Dir. Ishirô Honda (1964)
A business owner refuses to return Mothra's egg, leading to a confrontation between the flying monster and Godzilla.
For a series that has always been about the environmental dangers of nuclear weapons, Mothra vs Godzilla is a bit more heavy-handed than some of the other films in the franchise. Director Ishirô Honda has never pulled any punches when it came to this societal critique, making sure to let audiences know exactly what he thought about the government's continual pursuit of nuclear technology in the aftermath of the bombing of Hirsohima and Nagasaki. MvG, however, shows us an entire society brought to ruin from nuclear testing, and yet is one that is positioned to be the saviors of all of Japan.
One of Mothra's eggs has washed ashore of an island off the coast of Japan, where it is scooped up by some Japanese businessmen who hope to make money off of it. They are warned to give it back, but of course they don't, which causes Mothra to come looking for her baby on the mainland. Naturally, Godzilla is having none of this shit, and the giant Japanese lizard returns to shore to fight with yet another giant creature who it views as being in its way. Turning the situation on its head, the citizens of Japan now must appeal to Mothra and its newly-hatched offspring in order to save the country from the giant monster menace.
The Mothra story is super fucking weird. The giant moth comes from a place called Infant Island, populated by little people (and I mean, like, really little people, not like regular little people). The Shobijin, Japanese for "Little Beauties," are two women charged with taking care of Mothra and her offspring. It's an interesting idea for a kaiju, because most of the times, they're just enlarged versions of a specific animal whose origin stories are some contrived pseudo-scientific bullshit. Not so with Mothra, who has an entire, fantasy-lite story all her own. These two tiny chicks are basically the Radiator Lady from Eraserhead, dressed all fancily as they speak in unison to warn people away from doing things that will summon their moth overlord.
Mothra vs. Godzilla makes Godzilla a stumbling, uncoordinated mess, which, as silly as it sounds, actually works really well for the film. It's believable that this giant monster, placed among a cityscape with which it is not familiar, would struggle to acclimate and get around the way that it normally would in more open expanse. It's easy to get lost in the rubber suits of it all, but it's always impressive to me how Toho personified the creature. It adds an extra layer of sympathy, allowing the films' audiences to connect in a way that they otherwise would not have been able to manage. It's necessary, too, especially in a world where people yearn to identify with the villain.
Despite the film's aforementioned discussion of the desolation of nuclear aftermath, it's a gorgeous film from a cinematography perspective. Mothra's homeland of Infant Island is beautiful, a verdant garden in the midst of a wasteland. It's easy to see, then, why Mothra would be hesitant to leave it in the first place were it not for the kidnapping of her unborn child. Honda's depiction of the island shows the difference between what exists before, and after, man, and it's a stark contrast indeed. Even Mothra herself is beautiful, a multi-colored representation of the wonders of nature. Compared to the man-created Godzilla, who is greenish black and grimy, Mothra represents the hope that man can escape the consequences of their hubris if only they can change their ways.
That's not, of course, to take anything away from Godzilla, who is clearly the star of the show. MvG's depiction of the lizard is fantastic, a slow and lumbering giant impervious to all of man's attempts to destroy it. It's a true monster, and yet it once again draws our commiseration. Once the two beasts finally do battle, audiences are treated to all of the reasons we have loved this series for several generations now. It's a fun, monster-filled romp that kaiju fans will really enjoy, and it embodies exactly what we all love about the series as a whole.
Who this movie is for: Godzilla devotees, Kaiju fans, Tiny women
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