Daimajin (film)
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Daimajin (大魔神 Daimashin) is a 1966 tokusatsu Template:Kaiju film produced by Daiei Film Co. Ltd. It is the first film in the Daimajin trilogy, and introduces the general formula for Daimajin's films which the rest of the trilogy follows. It was released to Japanese theaters on April 17, 1966 and to American theaters on August 9, 1968.
Plot
Large tremors send villagers scattering, as they fear that an ancient spirit, named Daimajin, is beginning to wake up. The entire village gathers at their shrine to pray Majin will remain imprisoned. This torchlit parade is observed by the local feudal boss, Lord Hanabasa, a good and just type. It is also observed by his chamberlain, Samanosuke, who is an evil and unjust type. Samanosuke has been waiting for just such a diversion to stage a coup d'état.
Samanosuke murders Hanabasa, plunging the area into chaos. Ten years pass, and Samanosuke has implanted himself as dictator over the area. He is currently using every man in the starving village as slave labor to build his fortress. The place is ripe for revolution, and surviving Hanabasa retainers are starting to filter in on the tenth anniversary of the coup.
Kogenta, a heroic samurai, journeys to the village to try to gather the old retainers, but gets himself captured. A boy gets word to Tadafumi and his sister, Kozasa (Miwa Takada) that their friend is a prisoner. Tadafumi, being a brave young samurai, tries to rescue him, only to discover it's all a trap laid by Samanosuke. With both the men under arrest and awaiting execution, Shinobu tries to talk some sense into the tyrant, who is drinking way too much and becomes incensed at all this talk of the god of the mountain; he murders the priestess and orders the idol demolished, to all the more thoroughly demoralize the villagers.
As the crew travel up the mountain, they capture Kozasa and order her to take them to the statue, but she has to be forced under their control until she relents. The crew try breaking the statue with chisels and hammers, but fail. Eventually, they drive a nail into the statue's forehead, making it bleed. The team tries to flee, but the ground opens up in front of them, causing them to fall into the chasm created. Kozasa is still alive, and unharmed, and Daimajin is now awake once more. Meanwhile, at the fortress, Tadafumi and Kogenta are tied to large crosses, awaiting their fates. Kozasa, sensing no reaction from the idol, offers her life to Daimajin and attempts to throw herself over the nearby waterfall, stopped only by the Boy. This is apparently good enough, as the rock and earth covering the lower half of the idol fall away, and the fifty-foot statue walks out into the clearing. Kozasa prostrates herself before it, and the idol gestures before its face: the stone mask disappears, revealing the true face of the Daimajin, a vengeful spirit resembling that of a grotesque shogun. he travels down the mountain, and towards Samanosuke's fortress.
Destroying the fortress, Daimajin kills Samanosuke and his forces, but then extends his wrath to the villagers themselves. Kozasa prays to Majin once more, and lets her tears land on his foot. He then realises that his mission is accomplished, and separates himself from the stone statue. Flying away in the form of a ball of fire, the statue collapses into dust.
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda
- Written by Tetsurô Yoshida
- Produced by Masaichi Nagata and Mitsuru Tanabe
- Music by Akira Ifukube
- Cinematography by Fujio Morita
- Edited by Hiroshi Yamada
- Assistant directing by Eiji Nishizawa
- Special effects by Yoshiyuki Kuroda
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Miwa Takada as Kozasa Hanabusa
- Yoshihiko Aoyama as Tadafumi Hanabusa
- Jun Fujimaki as Kogenta
- Ryûtarô Gomi as Samanosuke
- Ryûzô Shimada as Tadakiyo Hanabusa
- Tatsuo Endô as Gunjurô
- Shôsaku Sugiyama
- Chikara Hashimoto
- Saburô Date as Ippei Cyjûma
- Otome Tsukimiya as Priestess Shinobu - The Shrine Maiden
- Keiko Kayama as Haruno
- Eigorô Onoe as Gosaku
- Gen Kimura as Mosuke
- Hideki Ninomiya as Tadafumi as a boy
- Shizuhiro Izoguchi as Take-bô
- Yûtarô Ban as Mondo
- Hideo Kuroki as Magojûrô
- Akira Shiga
- Jun Ôsugi
- Jun Katsumura
- Kazuo Moriuchi
- Akira Amemiya
- Shinjiro Akatsuki
- Kanji Uehara
- Masako Morishita as Young Kozasa
- Hatsumi Yoshikawa
- Riki Hashimoto as Daimajin
Appearances
Monsters
Gallery
- Main article: Daimajin (1966 film)/Gallery.
Soundtrack
- Main article: Daimajin (Soundtrack).
Alternate Titles
- The Hideous Idol Majin (International title)
- Majin, the Monster of Terror (United States)
- Majin, Monster of Terror
- Majin, the Stone Samurai
- The Vengeance of the Monster
- The Giant Majin
- Majin
- Fury of Mountain God
- Majin the Hideous Idol
- The Devil Got Angry
Theatrical Releases
- Japan - April 17, 1966 [view poster]Japanese poster
- United States - August 9, 1968 [view poster]
Trivia
- This films sets up several conventions that are followed over the course of the trilogy.
- Daimajin is unleashed by people to solve feudal issues, which culminate in the toppling of an oppressive leader.
- Daimajin doesn't appear until late in the film's plot.
- Daimajin's alignment is often neutral, and he will attack anything which hinders him.
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