From: dave@blackbox.cc.columbia.edu (David Milner)
Subject: ISHIRO HONDA INTERVIEW
Keywords: Godzilla Japan Monster
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 19:58:06 GMT

This interview was conducted in the home of Ishiro Honda, the
director of films such as GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS, RODAN,
MOTHRA, KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA, GHIDRAH, THE
THREE-HEADED MONSTER, GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO and DESTROY ALL
MONSTERS on December 16, 1992.

Q: I was sorry to hear about the death of Shinichi Sekizawa. (He
wrote the screenplays to MOTHRA, KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, GODZILLA
VS. MOTHRA, GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER, GODZILLA VS. MONSTER
ZERO and so on.) Let me ask you, what type of working relationship
did the two of you have together? Did you work on scripts together,
or did he write a script, and then you took it from there?

A: The system at that time was a bit different from the way it is
today. Back then, there was a planning department that would gather
ideas from anyone in Toho.

H-MAN, for example, was very typical. The idea for H-MAN came from
an almost unknown actor in Toho.

The production of MOTHRA was also a very typical example. The
planning department was gathering ideas from everyone in Toho, even
actors and actresses with very tiny roles. Then, it decided to
commission four novelists to write a story about a big moth and two
very tiny fairies. These four people wrote the story, which
appeared in the weekly edition of the Asahi Shimbun, and then Mr.
Sekizawa turned it into a film script. I advised him only on the
cinematographic aspects of the story.



Q: About Sekizawa, how good a writer was he? How significant was
his contribution to the genre?

A: Sekizawa and Kimura were completely different. (Takeshi Kimura
wrote the screenplays for RODAN, THE MYSTERIANS, KING KONG ESCAPES,
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS and so on.) If the story was very positive, or
even childish, it would go to Sekizawa. If it was negative, or
involved politics, it would go to Kimura. I really can't compare
the two because they were so different.



Q: GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS has a semi-documentary feel to
it. Was this done intentionally?

A: The intention of not only the script writer, but the whole staff
as well, was to focus on how people would react if a creature such
as Godzilla really did appear. What would the politicians do? How
about the scientists? How would the military handle the situation?
Given this, it was inevitable that the film would seem at least
somewhat like a documentary.



Q: MARKALITE magazine reported a while ago that you switched the
roles of Akira Takarada (who played Ogata, the man in love with
Emiko) and Akihiko Hirata (who played Dr. Serizawa, the scientist
who creates the oxygen destroyer) in the film. Is this really true?

A: I can hardly remember, but I suspect that it was merely a rumor
that Mr. Takarada would be playing the scientist.



Q: There was speculation in MARKALITE that perhaps Ghidrah was
meant to symbolize China's acquisition of nuclear weapons. Is this
true?

A: I doubt it. Ghidrah was merely meant to be a modern
interpretation of the hydra of Japanese myth.

Also, Sekizawa wrote the script, and he was always non-political.



Q: The alternate version of the sequence in which Ghidrah first
appears in GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (it is entirely
animated) is preferred to the one actually used in the film by many
fans. Do you know why the one that is in the film was chosen over
the alternate?

A: I did not choose it, so I can't really answer your question. It
was chosen by (special effects director) Eiji Tsuburaya, who I
trusted so much after GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS that I allowed
him to select which special effects footage would be used and which
would not. I have never even seen the alternate version.



Q: Why did you take a break from the Godzilla series in between
GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS?

A: Mainly two reasons. There were scheduling problems, and also,
Toho decided that they didn't want people to feel that monster
films had to be directed by me.

Frankly, I was having a hard time humanizing Godzilla the way Toho
wanted anyway. I was even hesitant to let Mothra act as a mediator
between Godzilla and Rodan in GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER. It
certainly would have been difficult for me to direct SON OF
GODZILLA.



Q: An original idea for DESTROY ALL MONSTERS that did not make it
to the final version of the film was that the monsters were
supposed to not only be being studied, but bred, and cross-bred, as
well. What other ideas for the film were rejected?

A: Originally, the idea was just to show all of the monsters. Then,
we started thinking about undersea farming. Eventually, these two
ideas were combined, and the idea for an island on which all of the
monsters had been collected for scientific study was born.

You see, we imagined that undersea farming would be required to
feed all of the monsters.

I really wanted to explore the idea of undersea farming in the
film, but because of the financial situation, it was not allowed.
Only the idea of an island of monsters survived.



Q: Were budgetary concerns also the reason why so much stock
footage was included in GODZILLA'S REVENGE?

A: At that time, the budgets were getting smaller and smaller, so
yes, it's very possible.



Q: What exactly did Eiji Tsuburaya contribute to the film?

A: By that time, his assistants, Teisho Arikawa and Teruyoshi
Nakano, were sufficiently experienced to be able to handle the
special effects on their own. The thinking at Toho was, "let them
do the actual work," but still Tsuburaya was given credit simply
out of respect.



Q: I'd heard that you actually directed some of the special effects
footage for that film. Is this not true?

A: I directed almost all of it. The two main reasons why I did were
the budget and time constraints. Also, a very small studio was used
for the shooting of the film, so it was decided not to separate the
filming of the special effects and the regular actors as was
usually done.



Q: How was this different from working with regular actors?

A: It was totally different. As you know, Godzilla is a suit, about
1.8 meters tall. If he was filmed as a regular actor would be, he
would just appear to be a suit. So, you have to use different
camera angles and positions, and you also have to move the camera
differently.



Q: How did you like the last few Godzilla films?
A: That's a very difficult question to answer. Generally, I don't
really have a positive, or negative, opinion about them.

The special effects are now technically very sophisticated, but the
films lack imagination. It seems as if all they are trying to do is
show the scenes of destruction. I don't really blame the production
department, though, because I know that that is what management is
demanding.



Q: Some in the United States were offended by the sequence in
GODZILLA VS. GHIDRAH in which the Godzillasaurus attacks the United
States armed forces. Do you feel that their offense was justified?

A: Omori went a bit too far. (Kazuki Omori directed both GODZILLA
VS. BIOLLANTE and GODZILLA VS. GHIDRAH.) He didn't blame the
soldiers, but I feel that he just went too far.



Q: Was VARAN, THE UNBELIEVABLE produced at the request of American
television?

A: I can't remember which studio requested it, but yes, it was.



Q: Who made the decision to shoot the film in black and white?

A: Black and white was decided upon by Toho because all television
shows were in that format at the time.

By the way, after we had shot five or six scenes in the standard
35mm format required for television, it was decided that the film
was going to be shown in theatres as well as on television. At
first we planned to simply re-shoot the scenes in the wider
cinemascope format used in theatres, but we were being rushed, so
we just blew up the existing film to fit the cinemascope format.



Q: Which of your own films are your favorites?

A: I should ask you that question!

I would have to say GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS, although the
continuity of the scenes appears to me a bit inexperienced these
days.

Another one is THE MYSTERIANS. I remember it as being an attempt to
portray a very new, and surprising, world.

GORATH, too, comes to mind.



Q: Are there any of your own films that you are not happy with?

A: The production department would decide which director to assign
to a film, and its decisions were usually pretty good ones. This
applied to actors and cameramen as well. So, I really haven't any
that I do not enjoy.



Q: You would agree that Toho was fortunate to have Akira Ifukube
scoring its films?

A: Yes, I feel that Toho was very fortunate in that regard. Mr.
Ifukube always seemed to have a profound understanding for the film
he was working on.



Q: He created the roar of Godzilla used in GODZILLA, KING OF THE
MONSTERS, didn't he?

A: Yes, he did. He was having a very hard time selecting a sound
for Godzilla. He was even in grief over this. Seeing him in that
state showed me that he was very seriously thinking about the
movie, and that showed me that the film could be a successful one.



Q: I have heard that you worked as a still photographer before
going into films. Is this true?

A: No - I was a documentary director for a while, but never a still
photographer.



Q: Which actors did you especially enjoy working with?

A: The best actress was Kumi Mizuno. (She played the native girl in
GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER and the woman from Planet X in
GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO). She was very genuine. Once she was
involved in a film, she would just step right into her role.

All of the other really good actors and actresses were like this as
well.

I recently saw GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1992), and I noticed that the
young actors in the film were not really thoroughly involved in it.



Q: Would you say that the actors you worked with during the 1950s
and 1960s were generally better than those who have appeared in the
more recent genre films?

A: Yes.



Q: Can you think of a reason why that might be?

A: Times are just different.



Q: How did you like working with Nick Adams on GODZILLA VS. MONSTER
ZERO and FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD?

A: He was a very passionate actor with some very good ideas. There
should have been two or three more films with Nick Adams produced
whether they were monster films or not.



Q: I understand that very little improvisation was allowed during
filming for budgetary reasons. Can you remember any improvised
lines that made it into a genre film?

A: Yes, that was true, but sometimes an actor would find difficulty
in saying a certain line or word. In that case, I would just change
or delete it. This happened in just about every film.



Q: Were you ever involved in any projects that did not end up being
produced?

A: There were a few projects, but they were not science fiction
films.

One that was being planned was THE FISHERMEN, about fishermen in
Okinawa. I wrote a synopsis, and it was going to be a semi-
documentary drama. It was mainly about the younger generation
wanting to leave Okinawa for the big city. Toho canceled the
project after the synopsis was written, but it eventually got out
and was produced as a straight documentary by Ichei Studios.

Another one was a Japanese version of THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN
THEIR FLYING MACHINES, which Eiji Tsuburaya had also planned to do.
I interviewed many of the pioneers of Japanese aviation, and a
script was completed. I'm not sure if the project was canceled for
budgetary reasons, or because Toho just decided against producing
the film.

A third one was a Japanese version of GHOST. A dead soldier comes
back to Japan, wandering around...

This is very classified information!

Q: Do you feel that perhaps there should not have been any sequels
to GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS produced?

A: Godzilla was a product of the times.

Before then, there was no monster like him. So, people were scared,
and shocked, by him. Now, when Godzilla appears in a city, most of
the buildings are even taller than he is!

The image of what a monster is shouldn't stay the same. It should
be different so that people will be shocked and surprised, just as
they were by GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS in 1954. Something new,
and strange, must be developed.



Q: Were you surprised by the international success of your films?

A: The enthusiasm of the fans in the United States never ceases to
amaze me!



Q: Godzilla was created in reaction to the development of nuclear
weapons. Since nuclear war is no longer as great a threat as it
once was, many fans now feel that Godzilla should instead be used
to address environmental concerns. Do you agree?

A: Yes, I quite agree.



Q: TriStar Pictures may begin producing a Godzilla film in the
United States next year. How do you feel about this?

A: Probably, it will be much more interesting than the ones being
produced in Japan. I'm glad.



David Milner  Columbia University
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