A small Japanese village of fishermen has decided to join together to kill the monstrous whale that has been ruining their catches. It becomes such a cause that the richest man in town (Takashi Shimura) offers his power, his land, his money and his daughter (Kyoko Enami) to whoever can kill the kaiju-size whale. This works well for Shaki (Kojiro Hondo), who has been planning on killing the whale after it ate his family. However, a man known only as "I am-" (Shintaro Katsu) has come to town with the same urge to kill the demon whale.
Can a kaiju movie pretty much be Moby Dick? Yes, it can. This is the film. Yet it's also more, as it's based on a novel by Uno Koichiro (thanks Japan On Film).
Directed by Tokuzô Tanaka and written by Kaneto Shindô, this finds "I am-" fighting with everyone in town and even assaulting a woman in love with Shaki (Shiho Fujimara). Our hero raises that child as his own. Meanwhile, both "I am-" and the rich man's daughter are nearly stoic, silent and near-emotionless figures despite their importance to the story. The old man sees his daughter as the biggest prize, but neither man wants or needs her. Our hero wants revenge and his enemy just wants something different, a new experience and something to challenge his will.
Daiei is such a strange company, one that could release Rashomon and also the Gamera, Zatoichi, Yokai Monsters and Daimajin series of films. They even had their own baseball team, the Daiei Stars, which are known today as the Chiba Lotte Marines.
I've never seen anything like this movie, a moody look at fishing life that just so happens to feature a kaiju whale.
Can a kaiju movie pretty much be Moby Dick? Yes, it can. This is the film. Yet it's also more, as it's based on a novel by Uno Koichiro (thanks Japan On Film).
Directed by Tokuzô Tanaka and written by Kaneto Shindô, this finds "I am-" fighting with everyone in town and even assaulting a woman in love with Shaki (Shiho Fujimara). Our hero raises that child as his own. Meanwhile, both "I am-" and the rich man's daughter are nearly stoic, silent and near-emotionless figures despite their importance to the story. The old man sees his daughter as the biggest prize, but neither man wants or needs her. Our hero wants revenge and his enemy just wants something different, a new experience and something to challenge his will.
Daiei is such a strange company, one that could release Rashomon and also the Gamera, Zatoichi, Yokai Monsters and Daimajin series of films. They even had their own baseball team, the Daiei Stars, which are known today as the Chiba Lotte Marines.
I've never seen anything like this movie, a moody look at fishing life that just so happens to feature a kaiju whale.
