KaiJuly at Showroom Cinema
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
This month, Showroom present KaiJuly, a short season of films that surveys the kaiju canon — and in particular, Godzilla, it’s most popular star — celebrating the giant monsters and city-toppling mayhem, as well as the rubber suits and the beginnings of a genre that has its roots in the nuclear devastation of WWII-era Japan.
The Godzilla franchise has endured longer than any other, with 33 Japanese films and 5 US productions, the movies keep on coming. In the last twelve months alone, we’ve had Toho’s sobering post-war set Godzilla Minus One, as well Legendary Pictures’ movie Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and for Apple TV+ the series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
Showroom’s season can only gesture towards the depths of the franchise, but through four carefully selected titles, audiences can get an idea of the scope of the kaiju genre, and the power and pull of Godzilla as icon, allegory, monster and movie star. Starting at the beginning with Ishirō Honda’s 1954 Godzilla — which turns 70 this year — the titles on show demonstrate the ways in which kaiju movies have flexed with the times.
Starting at the beginning with Ishirō Honda’s 1954 Godzilla, the titles on show demonstrate the ways in which kaiju movies have flexed with the times.
There’s space for Toho’s second most frequent kaiju in 1961’s fantastical Mothra which adds a sprinkle of myth and magic to the genre, as a flying monster hatches and wreaks havoc in an effort to rescue two priestesses stolen from their homeland. While 1968’s Destroy All Monsters is billed as an unserious, wrestling-infused rumble that leans into the sillier side of the kaiju movie.
Then there’s an opportunity to catch 2016’s Shin Godzilla back on the big screen. An unexpected success, the film offers a serious critique of government bureaucracy through a gripping, seat-shaking rampage from everybody’s favourite giant lizard, updated for contemporary audiences.
In addition to the movies, Showroom welcome Dr Diane Rodgers and film historian and writer Dr Craig Ian Mann, who will be providing introductions to Godzilla and Mothra respectively. You’ll also want to get down to the KaiJuly Giant Monster All-Out Afterparty, which promises a night of themed cocktails and classic Godzilla video games.
