MOSURA (1996)
[US Video Release: THE REBIRTH OF MOTHRA]
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: A very strange departure from Toho's
previous monster films. Toho has aimed MOSURA at
younger children, only tangentially using elements
of previous plots. The use of color in this movie
is extraordinary, making this a beautiful fantasy
film with some astonishing images. But the story
itself is heavy-handed with a didactic "save-the-
environment" plot and too much left unexplained, so
it does not work as well as it might with any age
group. Rating: 5 (0 to 10), low +1 (-4 to +4)
I was in Tokyo in October of 1996 and found myself walking by the offices of the Toho Corporation. I was delighted to see a two-foot- high sculpture of Gojira (whom we gringos call Godzilla). Who else but Toho would erect a statue to commemorate a movie monster? However, Gojira (and kaiju films in general) have done well for Toho. ("Kaiju" is Japanese for "monster" and kaiju films are their own genre in Japan.)
Continuing my walk, nearby I saw a beautiful poster for the upcoming film MOSURA. Aficionados will recall that Gojira II is now dead and Gojira III is just getting his first set of fins and his earliest puffs of breath are already powerful enough to fry doughnuts. So while he grows to full-size we are getting a hiatus on Gojira films and Toho is returning to its second favorite monster, the good-guy monster Mosura (a.k.a. Mothra). The poster showed a giant Mosura behind the Earth against a background of space. I would have loved to get a copy of that poster and even more I wanted to see the film, but I knew I had to be patient. It took a few years for the film to be released on DVD and videocassette. It is now available and not at all what I or probably anyone else expected from Toho. It is a frequently-charming fantasy aimed at younger children. Unfortunately it has a plot that even adults might have trouble following.
While Gojira has been a creature belonging to the realm of science fiction, the Toho people have always seemed to imply that Mosura belongs to worlds of magic and fantasy. She never seemed like a prehistoric animal and she is controlled by two fairy-like women. But the fantasy element of Mosura was never explored as it is with this new MOSURA. While science fiction and fantasy seem to sit uneasily with each other, it should be remembered that it is not unusual for American films to mix the science-fictional Frankenstein monster with the purely supernatural Dracula and the Wolf Man.
The story is about two young children, Tykee and his younger sister Wakaba. Their father is important in a company logging a Japanese forest and incidentally displacing many innocent, dewy-eyed animals. In the course of clearing the forest they find a rock shrine which fans will recognize as being in the shape of the circular symbol for Mosura. They remove a small medallion embedded in the stone, unwittingly opening a passage to a fairyland beneath. The father gives the medallion to Wakaba, unaware that an evil fairy Belvera, riding a squirrel-sized flying dragon, will reclaim it and use it to release DesGhidorah. DesGhidorah is a somewhat cuter version of Toho monster Ghidorah. Sixty-five million years ago, DesGhidorah came from space and killed off the dinosaurs by sucking the life from the planet Earth. Belvera releases DesGhidorah from the Earth to repeat his misdeeds.
Defending Earth we have two good fairies Moll and Lara. They have the power to call on the Mosuras. Mosuras are giant moths bigger than airliners and the caterpillars that grow into them. There is also a small Mosura only a foot across. Most of these creatures have appeared in previous Toho films but, perhaps to play well with a younger audience, they have been softened here. Mosura is much more plush and cuddly looking than she has ever looked in the past. DesGhidorah's faces (did I mention that DesGhidorah has three heads?) are rounded and shortened to look less frightening than Ghidorah of previous films. Even the music is softened from the usual brassy marches. This film's score is inspired more than usual by John Williams and less by John Philip Sousa.
One wonders how this story fits in with other kaiju films from Toho. Why does nobody recognize Mosura from previous bouts with the Japan Defense Forces? Does nobody notice that DesGhidorah looks a lot like Ghidorah? Similarly, a problem particularly of late in Toho films is their propensity to have just about anything happen without an explanation. If Mosura is to have a new power you just see Mosura using it without benefit of logic or explanation. If a new kind of creature is to be introduced, it is just there. Suddenly there are tiny Mosuras around. The problem is that if anything can happen, there is much less interest value in the story. Even fantasy needs some rules.
Mosura is in some ways a poor choice for a hero monster. Gojira expresses emotions--even Radon (Rodan) expresses emotion. Mosura has two eyes like bicycle reflector disks and a mouth like the business end of an alligator clip. This makes the giant moth forever enigmatic. She is even more so for being a moth. The real face of Mosura is that of her soul-mate. Her soul-mate is has been a single creature with two bodies. These are the two tiny "Cosmos" or "Peanuts." Two fairies that dress identically, sing and even speak in unison, and are indistinguishable from each other. They have a mystical control over Mosura never explained. In the new Mosura the Cosmos are two fairies who for the first time look different, dress differently, and one, Moll, dominates the other Lora, they still sing in unison, however, and with three songs they seem to sing entirely too much.
There are really two reasons to see MOSURA. You may be genuine fan of kaiju films with or without Gojira. Or you may want to see what Toho can do with color and with form when they are at their best. In either case you will find the unexpected in this film. MOSURA is not really a good film, but there are moments that are well worth seeing. And the kids might like the rest of the film. I give it a 5 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Incidentally, MOSURA is the first part of a trilogy of films. Rumor has it that MOSURA 3 is this best of the trilogy, but it has yet to be released in this country. MOSURA 2 is available. The plot has Belvera again trying to destroy the Earth by releasing a rather uninteresting monster from ancient Mu. Visually it has fewer scenes of striking beauty. There are a few, but not many. The best scene is an ancient fortress rising from the sea. But overall MOSURA 2 is a disappointment after the few enough virtues of MOSURA. Again the monster is a symbol of what happens when you do not take care of nature. Mosura is a giant Mother Nature. There are again lots of things happening without explanation so there is no reason ever to fear for Mosura. The writers will always invent some reason why Mosura will survive and win. The film is a definite step down from MOSURA.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 2000 Mark R. Leeper
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