gojira & grad school

Last night I headed over to the Dryden Theatre at the Eastman House to check out the original Japanese version of Godzilla. I had seen the 1954 American cut of this, but never the real original version. What a difference. As it turns out when the film came to the states three things were done to it:

  • They added scenes with Perry Mason…err… Raymond Burr as a US Reporter in Tokyo
  • They edited the film so that the story was being told after it happened by Burr’s character in a news report
  • They dubbed it really, really poorly

The original Japanese Version runs 98 minutes, the American Version, with new footage, runs 76. Needless to say a lot of the original plot ended up on a Hollywood floor. With that footage restored you fully understand how good the film originally was and how much of a allegory for Nuclear War it was. The scientists in the movie debate their morality of their actions. While the military only wants to destroy Godzilla, on scientist wants to study the monster in hopes that they can understand how it survived an H-bomb (and in turn how they can as well).

Yes the effects are cheesy, but the acting and direction isn’t. As it turns out the film was directed by Akira Kurosawa’s Assistant Director and stars notable Japanese actors. That combined with historical context (the film was release less than a decade after the 2 nuclear attacks on Japan) give the film a much more serious feeling than any of it sequels.

In other news, I think I’m really making some progress around my efforts to get into Grad school. I’ve been really pushing on what I want to study. This is my current goal:

To study the ways global data communications networks (primarily Internet based) have effected the development and mobilization of communities of interest and to apply that knowledge to the crafting of plans for and implementation of tools to meet their needs.

Now if I can simplify that a little more I think I’ll really be on to something. Basically I want to learn tools for anthropological, business and design study and execution. So far Stanford and Universtiy of Chicago are looking like good choices.

p.s. No sign of Karmic retaliation yet

p.p.s. It’s Abby’s Birthday!