| One of director Ishiro
Honda’s masterpieces, only finding competition
from his 1954 classic Godzilla
for a superior picture, comes this multi-layered
science fiction production. The movie itself refuses
to be subjected to genre, beyond the obvious science
fiction elements, as it transcends the usual formulaic
approaches of what one might consider a horror
picture. Is the movie itself freighting? Not really,
but then the movie’s intent is instead a
more eerie and gothic tale that explores humanity’s
instincts when removed from modern society and
faced with survival or starvation. In this sense,
the film evokes more similarities between later
productions like Kwaidan
(1965) and Onibaba
(1964) then with the clichés of most modern
Japanese horror pictures. It isn’t just
the concept that allows Matango to succeed,
though, as the diverse cast of characters, great
performances and nice production values elevate
the movie into one of Toho’s best sci-fi
productions.
In terms of the plot, the movie
starts off with a crew of seven on a yacht, five
of which are vacationing while the captain Sakuta
and ship hand Koyama man the craft. Of those onboard
are the millionaire Kasai, the writer Yoshida,
the singer Mami, the teacher Murai and his girlfriend
Akiko. Unfortunately, the ship is hit by a storm,
destroying their communication equipment along
with the engine and sail. Eventually the yacht
drifts to a remote island where the seven survivors
embark in hopes of finding fresh food and water.
The island is plagued, though, by a constant fog,
while water is abundant although food scarce.
The group eventually discovers a giant ship that
had crashed there years ago, whose fungus covered
interior and cargo relating to the research of
radiation spawned abnormalities give off a cryptic
feeling. While onboard they discover a gigantic
mushroom, which the ship’s original crew
had dubbed “Matango”. The survivors
eventually decide to clean the vessel of its moss
and make it a base of operations. Tension continues
to rise though, as food is scarce. Eventually
some weaken and decide to consume the local mushrooms,
while it becomes apparent that consuming them
starts an irreversible transformation process.
The survivors then try to resist the urge to eat
them with the lack of food, while slowly turning
on each other to pursue their own survival and
desires.
Overall, the plot has a lot in
common with William Golding's classic Lord
of the Flies: a story about a group of individuals
who, when removed from society and left to survive
on their own, begin to turn on one another. It's
a grim outlook on humanity that simply says: when
pushed to the limit, most will focus solely on
their own survival, regardless of the consequences
to those around them. The concept of the ship’s
crew turning against each other is really interesting
enough in its own right for the plot, yet the
movie also incorporates the science fiction elements
of the Matango species that work to heighten the
eeriness of the island while also better grabbing
viewer interest.
Still, it’s probably not
fair to state that the film’s subtext is
that cut and dry, as there has been many interpretations
of its meaning and intent. Some, in fact, have
compared the Matango themselves to sin, as the
yacht’s survivors are taken by lust or greed
before giving into the mushroom’s allure.
This idea certainly falls inline with Kasai’s
hallucination near the end of the movie. The manner
in which the subtext can be viewed from so many
angles, though, really adds to the potency of
the movie, as it involves the viewer to draw a
sense of it all while not presenting a heavy handed
moral. The fact that film has a subtext is hard
to miss though, as it’s spelled out in the
final few lines when Murai states: “Is it
really so different in Tokyo?”
Beyond its dark implications, Matango
is also much more character driven then most of
Honda’s work. The cast of characters starts
out fairly carefree at the beginning of the movie,
with only a hint of the hidden contempt going
on among the "friends" that will later
come to the forefront. What makes the film’s
characters work so well is that they are distinct
amongst each other and developed to the point
where the audience begins to understand their
motives. Akiko’s uncomforting feelings around
the other travelers, beyond Murai, is made clear
from even the start of the film as she looks uneasy
while Mami begins to openly flirt with the writer
Yoshia before straddling the yacht’s owner,
Kasai. In fact, the two female characters are
night and day from each other, with Mami enjoying
being sought after as merely a sexual object while
Akiko is much more reserved and quite, which eventually
leads the others to lust after the young girl’s
perceived innocence. The character of Kasai, a
businessman who’s used to being in charge,
is also well done as the wealthy individual who
sits in his room cleaning a rifle while he’s
reluctant to work yet opposed to not being treated
like he’s still the leader. This does well
to bring out more resentment amongst the group
too, seen quickly from Yoshida and Mami who are
silently, yet overtly, annoyed at Kasai’s
attitude. The fact that he’s willing to
pay a fortune to Koyama for food supplies that
are being kept secret by the resourceful and untrusting
man is also a nice element, as the development
does well to incorporate multiple characters in
how each personality trait plays out.
The meticulous level of detail
that goes into the character development shouldn’t
be missed either, as there are even subtle hints
to support their personalities throughout the
production. This goes as far as to include minor
details such as Akiko being the only one not drinking
alcohol during the groups late night toast on
the yacht. Other development is more overt, like
the captain and his ship hand privately discussing
the frivolous nature of the passengers as they
see a storm approaching, yet nonetheless effective.
It’s really this level of planning, though,
that helps the cast succeed as a highly memorable
group of characters, and it’s a shame that
this level of character detail is hardly ever
explored in other Japanese science fiction productions.
As for the acting, the cast of
actors that Honda has assembled for the production
do extraordinarily well in their respective parts
as a number of them manage to give the best performances
of their career. The movie itself is an ensemble
cast production between the seven survivors, although
Akira Kubo as Murai could still be regarded as
the lead. Kubo’s performance overall is
solid here, especially since he had the difficult
task of playing out the final sequence. Kumi
Mizuno’s performance tends to be the
most memorable from the film though, as she obviously
enjoys playing the more frivolous nature of her
character early on while the actress does an excellent
job of expressing her darker and seductive nature
later in the picture. Yoshio Tsuchiya, who plays
the wealthy Kasai, is another stand out performance
in the film. He portrays the stubborn nature of
the character well, yet is brilliant near the
final act when Kasai breaks down and becomes desperate
and nearly suicidal. Kenji Sahara, as Koyama the
ship hand, is also excellent in the movie as he
finally breaks out of his type cast. 1963 would
really be the year that Sahara defined his craft
by starring outside of the typical “salary
man” hero role in films past like The
Mysterians (1957) and King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). Not only would
the actor appear as the antagonist in the film
Atragon
(1963), but also his performance in this movie
really showed off his range as he portrays the
more self-centered and untrustworthy ship hand
perfectly. In all honesty, there is no weak performance
in the movie, as all seven actors play off each
other well and fit their respective roles incredibly
well.
In terms of the production values,
the movie is surprisingly solid for a Japanese
science fiction film of this era. The sets, for
example, are fairly grand as the movie’s
art crew did a good job of creating the interior
of the old ship and its numerous cabins. Special
effects are also handled fairly well, with the
humans who are slowly transforming into the Matango
looking excellent. The creatures themselves, when
the transformation is complete, aren’t quite
as impressive, looking far too dry and stiff,
yet their screen time is minimal when all is said
and done. The music, composed by Sadao Bekku,
is serviceable. It does well to create the more
cheerful mood during the opening credits and subsequent
scenes, while Bekku also crafts some eerie and
foreboding music to accompany the crew’s
turmoil on the island. It’s not particularly
memorable on its own, beyond the excellent theme
when the storm first clears, yet most horror soundtracks
aren’t and this one does work well in the
context of the film.
All in all, the movie is far darker,
with a bleak outlook on modern society, than any
of Honda’s other films. In fact, the entire
proceeding is almost counterbalance from what
we expect from the director; whose movies tend
to portray over idealistic views of humanity ranging
from a scientist willing to take his own life
to see the weapon he unwilling created never be
used against humankind in Godzilla
(1954) to the nations of the world joined in unity
in movies like Battle
in Outer Space (1959) and Gorath (1962).
It’s a much more serious film than the American
title, Attack of the Mushroom People,
would ever suggest, which in itself seems almost
clichéd to say with how often that is cited
in reviews of the movie. Matango comes
highly suggested, though, to anyone who enjoys
films that rely heavily on atmosphere and characterization
then the more explicit techniques in horror pictures.
|
(4/5)