiding important information from the public, into his US blockbuster. The film had a cast of well established actors including Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who is known for the ‘Kick Ass’ films, ‘The Illusionist’ and ‘Angus, Thongs and perfect snogging’) and Elizabeth Olsen (previously known for ‘Red Lights’ and ‘Kill your darlings’). Both of these actors have gone on to feature in major blockbuster franchises such as the Avengers and have both been in films that have made cinemas in 2017, showing the power in leading a major blockbuster film like Godzilla. Alternately, the film Colossal used Anne Hathaway’s star power to gain more funding and attract fans to the movie rather than the movie getting her more work, showing the impact that a well known actor can have on an independent film as opposed to a Hollywood blockbuster.
- 3. Attack The Block (2011) Attack the Block is a British independent film that was directed by Joe Cornish and had many production companies involved in its making. These include, Film 4, UK Film Council, StudioCanal Features and Big Talk Pictures (who also produced Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz). As an independent film, Attack The Block needed funding from multiple companies to become a reality, hence why so many teams got in on production. The film had a budget of £8 million and a lot of this budget went into the visual effects of the aliens themselves which were originally people in costumes during filming, but got altered and made more disturbing in post production. Cornish also stated that he wanted the audience to feel familiar with the area in which the movie is set early on in the movie, but didn’t have the budget for an extensive aerial establishing shot of a neighbourhood that would require CGI to bring to life, therefore he chose to simply show a map of the block in the first few minutes of the film. Attack the block starred Nick Frost, a British actor who has a large following in the UK. Frost’s acting style is well enough known that an audience member familiar with his work would be able to tell what type of film Attack The Block would be before they’ve watched it. Frost has worked with Big Talk Pictures multiple times which may have been a contributing factor that made them join the production team. Although critically acclaimed, Attack The Block only made £4.1 million in the box office, just over half of the production costs, however, the film quickly rose to the top three in the box office in its first week, competing with large US Blockbusters including Thor, who is catered to a similar audience (Sci-fi and fantasy). Although it is a spoof kaiju film, ATB manages to reach the audience with a variety of social issues including, social class, poverty, racial stereotyping and makes the viewer face their own prejudices against people resorting to crime to help their social situation. As the protagonists are mostly teenagers, with two of the young lads causing trouble in the area appearing to be only 12 or 13, the viewer is placed with an instant judgment of the group when they mug a nurse as she walks home, however, as the film progresses, the viewer learns that many of the youths come from poor, broken homes and in some cases have parents who are potentially neglectful. The government are also under question in the film as the teenagers are treated more as criminals and as outsiders than the aliens that they are fighting and end up dodging the police even as they protect their homes. Attack the block gives the audience a new perspective and is a reminder that people who do bad things are not automatically bad people.
- 4. Colossal (2017) Colossal 2017 was directed and written by Nacho Vigalondo who is as Spanish short film director. His production team had input in the film production alongside the Canadian production company Brightlight Pictures and the movie was funded by the American companies Voltage Pictures and Route One Entertainment. As much of the film is based in Seoul, Vigalondo was in close contact with South Korean production company Sakya Productions for the making of the movie. As an internationally funded independent film, the budget was $15 million, a figure considerably smaller than the budget for other Kaiju films such as Godzilla, which had a budget of $225 million and blockbuster status. Although Colossal made only $4.7 million in the box office, the film was surprisingly successful in home movie and online sales and has positive ratings. As an (internationally co-produced) independent film, Colossal was able to put things into the film that a block buster wouldn't dare to do and to take more risks. This is because blockbuster films are designed to make more money for the companies and taking risks can affect how well the film does in the box office and in later sales. Indie films are more likely to have an emotional impact on the audience, weather that is positive or negative differs from person to person but they are unlikely to be thoughtless entertainment. The film starred Anne Hathaway, a blockbuster actress who is well known and has a large following. Hathaway wanted to do a more interesting film and signed on to do Colossal before it had even been funded. She used her stardom and name to get Vigalondo funding for the film which is an example of how ‘star power’ is used to promote a film concept and push it into reality.
- 5. Colossal (2017) continued Themes: Addiction/ Alcoholism - How addiction can ruin a persons life and affect their future. Shows how actions made when under the influence of something can affect other people's lives as well as your own Emotional abuse - Tim manipulates Gloria, instead of offering her support and help, he is passive aggressive and acts as if he has a right to know what she is doing all the time. On the other hand, Oscar plays with Gloria's feelings and guilt trips her, even going as far as blackmailing her with people's lives if he doesn't have possession of her. Physical Abuse - Gloria slaps Oscar in an attempt to get him to stop terrorising the city. Later in the film, Oscar takes this physical violence to a new level, lunging for Gloria who attempts to defend herself and flee. He beats her, winding her so badly that she cannot stand, and gives her a black eye which she hides with a pair of sunglasses until the Robot appears in the city and she has her bruises on show when she defeats him. Strong Female - Gloria breaks free of both men that are being abusive and possessive over her and solves the problem herself. She tries to be independent throughout the film and shows that everyone can learn from mistakes and nothing is too far to come back from. Relationship breakdown - Tim kicks Gloria out for her alcoholism and because she is unemployed. Although they remain in contact, he persistently doubts her and disrespects her even when she is clean and earning her own money. Gloria and Oscar's friendship breaks down as he starts to get jealous of her and begins destroying the city deliberately to control and hurt her. Oscar loses friendships by being obnoxious, controlling and insensitive, eventually causing the breakup of the little friend group that drink when the bar is closed. Reflection on society - Korean city not evacuating to protect people as it is becoming a tourist attraction to see the monster and robot appear in the city. The attitude of people watching it on TV, saying things such as 'at least it's just happening there and nowhere else' which shows that ultimately people will stop caring as it becomes old news despite lives being lost. The internet's insensitivity is shown in the form of a meme/video being made about what is considered a crisis where people have died and buildings have been destroyed.
- 6. Genres and Cycles The Kaiju genre originated in Japan and had a significant rise when the original Godzilla film was released. Godzilla was largely socially and politically aware of relevant issues at the time it was released but since then, the genre has developed to be based on large monsters or creatures who often have conflict with other creatures and military forces. Edwards’ version of Godzilla contains a lot of tropes that fall into the modern kaiju genre. The protagonist of the movie is a U.S army Sargent who engages in battle with the large creatures. Godzilla itself isn’t the only monster in the film and fights off the large radioactive winged creatures that are terrorizing the human population, ultimately showing that Godzilla itself protected the city. This links to how Anne Hathaway’s monster in Colossal goes from being feared by the people of Seoul to being celebrated when they decide the monster is on their side. This happens because they see the monster attack the robot who is deliberately crushing things and killing people. Alternatively, the gang of teens in Attack the Block take on this role, as they are described as ‘monsters’ in their local society, but actually work together to protect their home from an alien invasion. Attack the Block is a kaiju movie spoof that falls neatly into the later parodic stage of the genre cycle, with Godzilla (2014) linking back to the beginning of the circle as a classic kaiju movie. Moreover, Colossal (2017) is definitely a revisionist stage movie as it takes many of the social and political issues presented in films such as Godzilla, and represents them in a much clearer and more hard-hitting way. It also uses conventions of classic kaiju films and twists them to give them new meaning, for example the stereotypical shot of a monster in a city, surrounded by military helicopters becomes a representation of an alcoholic damaging the lives of other people inadvertently.
- 7. Social and Political Context All three of these films have a social / political undertones to different extents. Both Attack the block and Colossal use comedy in different ways to cover sensitive topics and all of the films represent the monsters themselves as a metaphor for bigger issues. For example Godzilla is a reflection of how humanity treats the planet as a whole and is almost a reminder that we are not unconquerable and forcing the viewer to consider who the real villain of the story is. Gloria (Anne Hathaway), the protagonist of the movie Colossal is an alcoholic who has been kicked out by her manipulative partner and has returned to her hometown to build a life for herself. In the process, she discovers that she is the giant monster terrorising the city of Seoul when she staggers drunk into a local park early in the morning. This represents how drunk people may be seen by others but also shows that recovery is possible as Gloria tries to prevent the ‘monster attacks’ from happening. Furthermore, the film handles issues such as domestic violence, physical abuse, manipulation and also makes the viewer look at society as a whole, especially when the people of Seoul start marketing the monster and the robot as tourist attractions despite lives being lost. Attack the block also has heavy social and political undertones as the protagonists of the film are a group of teenage boys from a council estate in south London who have a history of theft, substance abuse and neighbourhood disturbance but end up protecting their local area from an alien attack. Despite becoming the heroes of the story, they are still hounded by the police and local citizens who are unwilling to let go of their prejudices against them. The film also deals with issues of social class and has some not so subtle gestures of how key members of society are often on minimum wage “She’s a nurse, they don’t get nothing”. Although represented in a comedic and action filled way, racial stereotypes, social standing and the general prejudices of society are key areas of this film.
- 8. Funding and Budget The Hollywood blockbuster, Godzilla, had the largest budget of the three films at $225 million as it was produced and distributed by large conglomerates Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures (owned by the conglomerate Wanda group). A large proportion of filming took place in Vancouver, Canada which represented the city of San Francisco in the film. It is common for films to be shot in Vancouver as it is less expensive due to Canadian tax credit. This makes it easier, not only for the blockbusters, but also for independent films on a stricter budget (as long as the director, producer or one of the main actors in the movie are Canadian) such as Colossal which had a budget of $15 million and was funded by a Canadian production company. Attack the Block has the smallest budget of all of the films at only £8 million and was funded by four different film companies, all of which worked on the production of the film in some way. Both of the independent films did not make back their budget in the box office, however, Attack the Block went on to become an award winning and critically acclaimed film despite only making £4.1 million in the box office. Sometimes creators of independent films are more eager to see their movie get an award, although of course, it is preferable for the film to make money. Colossal and ATB made money in home video sales and through online downloads and developed fan bases in their own right. Attack the block is currently available on the US Netflix despite only being shown in 66 cinemas in the united states. For all of the films, the monsters were the most expensive parts of production as the CGI and visual effects of bringing the monsters to life are most technical and time consuming. This is a particularly expensive area for the independent films therefore the monsters are less realistic seeming, like the monster in Colossal, which is a similar style to the monster in Korean independent movie The Host.