Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
This one’s played in LA already, but it’s still traveling around the country, and you may well be one of the cities still about to get it. If so, it’s well worth seeing on the big screen, and Capone can explain why:
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here with a look at a classic that most of you probably think you've seen but trust me, you haven't (at least not on a big screen in the U.S.). The second film will never be considered a classic be anyone, but it features one of the finest performances by a young actor that I have ever seen.
GODZILLA
By now most of you have probably heard about this restored, original version of GODZILLA finally making its way to our shores after 50 years of being hidden from our sensitive American eyes. And all I can say is: what a different Raymond Burr makes. Although not shown with the version being released in revival houses across the country, I was shown a 10-minute reel with comparisons between the Japanese and American versions of the film. Adding Raymond Burr and other actors to double as the backs of heads of the Japanese actors is downright laughable. As if the dubbing wasn't bad enough. Instead of Godzilla simply demolishing Tokyo, we saw news correspondent Burr looking out his hotel room window watching Godzilla flatten Tokyo. Here's the tally: the film's original length was about 100 minutes (this is version hitting theatres now); the American version chopped 40 minutes from the length and added 20 minutes of Raymond Burr footage and voiceover that is ham-handedly inserted into key scenes. Most of what was cut involved subtle criticism about U.S. atomic testing and turning every invention into an element of the war machine.
I haven't seen the original GODZILLA in many years, and I'd kind of forgotten just how little the monster is actually in the film. Like many b-films in America at the time, the film is largely social commentary and a couple of monster attacks. The highlight for this version of the film for me is the wonderfully brooding performance by Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura, a scientist who wants Godzilla kept alive and voices his belief that Godzilla is not the monster in this scenario; atomic testing and weapons are. Entirely too much time is devoted to a love triangle between Shimura's daughter (Momoko Kochi), a young navy frogman (Akira Takarada), and the inventor (Akihiko Hirata) of the Oxygen Destroyer, the only weapon that has a shot at destroying Godzilla.
The images of doctors waving geiger counters across the bodies of children and shaking their heads are far more effective in the context of this version of the film. It's made more clear that Godzilla has been irradiated by the very weapons that devastated cities in Japan at the end of World War II. I'd almost forgotten how surreal the destruction of Godzilla at the end of the film appears. It's slow, blurry, almost surreal, as if trying to elicit tears. It's beautiful and thoughtful. The image of Godzilla's bones drifting the the bottom of the ocean could almost be considered beautiful. As a piece of film history or as a subtle attempt at film propaganda, this version of GODZILLA is skillful, adventurous, ridiculous, and even a tiny bit dangerous, all wrapped up in a big green rubber suit that looks about as real as a hand puppet and most of the world can't get enough of, including me. The film opens in Chicago at the Music Box Theatre on July 2, just in time for the fireworks.
THE MUDGE BOY
Learn this name: Emile Hirsch. Like many, I first made a point to remember his name after I marveled at his performance alongside Kieran Culkin in THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS. I even thought he was good in the recent bomb THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. But nothing I'd seen him in to date prepared me for what he pulls off in THE MUDGE BOY, a title that almost guarantees no box office and that's a shame. Hirsch plays 14-year-old Duncan Mudge, the slightly off son of hay farmer Edgar ("Six Feet Under's" Richard Jenkins). Duncan's mother dies of a heart attack at the beginning of the film while she is making her daily rounds through the community delivering eggs. It appears that she has literally worked herself to death. With no mother or siblings to pick up the slack, Duncan is forced to take on the more traditionally feminine duties around the farm, which eventually leads to him dressing in some of her clothes, carrying around her pet chicken, and just generally acting touched, as if to mirror his mother's behavior after drinking too much. Duncan's father is clearly disappointed in his son, but doesn't believe any effort to correct the boy would be worth it.
THE MUDGE BOY is not some quirky comedy, as is soon evidenced by Duncan's run ins with some of the older local boys and girls. Duncan is so shy it hurts to watch him interact with this kids, especially when they start to drink and tease him. Things start to look up for Duncan's social life when he becomes friends with Perry (Tom Guiry), who hangs with the tough kids but makes certain they respect Duncan to a point. Things get a little strange when Perry starts graphically recalling his sexual exploits with women who couldn't handle his supposedly oversized genitalia, but Duncan is obviously excited to be hearing such stories because it makes him feel like a normal person. What happens from that point on is difficult to watch. Perry, and later the other kids, abuse Duncan in some really despicable ways, and your heart continues to break as Duncan seems to accept the treatment as long as they'll still hang out with him. Newcomer director Michael Burke has fashioned a believable and horrendous portrait of life in the outskirts of America and life. Hirsch's Duncan is so naive that you want to protect him from danger and slap him for being so gullible and desperate for the attention and affection that has clearly abandoned him since his mother's death. THE MUDGE BOY is a quietly devastating film that offers little hope for any of its characters, but an abundance of great performances and writing. The film opens in Chicago on June 25 at the Landmark Century Center Theatres.
Capone
Nice work, buddy. Thanks.
"Moriarty" out.
