Look at it from the bright side. At least the students won't have to hear Godzilla say, "I wish I knew how to quit you!"
Posted on 01/23/2006 5:37:04 PM PST by Brian Mosely
Astronomy 98/198 - (Units: 2)
Shortcuts: decal.org/122 decal.org/kaijucinema
Course Description: This course will be lecture/discussion based, but with most of the time in class devoted to watching the actual films. The course will also have short required readings from a reader.
Since the release of Tôhô Studios's seminal Gojira in theaters across Japan in 1954, kaijû eiga—roughly translated "giant monster movies"—have made their mark on the landscape of Japanese film and television. Gojira (largely known in America as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!) paved the way for a host of movies in a similar vein; many of these were also produced by Tôhô, but several other studios tried their hand at the genre as well, most notably Daiei with its moderately successful Gamera series. Although television shows such as Ultraman and Kamen Rider had by the late 1960's eclipsed their cinematic forebears in popularity, leading to a decline in theater attendance and worsening quality in the films themselves, the genre has weathered the storm and continues to be an important part of the country's cinema.
Enrollment Info: Show up to the first class meeting (January 26th at 5:00 PM), and we'll give you the CCN.
Course Contact: dwinslow@berkeley.edu, mhorwitz@berkeley.edu
Faculty Sponsor: Eliot Quataert
Your tax dollars at work...
Sounds like a neat film class.
I would sign up.
Wow, Gorazhira, this was only the introductory course. Think about next semester in 102...J Monsters major... masters...PhD!
kaijû should read kaijû
Look at it from the bright side. At least the students won't have to hear Godzilla say, "I wish I knew how to quit you!"
How much you want to bet this is going to turn into an bash America fest due to the anti-atomic testing theme that runs through most of these films. The orginial Japanese version of Godzilla ("Gojira"-20 minutes longer and without Raymond Burr) really hammered that point down everyone's throats. The ones in the 90's preached the environmental (we're destroying the earth) theme too.
I think it was one of these crazy "De-Cal" classes that offered U.C. Berkeley students credit for, among other things, going to a gay strip club in S.F.
Will the course include reruns of Mystery Science Theater? You can't do Japanese monster movies right without the awe-inspiring badness that is the 'Gamera' franchise.
What a fun sounding little two-unit class, just the thing to balance out a few serious classes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.