Japanese monster movies will soon be making their home in Paris, but not without some turbulence. The Maison de la culture du Japon pays tribute to “kaijū eiga” (understand monster cinema) from 1954 to the present day. Invasion of giant reptiles and dinosaurs scheduled from October 5, 2024!
Kaijū eiga, the movie monster attack
It’s a very special genre in the Japanese cinematic landscape! Its stars are not flesh-and-blood actors, but creatures from the imagination. They answer to the evocative names of Gamera, Mothra or Godzilla. You’ve got it, it’s the Japanese monster movie! In the archipelago, the “kaijū eiga” is an institution of popular culture with its own followers, classics and codes!
It was in the aftermath of the Second World War, a conflict that traumatized an entire nation, that the Japanese encountered the first film of its kind! With the theatrical release of Godzilla in 1954, the “kaijū eiga” was born! Since then, the genre has expanded, evolved and delivered a collection of productions that can be viewed on the big screen at the Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris.
70 years of Japanese monster movies on the big screen
Worried about an attack by giant monsters? Then take refuge at the Maison de la culture du Japon, which is devoting a cycle to Japanese monster films from October 5 to November 9! Thirteen films covering seventy years of production have been selected for the occasion, in collaboration with the Cinémathèque française. Godzilla (by Ishiro Honda, 1954), the “kaijū” film par excellence, will be screened in a 4K restored version. Roland Emmerich ‘s more recent 1998 retelling will also be shown, along with many other episodes in the saga(Shin Godzilla, Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color…).
Other creatures just as delirious, furious and curious would also grace the screen: a giant pteranodon in Rodan (Ishiro Honda, 1956), a baby reptile in Gappa (Haruyasu Noguchi, 1967) and Biollante, a hybrid plant monster between Godzilla and…a rosebush!
Ready for this face-off?
📌Cycle Kaijû, a monstrous history of Japanese cinema 1954 – 2024- From 5/10 to 9/11/2024
at the Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris
101bis, quai Jacques Chirac, 75015 Paris
Further information on the cycle Kaijû, A monstrous history of Japanese cinema 1954 – 2024