Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Just a question, but why hasn't there been a better bio of his life posted on-line anywhere?? His wiki page is just a few lines and his imdb is the best I can find, but it's still pretty sparse.

Like his films, or hate them, he deserves better....

Mouth posted this on my FB wall. It's the holy grail of interviews for me as Yuasa's english language interviews seem to be few and far between.

http://www.davmil.org/www.kaijuconversa ... /yuasa.htm

I like how Yuasa seemed to call it like he saw it. Very unusual in my experience....a lot of Japanese film makers seem to be very modest and reserved.

I think his comment about the 90s Gamera films are spot on. They're made by kaiju fans for adult kaiju fans. Gamera SHOULD be for children, but I have to disagree with Yuasa about there apparently being anything wrong with Kaneko's approach. I'm glad that we've got both approaches....although I think any future Gamera films should go back to being children's or family friendly films.

I love Kaneko's films but there's a degree of pretentiousness that's there, especially by the time we get to part 3.

It's hard for me to articulate what I think he's getting at....

I think essentially, what he was advocating, was for the difference of say...a Saturday morning cartoon vs. Evangelion or something. I think in Yuasa's mind Gamera belongs firmly in the Saturday morning cartoon camp.

I can see where you're coming from though Jared because I feel the same way. I just happen to agree with Yuasa a bit too. I think both Yuasa and Kaneko had it right, they just had two different philosophies. Depending on what route you want to go, one might make more sense to you but they both have their merits.

Yuasa was irritated with the TONE of the 90s films...I get that, but I disagree. I was more irritated (if it can be called that, which it can't, not really. Except MAYBE part 3) by the APPROACH. A little self-important, if you ask me. Though maybe some of that comes from the tone...I mean, if you have a character in a kid's movie saying, "Gamera is the guardian of all things good and great and beautiful and we share a special bond" it almost sounds less silly than if that happens in a more serious film, because of the light-hearted nature. So maybe Yuasa has a point that the tone is wrong...but maybe it was just wrong for the approach they took?

Does that make any sense?

If not, then Yuasa is wrong and the 90s films are great. But I really do wish ALL filmmakers took the time and attention to their craft and the story they want to tell that Kaneko fairly routinely does. I find him overall a touch pretentious, but I can't find any flaw in the care and thought he puts into making a film and telling a story.

I think a decent metaphor would be the 60's Batman series vs. Nolan's. Both are great, in their own respective ways. Obviously the 60s approach is way out of style these days but there's nothing inherently wrong with it either.

Reminds me of a few interviews for Pacific Rim where Guillermo del Toro basically said, "I can't fool myself into thinking I'm making a profound reflection of mankind with giant robots and monsters." And I'm like, why not? I enjoyed Pac Rim but I want to see a big-budget Hollywood monster movie like that. Maybe it'll be Godzilla 2014.

Yeah I like that we can get both approaches too.

Jared, I want to see this melancholy thing you speak of.

I'm basically setting myself to fail spectacularly in the eyes of the baseline majority of giant monster fans. XD

So will this be an unauthorized sequel to Kaiju Killer?

I couldn't even dream of being able to compare to that masterpiece of cinema.