Behind the Kaiju Curtain: A Journey Onto Japan's Biggest Film Sets

Norman England's BEHIND THE KAIJU CURTAIN is a literal journal of the author's day-to-day experiences on and off daikaiju film sets from 1997 until 2001, initially as a feature writer for FANGORIA magazine and later as the sole non-Japanese chronicler of all things behind-the-scenes on the Heisei Gamera films and Millennium series Godzilla films. Few longtime, diehard daikaiju fans (of which I am certainly one) are unfamiliar with Norman's moniker. He has covered these movies in-depth in numerous publications; conducted countless interviews with the moviemakers, soundtrack composers, and actors (including those inside the monster suits); and appeared in front of the camera in several of the films. This book offers a compelling story of his sojourn in Japan as a fan, writer, and occasional actor, related in vivid, warts-and-all, no-holds-barred fashion.In his early days working for FANGORIA magazine, Norman met and interviewed Godzilla suit actors Haruo Nakajima and Kenpachiro Satsuma. His profiles of these gentlemen reveal their personalities and philosophies with unprecedented candor, and it's this candid, sometimes blunt approach that defines the tone for the rest of the book.Eventually, he befriended film director Shusuke Kaneko (who provides the foreword for the book), which, not altogether surprisingly, served to open doors to the Japanese film industry that had previously never been open to western writers. His on-set experiences during the filming of GAMERA III: REVENGE OF IRIS provided him with unprecedented insight into the world of Japanese moviemaking—daikaiju films in particular, but also in the greater picture. His rendering of the sights, smells, sounds, and moods of his experiences aren't just vivid; they are immersive.From that initial serendipity, Norman's industry contacts snowballed, often with director Kaneko serving as facilitator. It wasn't long before he found himself on the sets of the GODZILLA: MILLENNIUM, GODZILLA X MEGAGUIRUS, and GODZILLA - MOTHRA - KING GHIDORAH, meeting such renowned industry figures as producer Shogo Tomiyama (who seemed to "politely" tolerate his presence), monster suit maker Shinichi Wakasa, director Masaaki Tezuka, and many, many others. Once again, his impressions of these individuals, as painted in his prose, are not whitewashed or glamorized; these are real people doing real jobs, sometimes brilliantly, sometimes less so.Needless to say, a journal as personal as this one, bringing day-to-day experiences and interactions into stark focus, showcases countless moments of bizarre levity, moments where you really wish you could have stood in the author's shoes, and a few genuine "what-the-hell-were-you-thinking-Norman?" moments. One thing is certain: few, if any of us will ever be able to spend day after day on daikaiju movie sets, up close and personal with our favorite (and sometimes unfavorite) monsters and human personalities. Truly, days such as those Norman chronicles are now gone. Whatever commonalities filmmaking of 20-plus years ago might have with today's, Norman's experiences were and are unique, and his voice in this book is one that any fan of giant movie monsters (or Japanese movies in general) should absolutely want to hear.

I love this book soooooooo much! I could gush forever about it. It was such a rewarding, fascinating, and immersive journey for me while devouring it during my evening reading time. I believe my experience with this book would be the same for any aficionado of Godzilla/Gamera/giant monster movies, but, as many have stated by now from various social media platforms, the book also serves for any enthusiast of Japanese culture. With tales of navigating often unestablished social protocols leading up to on-set involvements that led to a Westerner actually getting to try on a Godzilla suit (totally unprecedented, mind you), I truly did not want author Norman England's adventure to come to an end! The intrepid Mr England's deep incursion into the ‘hollowed grounds’ of Kaiju Eiga filmmaking (and from two of the very BEST Japanese giant monster movies EVER made, to boot!) is a visceral, considerate, enlightening, and entirely unique trek into a time-honored cultural institution from the Land of The Rising Sun. Our Man-About-Japan explores traditional Kaiju Eiga filmmaking from the late 90’s/early ‘00’s, and we see/feel/smell/hear the love and hard work (and stress!) that goes into this uniquely brilliant Japanese process of organic, hands-on filmmaking via Norman’s thoughtful reporting. It's a shame that legal considerations apparently prohibited the publications of Norman’s on-set photos within the book itself. But because of this I found myself re-watching director Shusuke Kaneko's MASTERFUL 'Gamera trilogy' (the filming of 'Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris' is explored in this book) and Kaneko’s 'Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack' while reading Norman’s accounts (presented as diary entries); and doing so supplemented the text in a wonderful way (for me, it was like watching these films again with a fresh set of eyes, or better yet perhaps with the eyes and heart of an insider!!). The only critique that I’ll offer is that it would have been useful to me if the book contained a list of the names of Norman’s Japanese associates that denoted both the ‘players’ along with their given duties/contributions (i.e., Shusuke Kaneko: director… Isao Tomita: GMK editor, etc. etc.). I say this in consideration of my own shortcomings as a gaijin who is simply not used to keeping up with so many unfamiliar Japanese names. This would have made for a nice reference format for me, personally. YET, navigating the diverse, if exotic, assortment of Japanese names didn’t detract from my pleasure of reading this tome a bit, and with a little effort I was able to keep the ‘players’ sorted out just fine. In fact, most of Norman’s associates were richly presented and ended up resonating with me on a very emotional level (there’s some heartbreaking developments in there). So now I AM starting to gush forever about ‘Behind the Kaiju Curtain: A Journey Into Japan's Biggest Film Sets’. Enough from me. Do yourself a favor and get this book RIGHT NOW and lose yourself in the spirit of PURE Kaiju Eiga!

Going into this book I was expecting something that was going to a bit more detailed but overall general impersonal stories of the productions of the kaiju movies Norman, the author, visited. A typical kaiju info dump book. To my absolute surprise what we got is so much better. Norman really gives us a journey that I bet a vast majority of kaiju fans can only dream about. This book is much more about the people, and culture, that makes these movies rather than just the movies themselves. I also think that Norman making this book about his personal experiences during the productions of these movies is very much to the benefit of the reader as no other kaiju book in the states gives us a first person view into the making of the movies we love. It was also a delight to see the progression of a friendship Norman develops throughout the entire book. Even though I would've loved to see the photos Norman took throughout his adventure I understand the lack of photos in this book is no fault of his own. The only thing I didn't like about this book was that it had to end as I'm left with still wanting to hear more stories. If you're a fan of kaiju buy this book. If you're a fan of films, and film making in general, buy this book. If you're someone who's interested in the making of kaiju films then I bet you have already bought this book. This is something I'm proud to have in my collection.

This is a really fascinating book for all monster movie fans. Sadly there are no photos inside, but the author has been deeply involved with Japanese onster films and directors for many years. If you love kaiju eiga, this is for you. Also very glad that it arrived in good condition, so I didn't have to be returned and replaced. I buy a lot of books for fellow fans and collectors and I very often receive them in poor condition, but not this time. Well done Amazon.

In dem in Form eines Tagebuchs verfassten Taschenbuch beschreibt der Amerikaner Norman England seine Beobachtungen an den Filmsets japanischer Monsterfilme auf sehr persönliche Weise. Er verschweigt nicht, dass er kaum ein Fettnäpfchen ausgelassen hat, in das man als ausländischer Reporter an einem streng hirarchisch regulierten japanischen Drehort treten kann.Herzstück des Buches sind die detailreich aufgezeichneten Dreharbeiten zu dem 2001 in den Toho Studios in Tokio entstandenen Monsterfilm "Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack". Es dürfte sich um den einzig existierenden englischsprachigen Report dieser At handeln. Ein Manko hat das Buch allerdings: Trotzdem der Autor am Filmset jede Menge Fotos gemacht hat, ist nicht ein einziges Bild in dem Buch abgedruckt. Die Produktionsfirma Toho hat wohl die Verwendung der Fotos nicht gestattet...

If you have any interest whatsoever in Kaiju Eiga (Japanese monster movies), you owe it to yourself to pick up Norman England’s book. A detailed diary of his experience on the set of various kaiju films such as Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the book focuses not only on the production of those films but also paints a vivid portrait of life on a Japanese studio film set. Most importantly, England shares not only his observation of the mechanics of filmmaking but also the way it felt, for him, to be granted unprecedented access to every level of the production. The only downside is the lack of photos, which is not that surprising if you’re familiar with Toho’s usual (and rather odd) lack of cooperation in that regard.

Aside from the cover shot, this volume is bereft of photography. A very disappointing exclusion that seriously diminishes the value of this work. The writing alone is sadly not enough to hold the attention of even an avid reader, and genuine glimpses into behind the scenes production are few. Overall very unsatisfying.

My favorite parts of the book were the personal observations, feelings, and history peppered throughout. Some of them are poignant, others made me chuckle to myself. Of course, it's filled with great detail on the sets it covers (Gamera 3, Godzilla 2000, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, and GMK) and I definitely learned a lot about what it was like to there, not to mention the Japanese film industry at the time and Godzilla film history. As a bonus, it's also well written and edited!