MONSTER MAYHEM! – MOTHRA (モスラ | Mosura)

• Directed by Ishirô Honda
• Starring Furankî Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyôko Kagawa, The Peanuts
• 1961 | 101mins | Japan
• Doors: 7:00pm | Intro + Film: 7:30pm | Event: AGE 18+
• Food & drinks served to your table (kitchen closes at 9pm)

“MIGHTIEST MONSTER IN ALL CREATION!”

An expedition to the nuclear testing site on Infant Island discovers a native population and the tiny twin fairy priestesses of their mythical deity. Named Mothra, she sets out to rescue her fairies after they are kidnapped by an exploitative businessman.

Ishirō Honda’s MOTHRA (モスラ | Mosura) is a radical act of hope and optimism following the darkness of GODZILLA (ゴジラ | Gojira) and emerges from its cocoon in two halves. The first sets up the exploitation of the islanders in a story that riffs on KING KONG (1933) with charming echoes of other 1960s fantasies like Ray Harryhausen and Cy Endfield’s MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961). But then, things take a dramatic shift, as the kidnapped fairies – played by real-life pop duo The Peanuts – sing to summon their god…

In sensational sequences of moth destruction – amongst the largest created by tokusatsu titan Eiji Tsuburaya – we see Tokyo destroyed by Mothra in hulking caterpillar form, then ‘New Kirk City’ in the fictitious country of ‘Rolisica’ gets pummelled in tornadoes of downdraft from the resplendent moth’s wings. Always the flamboyant luchadora of Toho’s kaijū tag team, Mothra sashays away at the end, a gloriously camp symbol and saviour of hope (and star of many more films to come…).

CONTENT WARNING: Please note, MOTHRA (モスラ | Mosura) uses actors in ‘blackface’ to depict the film’s Polynesian islanders, a feature that plagues several kaijū eiga of this period.

BAR TRASH is a celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by Token Homo. All films screen with introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, themed drinks and subtitles/captions (where possible!). Tickets from £1.