L’OGR "GOJIRA"

L'OGR Gojira Photographie : © DR
© DR

The monster from the movie

GOJIRA, better known as Godzilla, is a monster from the imagination of Japanese film producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film directed by Ishirô Honda in 1954, 9 years after the dropping of two A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has a resounding echo in Japanese society but is heavily censored in the United States where it will be remade. 

An abysmal creature is awakened by nuclear testing. The devastating power of GOJIRA will be exerted on the island of Honshu and especially on Tokyo. The monster seems invincible until the intervention of a researcher who develops an oxygen bomb, the only possible salvation for mankind. The scientific’s sacrifice will not be in vain but other monsters are still slumbering.

The piece

The power and sonic possibilities that offer a quartet of electric guitars make it a formidable tool for musical description. It was this quality that motivated the writing.

The observation of the monster in Ishirô Honda’s 1954 film, and the literature that this character spawned, are all data that inspired the music. The constant dialogue with the film is perceptible without being omnipresent. Here the concept is not "cine-concert" but a writing inspired by the history of GOJIRA.

The OGR proposes a music that retraces the epic of GOJIRA. The piece is divided into 6 movements and follows the chronology of the monster, from its awakening to its underwater agony.

«I wanted to write on several levels. Sometimes passages that create a physical sensation as in "La Marche", the second movement of the piece; sometimes passages that awaken inner images. For me, the idea and the sound must be intimately linked. When you play ’The March’, you are not in the same state as when you play ’The Agony’, the sixth and final movement.»
S. Beaumont

The Awakening : following an underwater nuclear explosion, disturbing events take place off the island of Honshu in Japan. Confusing information from two ships sailing in the area only increases the anxiety on land. Testimonies speak of a monster that would have been awakened and that would spread terror on an islet of the archipelago. Scientists go to the site and study the traces of the monster. 
  
The Walk : suddenly, GOJIRA (or Godzilla) appears, a huge lizard of 50m high with a clumsy and very angry look. A game of hide-and-seek with the inhabitants of the island follows until GOJIRA disappears as he appeared. In Tokyo, a debate between politicians, scientists and representatives of the population rages on about the relevance of warning the inhabitants or not. Status quo, the wait sets in.   
  
The Watch : GOJIRA has been seen in Tokyo Bay, waiting, appearing, disappearing, terrorizing. The power of the monster scares but its strategic intelligence makes it even more terrifying.
  
The City : from neighborhood to neighborhood, the news spreads. The inhabitants live at the rhythm of GOJIRA’s movements, the tension increases. Meanwhile, a scientist has created a deadly weapon capable of wiping out GOJIRA, but its potential diffusion could be even more deadly if certain nations get hold of it. The dilemma of scientific discovery in response to an emergency situation...
  
The Battle : the army enters the game. GOJIRA is not worried by artillery fire, which has no effect on his solid armor. He devastates and enflammes entire districts of the city. The army is powerless, the population despairs. Only the air force frustrates GOJIRA and pushes him back into the depths.
  
The Agony : after the disaster caused by GOJIRA, our scientific takes the decision to annihilate it. But he must keep his terrible discovery a secret. The only solution for him is the sacrifice and he will die with GOJIRA in a morbid lyricism under the eyes of his companions.

www.myspace.com/logractu 


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Muzzix is a collective composed of 30 musicians and based in Lille (northern France). It supports each year many artistic projects going from contemporary jazz to experimental and improvised musics, performed in many various ways, from solo to full orchestra, from concerts to installations or performances.


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