Hideo Kojima at the Movies: Planet of the Apes

Hideo discusses his impressions of the anti-war themes in The Planet of the Apes and how it inspired the inclusion of his own anti-war messages in Metal Gear Solid 2. This article was exclusively written for Official PlayStation 2 Magazine by Mr. Hideo Kojima.

Planet of the Apes (1968) is a true classic. It became a global mega-hit and sci-fi milestone that was later turned into a series. I'm sure you all remember that Tim Burton did a remake (re-imagination) of the film recently. Although I was happy to see apes à la Rick Baker [special effects guru - ed] but the film itself did not turn me on. The 1968 original was simply so much more shocking.

The first time I saw the original Apes by Franklin J. Schaffner was on TV. I don't think I was in elementary school yet. This was another one of those films that I "bumped into." The impact was immense. I remember that the next day I debated with my friends over our interpretations (as kids, of course) of the "shocking ending". The funny thing was that none of us knew that what we saw was called The Statue of Liberty. We called it 'The Lady Statue' or 'The Tower of Liberty'. But the important thing was that we had enough knowledge to understand that it represented the United States and the 20th Century. We understood what the last scene intended to do. Although the TV showing of the film was followed immediately by a short sequence of a movie critic talking, the actual film ends emptily with the sounds of waves and the credits. The shock level of the ending of this film is probably the highest in film history.

The most captivating aspect of Apes is definitely the then-remarkable Ape makeup. It's well documented that this film made Rick Baker want to pursue a career in special makeup. If things were done wrong, Apes could have become a B-grade sci-fi movie. But with the creation of very fine makeup, the movie was elevated to an A-grade entertainment masterpiece. What is so amazing is that the makeup is fine and flexible enough to allow the audience to notice and follow the facial expressions of the actors underneath it. It was no surprise that the special makeup by John Chambers won an Oscar back then. Simply amazing. They were no masks. What made everything work so well was that individual ape parts were applied to the actors' faces to 'ape-ify' them. The success of this film's makeup increased the scope of what could be done in film. Although it's a time-consuming process, there are effects that can only be achieved through makeup. If everything was done with CG, as it normally is now, attractive characters such as Zira and Cornelius would not have emerged.

The role-reversal between humans and apes, its setting and the sci-fi idea are what make Apes great. However, the acclaim given to this film is not limited to sci-fi fans. That is because it encompasses deep themes that transcend the sci-fi realm. And since the film was sci-fi, it could cleverly mix historical and social issues of the time into entertainment. That is why Apes became a mega-hit. In addition to ideas such as the missing link between humans and monkeys and a time trick based on the theory of relativity (Professor 'Daddy' gave me a lecture on why 700 years elapsed in 5 months while watching Apes on TV) the film dealt with themes criticizing civilization and society as well as racial problems and an anti-war/nuke message. By replacing our current society with the ape society we can see the absurdities of our civilization. Assigning politics to orangutans, academia to chimpanzees, and manual labor to gorillas is too much of an exaggeration - but a very obvious way of representing American society. After I saw the film, I read the original novel by Pierre Boulle and noticed that the story is different. The idea behind Apes is supposedly based on Boulle's experience when he was taken prisoner of war during WWII. This sort of explains the 'white supremacy' aspect of the film. Trading the positions of the apes and humans brilliantly depicts today's society. While still being a piece of entertainment, it really makes you think a lot. This is what sci-fi films are capable of doing. Warning us about our society and the future can be done easily with sci-fi. Many sci-fi films in the past were created for that purpose. What if a world war starts? What if nukes are used? What if apes rule the world? It is the imagination resulting from the defining and exaggerating of the 'if' that gives us the opportunity to think about ourselves.

Messages are what Apes is all about. The camerawork is splendid and the directing is well done, thinking about what to show, what not to show, when to show something and how to show it. You won't find much MTV or Hollywood-esque camerawork that could be categorized as 'cool!' This is more intelligent directing. The film makes great use of both the objective and subjective camera (as seen when the spaceship goes down) to make the audience identify with Taylor, the main character. The film is a model example that teaches us that film-making is the control of camera and information quantity. Let's take the scene where the men walk across the desert after the spaceship crashes. When the astronauts roll down a hill, the subjective camera is used to make you feel like you are rolling down as well. And then the objective camera films the men walking through the desert from a distance to show how small they are in contrast to nature. When the men come across scarecrow-like objects (that the apes have placed as warnings) the camera does not shoot from the front to show what the men are surprised by. The camera does not zoom in on the scarecrows or even show them before the men discover them. The same is true with the scene with the Statue of Liberty. It is this distance that creates a sense of unseen presence and makes everything work so well, cinematically speaking.

The best use of the camera is during the manhunt - when the apes make their first appearance. You hear weird roars and the camera zooms in on the woods. The native humans are surprised by something and run away. Not knowing what's going on, the astronauts (including Taylor) run in the same direction. They run through a field of tall corn. Something follows them at very high speed. You don't see what's following them. Next, you see sticks knocking down the corn plants, followed by horses' legs and a close-up of a rifle being fired. People fall down. The attackers are on horses and carry rifles. That's all you know. Who exactly is attacking? A horse runs across right in front of the camera. It tracks the horse, panning and then zooming in on one of the attackers without changing cuts. You see a ferocious face of a gorilla! Taylor is shocked. So is the audience. No matter how many times I watch this scene, I still grunt in admiration. The music by Jerry Goldsmith during this scene is great too - very Bernard Herrmann in its composition. I can never forget the siren-like sound. A classic scene. Towards the middle of the film, Taylor escapes from prison and is re-captured. The subjective and objective cameras are used wisely again. Handheld camera is used to show Taylor running. He's surrounded by the apes and senses a presence on the bridge above. The camera again pans without changing cuts. A net is dropped by the apes, landing on the camera lens. At this moment the audience is also captured. Next, a long-distance shot of the village with Taylor being pulled up in the net. Splendid again.

Another element that plays a big role in this film is communication through speech. The apes in this world can speak. The native humans cannot. Speech is imagined here as intelligence itself. Let me talk about the scene where Taylor and his men are captured again. The humans and their pursuers do not talk. Taylor is injured in the throat so can't even scream. No-one is screaming like hell. All you hear are gunshots and Goldsmith's score. Right before Taylor falls unconscious after being captured, the apes take a picture to celebrate their successful hunt. The ape with a camera in his hands says "Smile!" Oh my God, these apes can speak! Both the audience and Taylor are surprised and are stricken by a feeling of defeat. The hierarchy of the speaking apes and silent humans not only shows the inversion of power, but also intelligence. Then, for a while, Taylor cannot talk. Instead of talking, he writes, using the ground and memos to show who he is - what he is capable of. His inability to talk is stressful for the audience. Very frustrating. And when Taylor escapes, he finally lets out words - as if the boundary between humans and apes is speech.

Apes also became a TV series. It aired in Japan (in 1975), and I enjoyed watching it every week. In the show, two astronauts and Cornelius are depicted more comically, and they all run away together. By the time it aired I was in elementary school and I can recall much of it. More than the original film. What I remember most is that the astronauts were very well educated. They had extensive knowledge in the fields of biology, medicine, and other sciences. Not only were they intelligent, they were physically strong. On top of all this, they had strength. They used their bodies and brains to overcome crises. The reason why I would like to be an astronaut myself is not simply because I am from the Apollo and Soyuz generation. It is the images of astronauts in Apes (including its TV series) that shaped the idea within myself. Unfortunately, the TV series did not last long.

As for the Apes film series, there are four other films: 'Beneath The...', 'Escape From The...', 'Conquest Of The...', and 'Battle For The...'. Honestly speaking, none of the sequels managed to surpass the first film. As commercialism kicked in each piece became increasingly trite. However, the Apes series - because of its composition - has stood out in the industry. It's a great example of how to keep a series going. If the first Apes is a film classic in the microscopic sense, then the Apes series is a classic in the macroscopic sense. Although the budget shrank each time, and the sequels looked cheaper, I take my hat off to 'Escape From The...' for its angle and plot that transcend the space-time continuum. After destroying Earth with the cobalt bomb in 'Beneath The...', I'm sure the creators did a lot of thinking trying to come up with a way to continue the series. But they did it in a very sci-fi way, using time travel, the spaceship and the theory of relativity from the first Apes. The same apes that escape Earth before the explosion are sent back to Earth and have to escape from the opposite situation. The talking ape Caesar - the child of the escaping apes - grows up, lives through 'Conquest Of The...' and creates the foundation for a planet of the apes in the future. These are great ideas. I'm sure this composition has influenced other popular series, such as Star Wars and Terminator.

Originally, Apes was a film about running away - a film in which you experience the suspense of escaping. The title of the third film, 'Escape From The....', speaks for itself. In the first film, Taylor (Charlton Heston) runs from the apes. In 'Beneath The...', Brent (James Franciscus) does the same. However, in 'Escape From The...' the apes, Cornelius and Zira, run from the humans. Then in 'Conquest Of The...' the apes stop running and choose to fight the humans. Finally, in 'Battle For The...' the apes strive to co-exist with the humans. The series transforms from 'escape oppressors' to 'fight for freedom' to 'movement towards peace'. The anti-war/nuke theme throughout the series converges perfectly. Although each sequel after the first film did not surpass the first film in terms of quality or commercial success, it is this well-designed composition as a series that makes it popular even today.

After all I've said, sharp readers have probably noticed the similarities between Apes and MGS: the existence of the creator's message throughout the series. I have been influenced greatly by the anti-nuke message and criticism of civilization in Apes. As a citizen of the only country against which nuclear weapons have been used, my parents and school taught me about their experiences of the bomb. On a school field trip I visited the Atomic Bomb Memorial Museum in Hiroshima. But even so, I was horrified by the ending of Apes. What happens to Earth if a massive nuclear war takes place? The answer was there in the ending of Apes. In "Beneath The..." you get to see post-destruction New York and the mutants who are descendants of those who suffered from nuclear radiation. There had been many entertainment films like Godzilla that indirectly touched upon the anti-nuke theme. However, in the Apes series the anti-war/nuke theme was part of the plot. This is why what pops up in my mind when I think of a nuclear war is the Atomic Bomb Memorial Museum (consisting of steel pillar remains only) and the Statue of Liberty in the sand.

When we were kids there was still a strong anti-nuke movement worldwide. How about now, in the 21st Century? There is no such movement anywhere - even in an age when the use of such weapons worries the world. Maybe anti-nuke ideals are an outdated way of thinking. Maybe it is 'uncool' to think that way. But nuclear weapons do exist. The nuclear threat is stronger than ever. As someone from the 'Ape age' and 'Nuclear age', I deal with anti-war and anti-nuke messages in MGS. Many players of MGS2 complain that the game is too preachy. But nowadays we cannot expect movies like Apes from Hollywood or Manga like Barefoot Gen (about the tragedy of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima) which is why I would like to keep on including the anti-war and anti-nuke messages as much as possible. At least with MGS. The current entertainment industry is too merchandizing-oriented. This holds true with film, books, and music. Creating products that will sell. There is no message from the creator. Marketability and business come Number One. What happens to the future of children who use such products as their textbooks? What is there to come?

Taylor's monologue in the space ship at the beginning of the film echoes in my heart: "Does man... still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbours' children starving?" I hope the last scene of Apes is not something the generation of my son has to experience.

-- Article by Hideo Kojima, Official Playstation 2 Magazine, 20.02.2003