Nakajima, who had already appeared in... Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai,” observed that Indira lumbered around slowly by pressing the entire sole of its foot on the ground at once....For the movement of Godzilla's arms Nakajima used what he saw in bears. For the head, birds.
Nakajima, who is now 85, says he got his strength to play Godzilla from his service in the Japanese Navy and that he had to endure the disrespect of fellow actors who opined that "suit acting" was not acting.
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The new Godzilla was rather disappointing.
And speaking of (The) Batman, some station has been running the 60's shows; they're far more entertaining than any of the more recent movies.
Mr. Nakajima is a delightful man who has made several appearances at conventions here in the last few years, accompanied by his beautiful daughter. I met him in the hotel restaurant in one, and watched him chow down on a huge steak, then went outside with him for a smoke afterwards. He greatly enjoys life and the idolization he receives from his fans in the U.S.
He was a very accomplished stuntman when he was cast in GODZILLA; his strength helped him manage the suit, which weighed over 200 lbs.; foam rubber hadn't come into use yet, so the original suit was made of heavy solid rubber (think tires) and it was a huge effort to get the thing to move at all, much less with the artistry Nakajima brought to it. He is considered the Grand Old Man of suit acting, and played several other monsters besides GODZILLA, as well as training an entire generation of actors on how to manage and bring life to those elaborate and heavy costumes.
A friend of mine sat next to him during a screening of the new American GODZILLA film in Japan, and he enjoyed it immensely, even though the creature is now CGI instead of a man in a suit; he appreciated the way it appeared to have tremendous weight, just as he had in the original film so many years ago, and noted that the new Godzilla design has feet very much modeled after those of an elephant. There are photos of him taken in the theatre during the screening, and his eyes are clearly sparkling with delight.
Never, ever in public, but in private I sometimes say "Godzilla" with an attempt at a Japanese accent.
It becomes fun after thirty or fourty* seconds.
*forty means "like a fort" to me and nothing more
Life is stranger than fiction. Everybody knows Godzilla is resting up until The Day.
Never, ever in public, but in private I sometimes say "Godzilla" with an attempt at a Japanese accent.
All right, I'll bite. How does it sound? I've seen "Godzilla" transliterated from Japanese to English as "Gojira."
Gojira IS the Japanese name. Godzilla is the American Romanization, first used for the 1956 American release (the Raymond Burr version) and approved and trademarked by Toho Studios. In the original 1954 Japanese film, it sounds most like "GO-zhirra". with the "r" sound somewhat soft; as the "L" sound is virtually impossible for Japanese speakers to create, as it occurs nowhere in their language. In the new film, everybody pronounces the name Godzilla, except for Ken Watanabe, who refused, and used the Japanese version.
Very cool - sent it to all my fellow Godzilla fans,...
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