By ATSUSHI OHARA/ Staff Writer
August 5, 2024 at 08:00 JST
Akari, the protagonist of “Kaminofude” (Brush of the God), played by Rio Suzuki (Provided by United Entertainment Inc.)
While shooting “Kaminofude” (Brush of the God), production staff resorted to “tokusatsu” live-action special effects, using full-body creature suits suspended by wires for rampage scenes.
It marked the feature film debut at the age of 88 of Keizo Murase, the legendary suit designer known for “Gamera,” “Godzilla,” “Daimajin” and many other monster and fantasy movies. He served as general director on the project.
The story centers around Akari (played by Rio Suzuki), whose late grandfather was a monster model maker (Shiro Sano).
During his farewell party, she meets a mysterious man (Takumi Saito) and finds herself wandering around on an island inhabited by gigantic “kaiju” monsters. She starts to wonder if she has entered the world of a movie her grandfather wanted to create.
The film is based on a screenplay Murase wrote when he was invited by Hong Kong film company Shaw Brothers Ltd. for a project in or around 1976. But the script remained untouched for decades.
Yamata no Orochi, an eight-branched giant snake, goes on the rampage as the main monster.
It is reminiscent of a space monster from “Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah” (1991), which Murase created.
“That King Ghidorah was so heavy, making it troublesome to control. But its design was the priority,” he recalled. “So, for this movie, I used fiber-reinforced plastic for the heads and urethan for the body to make them as light as possible. Materials are constantly evolving, so it’s important to keep reading up on the subject.”
As for “Godzilla Minus One,” which won an Oscar for visual effects and CGI at the Academy Awards, the veteran special effects wizard said: “I feel what we forerunners have accumulated is in director Takashi Yamazaki’s mind and heart.”
“If you go for CGI, you must go all out for it. The same can be said about analog,” Murase added. “The analog technique of tokusatsu attracts fans of all ages. That’s where we belong.”
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