Daily Archives: July 21, 2017

Pitfall (Otoshiana) 
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara
Written by Kobo Abe
1962/Japan
Teshigahara Productions/Toho Company
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] I have never yet heard of a murderer who was not afraid of a ghost. John Philpot Curran [/box]

There’s some effective filmmaking here but I failed to get the point if there was one.

A miner and his young son are wandering around looking for work.  They are told they can find some in a certain town.  When they arrive they discover it is a ghost town.  The only living soul they can find is the woman who operates the candy store.

Before very long, the miner is murdered by a mystery man in white.  The mystery man pays the candy store lady to deny he was ever in town.  The miner’s ghost observes the investigation.  A bunch of other stuff happens, somehow involving two rival miners unions and other ghosts.

I’m a big fan of Teshigahara’s Woman in the Dunes (1964) but I found his feature film debut underwhelming.  The staging and photography have some of the eerie feel of Woman but the story lacks the focus or power of that film.  It’s basically a loosely connected series of unpunished bad acts.  Not a favorite.

Trailer – no subtitles

King Kong vs. Godzilla
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Written by Shinichi Sekizawa
1962/Japan
Toho Company
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Mr.Tako: King Kong can’t make a monkey out of us![/box]

Wherever there is a giant ape, there must be some idiot who wants to make him a star. That he fights Godzilla is just the icing on the cake.

A pharmaceutical company has got its hands on some giant berries with potential as a tranquilizer.  It can’t get any more because the natives of its New Guinea island home need all they have to appease their god, King Kong.  The minute some promoters learn of this they must find the ape and bring it Tokyo.

Concurrently, Godzilla has awoken from the iceberg in which it was frozen and is making its way back to its homeland, i.e. Tokyo.  The authorities prepare for catastrophe while the promoters try to prevent molestation of Kong.  Unfortunately, the electric currents which repel Godzilla actually strengthen Kong.  The only hope is that they will destroy each other. Havoc ensues.

This is 91 minutes of dopey fun.  The promoters are some of the lamest comic relief ever.  I  smiled throughout but would not rank it in the top seven Japanese movies of all time.

Trailer