Three years has passed since Gamera defeated the Legion. Since then, sightings of new Gyaos are on the rise, whilst off the coast of Japan, a graveyard has been discovered all containing Gameras’. However, these things are far away from the mind of a teenager living in the countryside, who wants one thing more than any other…to kill Gamera!
Released in 1999, and directed by Shûsuke Kaneko, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris; is a Japanese Giant Monster Movie, and the third and final entry in the Gamera Heisei Trilogy, as well as the 11th overall film in the Gamera series. The film sees the return of much of the core production team from the previous films, with Kaneko directing, Kow Otani as the film’s composer, and Shinji Higuchi as the film’s special effects director. However, the film marks the first time in the trilogy to feature Kaneko on the scrrenwriting credits, sharing the script writing job with another core production member; Kazunori Itō. The film stars several returning cast members from both films, including Ayako Fujitani, and Yukijirô Hotaru, who have appeared in all three films. Other cast members, old and new include Shinobu Nakayama, Ai Maeda, Senri Yamazaki, Tôru Tezuka, Yuu Koyama, Kei Horie, Takahiro Itô, and Nozomi Andô.
The story over the course of the entire trilogy, is a well thought out piece, which tries to do more with the Monster Movie genre, rather than just showcasing several large monsters trashing cities, and then eventually each other. What this trilogy likes to do, is explore the relationship between the monsters, and the innocent civillians that are affected by their appearance. In this nature, we have a story, that is strangely simillar, to the over-arching plot of Christopher Nolan‘s Dark Knight Trilogy, particularly events in The Dark Knight Rises.
In the case of this third film, we see two major similarities. Firstly that the events of the first film, directly affect the third. And secondly, how both Gamera 3, and TDKR finish, with the civilians of both Japan and Gotham accepting their hero, no matter what their flaws, and understanding that without them, there would be nothing. This relationship though between Man and Monster in G3 comes full circle. As instead of Gamera facing just another menacing giant monster, he is facing a human.
It really stands out as an idea, in that how can a sole human being be a threat to a giant monster? It’s an idea though, that this film answers with great execution. Although, it is still up for debate. You see, the film isn’t entirely clear as to who the real villain is, and even now, at the 25th anniversary stage of this film, its still hotly debated. But rather interestingly, due to the sheer quality of this film, it is a debate which is a lot of fun to jump into.
If your seeing this film for the first time (this was actually the first Gamera film I ever saw; 20 years ago this year), and don’t have much knowledge of what has come before it, it’s easy to think that the true enemy is Iris. It’s an easy assumption to make given that it’s a film featuring a monster called Iris fighting the hero in Gamera. The film’s title even states “Revenge of Iris” in it. But, when you delve further into it, it’s not as clear cut as that. It also doesn’t help that the origins of Iris are so very vague.
The origins of Gamera and Gyaos (at least in this trilogy), are pretty well founded. Gyaos was created by an ancient, advanced, technological race similar to Atlantis. But Gyaos got out of control destroying that society. As all seemed lost, that ancient race created Gamera as their saviour, but it was too late. So Gamera was put into hibernation, just in case, should Gyaos return. As for Iris…well…
The film does throw a curve ball suggesting Iris may have been one of four guardians from Chinese Mythology (the same mythology which was the inspiration behind Gamera), but a lot of evidence suggests Iris was created by the same race as Gyaos and Gamera. We can tell from a DNA sample simillar (but only just) to Gyaos, as well as a pendant, much like the same pendant Asagi Kusanagi (Fujitani) uses to connect with Gamera. As to the purpoose of Iris’s creation; well there are three main ideas:
- Iris was created before Gamera to be the creature to destroy the Gyaos, but was discarded in favour of Gamera.
- Iris was created as a back-up guardian, in the event that Gamera got out of control, and started to attack humanity rather than protect it.
- Iris was created by a rogue group, who wanted to exterminate humanity, and mortally wound Gamera so that he would be too weak to defeat Gyaos.
Three core ideas behind the purpose of Iris; and three which are also easy to argue, as the film sort of mimics all three. For instance; (Point 2) it’s pointed out early on in the film, that Gamera seems to be destroying cities at will, rather than protecting people from the Gyaos birds that just happen to be in the area at the time. Alternatively (Point 3); the film’s ending shows a mortally wounded Gamera standing alone about to take on an entire legion of Gyaos birds, by himself. Three strong argumentative points, but what about Point 1? Point 1 is the strongest to argue, given the amount of evidence in it’s favour throughout the film. But, in order to fully grasp it, you need to remember one consideration.
Iris is not the villain, Ayana (Maeda) is! Ayana is so filled with hate towards Gamera, she is desperate to end his life, and take revenge for what she sees as Gamera killing her parents. Iris in this story, is just a means to an end. A footnote. If you want easy to see evidence, look at the film’s poster. It features Gamera and Ayana in large pictures, whilst Iris is easy to avoid spotting. Iris is barely there, so therefore Ayana has more to do with the plot than Iris.
Then consider how Iris behaves early on. Iris appears as a small tentacle Octopus like creature, who from the second it’s born, creates an affectionate bond with Ayana. Iris behaves like a newborn baby, trusting the first organism it sees as a parental figure. It exhibits very affectionate behaviour too, like a loyal Puppy, or a friendly Kitty. Also consider Iris’s final form. To me, you could consider his design to be like a Knight in Shinig Armour. His body shines in light, his head has a conicular, close helmet like look, and the tentacles could be seen as a cape. Both nature and look don’t suggest a creature to be malevolent, but a heroic knight riding in to save the day.
Who is malevolent in nature though, is Iris’s new guardian. Iris continues this caring friendship, by even looking for Ayana a short while later. It’s only after the two starting physically bonding, that Iris’s personality changes. How? It goes on the rampage! It savagely searches for Ayana, killing her adoptive family, and anything else that gets in it’s way. It is now consumed with the same hatred that Ayana has for Gamera.
Then, in the final showdown, we get this moment, that can be easily overlooked: the blade. It has no effect on Iris, but it cuts the cheek of Ayana. At this point, Ayana looks like she’s just arrived, like the more affectionate spirit, the one hidden in hatred, has finally come out, and begs Iris not to hurt Moribe. From this point, Ayana realises the truth, and how her hatred has consumed her, and destroyed those around her.
Again, this is still all just conjecture. There is a lot of evidence lying around to suggest that Point 1 is the true nature of Iris and it’s place in the story, in that Iris was created to be a guardian, and therefore shows no desire to kill, until being instructed to do so by someone else. You could even suggest that Gamera only goes on the offensive with Iris, after Iris becomes a threat, rather than be the guardian Iris was meant to be. But still, the rather irritating joy about this film, is that it’s not clear as to who the villain is. Strong evidence suggests it’s Ayana, but at the same time you could also argue that perhaps Iris is the real villain, and only uses Ayana’s hatred, to fuel it’s own malevolent desires. Either way, the story does highlight how the desire for revenge, can never be satisfied!
Gamera 3 is an Amazing Movie. It’s one of the Best Monster Movies in the entire genre, and one of the very few examples that the third film in a trilogy can be the best one. In fact thinking about it, the only other one I can think of is War for the Planet of the Apes (can you think of any others?). The story is delicately told, to maximise it’s ideas, whilst still creating epic spectacles of brutal monster action, frequently and frighteningly realistic too. And there’s so much more to talk about with this film. You could write the longest blog post in history, and still not cover everything. The soundtrack sounds deep and serious, there’s this story of humanity coming to terms with the existence of monsters, and how it affects their daily lives, and so, so much more too. It’s the Epic conclusion, to what I consider the greatest movie trilogy ever made, and I don’t say that lightly. Simply, and purely put; it’s just FANTASTIC!
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