Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa

336 Pages·2017·7.43 MB·English

by  Steve Ryfle

Ishiro Honda

I shiro Honda
A Life in fiLm, from GodziLLA to KurosAwA
Steve Ryfle and ed GodziSzewSki
With YuuKo HondA- Yun Foreword by mArtin scorsese
wesLeYAn universitY Press Middletown, Connecticut
Wesleyan University Press
Middletown CT 06459
www.wesleyan.edu/wespress
2017 © Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Designed by Rich Hendel
Typeset in Utopia, Klavika, and Industry types
by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ryfle, Steve author. | Godziszewski, Ed author.
Title: Ishiro Honda : a life in film, from Godzilla to
Kurosawa / Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski ; with
Yuuko Honda-Yun ; foreword by Martin Scorsese.
Description: Middletown, Connecticut : Wesleyan
University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical
references and index. |
Identifiers: Lccn 2017007286 (print) | Lccn
2017024649 (ebook) | isBn 9780819577412 (ebook) |
isBn 9780819570871 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LcsH: Honda, Ishiro, 1911–1993. | Motion
picture producers and directors—Japan—
Biography.
Classification: Lcc Pn1998.3.H68 (ebook) |
Lcc Pn1998.3.H68 r94 2017 (print) |
ddc 791.4302/33092 [B]—dc23
Lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017007286
5 4 3 2 1
Jacket photo: Ishiro Honda. Coutesy of Honda Film, Inc.
Contents
Foreword by Martin Scorsese / vii
Acknowledgments / ix
Introduction / xi
i. dReamS and niGhtmaReS: 1911–45 / 1
1. A Boy from the Mountains / 3
2. Tokyo / 6
3. Film School Lessons / 11
4. A Reluctant Soldier / 14
5. Forging Bonds / 18
6. War / 26
ii. awakeninGS: 1946–54 / 35
7. Starting Over / 37
8. Allegiances and Alliances / 43
9. The Documentaries / 46
Ise- shima (1949), Story of a Co- op (1950)
10. Sea, Land, and Sky / 52
The Blue Pearl (1951), The Skin of the South (1952),
The Man Who Came to Port (1952), Adolescence Part 2 (1953),
Eagle of the Pacific (1953), Farewell Rabaul (1954)
iii. Science fiction: 1954–64 / 81
11. No Laughing Matter / 83
Godzilla (1954)
12. Obligations / 108
Love Makeup (1955), Mother and Son (1955), Half Human (1955)
13. Youth Movement / 119
Young Tree (1956), Night School (1956), People of Tokyo, Goodbye (1956),
Rodan (1956)
14. Lovers and Aliens / 130
Good Luck to These Two (1957), A Teapicker’s Song of Goodbye (1957),
A Rainbow Plays in My Heart (1957),
A Farewell to the Woman I Called My Sister (1957), The Mysterians (1957)
15. Brides, Blobs, and a Bomb / 142
Song for a Bride (1958), The H- Man (1958), Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
16. Marriage, Money, and the Moon / 152
An Echo Calls You (1959), Inao, Story of an Iron Arm (1959),
Seniors, Juniors, Co- workers (1959), Battle in Outer Space (1959)
17. Accidental Monsters / 164
The Human Vapor (1960), Mothra (1961), A Man in Red (1961)
18. Going Global / 182
Gorath (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
19. Dangerous Waters / 196
Matango (1963), Atragon (1963)
20. Monsters and Gangsters / 206
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), Dogora (1964),
Ghidorah, the Three- Headed Monster (1964)
iv. Good- bye, Godzilla: 1965–75 / 219
21. East Meets West / 221
Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965), Invasion of Astro- Monster (1965),
The War of the Gargantuas (1966), Come Marry Me (1966)
22. Monsters or Bust / 238
King Kong Escapes (1967), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Latitude Zero (1969),
All Monsters Attack (1969), Space Amoeba (1970), Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
v. at kuRoSawa’S Side: 1976–93 / 273
23. Rhapsody in Autumn / 275
Afterword by Ryuji Honda / 299
Ishiro Honda Filmography / 301
Notes / 305
Index / 317
Illustrations appear after page 118.
I had the honor of working with Ishiro
Honda when I appeared in Akira Kuro-
sawa’s Dreams. It was extremely moving to
me to see Honda, in his late seventies at the
time and an internationally acknowledged
and celebrated filmmaker, working as an
assistant director to his old friend and
acknowledged master, Akira Kurosawa. It
taught me something about Japanese cul-
F oreword ture, but it also gave me an enriched sense
of Mr. Honda, as a wonderful human being
and an extraordinary artist and craftsman.
This carefully researched and detailed
book gives us a full picture of the man
and his life—his early love for cinema; the
terrible trials he endured as a soldier, a pris-
oner of war, and then as a veteran returning
to a devastated world; his relationship with
his wife, Kimi; his devotion to Kurosawa;
his gradual rise within the studio system
from assistant to director of documentaries
to features; and his remarkable run of
science fiction and monster films from
the 1950s through the 1970s. Of course,
that includes Gojira (known to American
audiences as Godzilla) as well as Rodan,
The Mysterians, The H- Man, and Mothra,
pictures that haunted the imaginations of
young moviegoers like myself and millions
of others for years to come.
—Martin Scorsese
vii

Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski wish to
express their deep gratitude to the family
of Ishiro Honda for helping to make this
book possible. To Kimi Honda, for inviting
us into her home and sharing many stories
of her husband’s life and work; to Ryuji
Honda, for entrusting us with his father’s
story, for navigating many legal and logis-
tical hurdles, and for facilitating research,
Acknowledgments interviews, and information gathering; to
Yuuko Honda- Yun, our partner, who spent
countless hours supporting this project
by performing translation, conducting
research, engaging in discussion, and
providing an invaluable perspective, ideas,
insights, and friendship.
Special thanks to Shinsuke Nakajima,
our research associate in Japan, whose
contributions are immeasurable; to Kenji
Sahara, who arranged interviews with his
fellow actors; to Mariko Godziszewski for
translating many Japanese texts; to Stuart
Galbraith IV for assistance with research
and critiquing the manuscript; to Mark
Schilling for reading and critiquing the
manuscript; and to Parker Smathers,
Suzanna Tamminen, Marla Zubel, Peter
Fong, Elizabeth Forsaith, and the staff of
Wesleyan University Press.
Two of Honda’s longtime assistant
directors granted lengthy interviews and
offered unique insights. The late Koji Kajita
generously met with us numerous times
and answered many follow- up questions.
Seiji Tani was likewise extremely generous.
The contributions of both men are greatly
appreciated.
Special thanks also go to Toho Co. Ltd.,
Kurosawa Production Co., and Honda Film
Inc. for their cooperation and assistance.
The authors also wish to thank many
individuals and organizations that provided
assistance and support:
ix