Up from the depths... Gojira!

What do you think of when you hear the name Godzilla?

Some may instantly think of the 1998 American remake - not me, for I've never seen it and have no intention of rectifying that any time soon. For those of a certain age, it may be an old cartoon with a memorable theme tune. For those of an even older certain age, you might even remember a rock song dedicated to the big green guy courtesy of the Blue Oyster Cult. Though probably not.

A lot of people, however, will almost certainly picture badly-dubbed movies starring men in monster costumes stomping about on top of cardboard cities. There's nothing wrong with that either. It's certainly what I always think of and it's what I've always loved about them. A great part of my childhood was spent enjoying these movies - I didn't care whether he was wrestling giant moths, spiders, dinosaurs or even good old Mechagodzilla (the robotic replica of Godzilla for those who've never properly been introduced). As long as there was bad dubbing and men in costumes wrestling each other over replicas of Tokyo I was happy.

Of course that's not necessarily everyone's cup of tea. Certainly I may have been emotionally scarred by the taunting I took at school on one occasion when I loaned a film to someone and they discovered that the same tape also contained the joys of GODZILLA VS MEGALON. Then again, now that I think about it, spending a childhood enjoying the sight of grown men in rubber costumes wrestling with each other should probably have scarred me more than it did.

Anyway, the reason why I've brought this up is that yesterday I finally saw the original Japanese movie that started it all, GOJIRA (1954). Forget about the countless increasingly silly sequels, or indeed the various imitators (check out GORGO if you want to see a British take on it) - this is the one that matters, but it's the one that is most rarely seen.

In many cases, even people who claim to have seen the original version haven't really seen it at all. The reason for this is that when the film first appeared in front of western audiences it was dubbed, chopped up, re-edited and, most cheekily of all, Americanised with newly-shot footage starring Raymond Burr. Yep, that's right, it was very nearly GODZILLA VS PERRY MASON.

Thanks to the British Film Institute, the original Japanese unbastardized version is now available on DVD and has also been doing the rounds at selected cinemas so you can view it for yourself - here in the UK this is the first time that most people, myself included, will have seen it in its intended form. I think you'll find that, no matter what category you fell into when answering my opening question, this is not the Godzilla you remember.

When reappraising this gem, it's important to remember that this film was conceived less than a decade after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as it is the shadows of these events that loom over the film. In addition to explicit references to the evacuation of Tokyo and to the H-bomb (one of the main characters is even revealed to be a Nagasaki survivor) there are powerful visual references in the wake of Godzilla's destruction.

Following the trail of Godzilla's rampage across Tokyo, there are countless images of the city in flames (accompanied by a rather melancholic score by Akira Ifukube, who gave the series of films their musical identity with his memorable title march) that call to mind the US bombings of Tokyo during the war. On top of this is the aftermath of the havok wreaked by Godzilla; it's impossible to see the carefully staged ruins of Tokyo and not think of the numerous pictures taken in the wake of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. It's a comparison that is hammered home by the sight, in an overcrowded hospital full of victims of Godzilla's radiation, of traumatized children being tested with geiger counters.

Against the background of the attacks, one scientist who has found what might be the only way to defeat Godzilla wrestles with his own feelings. On one hand he knows that only he has the power to defeat the monster; on the other hand, he is sure that once the world knows of this device it will be put to evil uses by the world's leaders. This crisis of conscience over making a monumental scientific advancement but knowing it will end up in the wrong hands mirrors the feelings of those scientists who proudly unleashed the power of the atom only to watch in horror when they realised how it would be used.

The message behind the film is capped off by a closing monologue from one of the lead characters about the dangers of developing increasingly powerful weapons, warning that it will only lead to another Godzilla. Make no mistake, this film is very definitely about a nuclear menace; but it's not the big, scaly, radioactive guy setting fire to Tokyo that they're talking about.

If all this seems a bit heavy, don't worry. There is still plenty of action to be had courtesy of a man in a rubber suit stomping all over a cardboard city. And what's not to love about that?