Making Music for Godzilla : Masaru Sato

An interview with the late composer of GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER and SON OF GODZILLA.

By Stuart Galbraith IV     July 15, 2000

I first met Masaru Sato when I sat in on writer David (Cult Movies) Milner's interview with the composer in December 1994. Sato had expressed some concern about doing the interview; he had written 300 film scores, and only a handful of those were science fiction. And while Milner asked intelligent, non-Godzilla questions, Sato nevertheless was antsy throughout the meetingwe changed tables three times and restaurants onceand he was vaguely irritable. In light of this, I reluctantly contacted him requesting my own interview in 1996, and was thunderstruck to receive a letter from him saying how much he enjoyed meeting Milner and myself, and how much he was looking forward to seeing me again. When we met in a Shinjuku hotel bar several weeks later, where he was gregarious, energetic, even giddy.
With his long scarf, beret and gold-capped front tooth, Maestro Sato was a prolific composer's composer, responsible for some of the best film music ever written, including the scores to The Bad Sleep Well (1960), Yojimbo (1961), The Sword of Doom (1966), Goyokin (1969), and Hunter in the Dark (1979). His fantasy film work is often no less brilliant--his music for The Lost World of Sinbad (1963), Godzilla versus the Sea Monsterr (1966), Son of Godzilla (1967), and portions of Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster (1974) are splendid too, providing a sharp contrast to the wonderful but heavy melodies of Akira Ifukube.
When I returned to Japan in December 1999 for another research trip, this time a joint biography of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, I was on the phone with Kurosawa's longtime art director, Yoshiro Muraki, when he told me the sad news: Masaru Sato was dead. Two days earlier, member of Kurosawa's staff took Messrs. Sato and Muraki to a Chinese restaurant near Toho Studios. The two had just received medals from the Emperor of Japan, and on the second floor of the restaurant Sato was proudly showing off his prize when he collapsed. He died on the way to the hospital.

STUART GALBRAITH IV: ALTHOUGH YOU HAVEN'T DONE MANY FANTASY FILM SCORES, THEY ARE AMONG YOUR MOST POPULAR WORK. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE INTEREST IN THESE SCORES?

Masaru Sato: They were just for fun [laughs]. They're not realistic; I enjoyed playing with the sound. Mr. Ifukube is the pioneer in that field. My work would have been meaningless if I had not tried to do something very different from him. I think in general the company felt my tastes were generally ill-suited to fantasy films. Jun Fukuda asked me to write music for him, which is how I became involved in most of those. I did a film with Ishiro Honda, but it wasn't a Godzilla film. What was it called?

THE H-MAN (1958).

Somehow it was popular in the States. Sometimes I'm asked about it in the States.

AND IT'S STILL POPULAR. A SOUNDTRACK OF THAT HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED IN JAPAN.

Yes, but it's not really great.

SO WHEN YOU DID THE SCORES TO GODZILLA VERSUS THE SEA MONSTER (1966) AND SON OF GODZILLA (1967), IT WAS YOUR INTENTION TO DO SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM IFUKUBE?

Yes, it was intentional. There was perhaps too much playing with sound.

BUT THAT'S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT! ALTHOUGH I LOVE IFUKUBE'S MUSIC, YOUR SCORES WERE REFRESHING BY COMPARISON TO THE HEAVINESS OF HIS WORK.

Mr. Ifukube cherished Godzilla, and treated Godzilla's story as a great tragedy, whereas I always treated Godzilla and the son as friends.

ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKED ABOUT YOUR MUSIC FOR GODZILLA VERSUS THE SEA MONSTER IS YOUR USE OF ELECTRIC GUITAR.

It was very popular in Japan at the time. I was just picking up on a trend.

YES, BUT IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE AN ELECTRIC GUITAR IN ONE OF MR. IFUKUBE'S SCORES.

Yes, that would never happen!

I ALSO LOVE YOUR FINAL CUE IN SON OF GODZILLA, AS GODZILLA AND MINIRA ARE WALKING IN THE SNOW. DO YOU REMEMBER HOW THAT PIECE OF MUSIC CAME ABOUT?

My aim was to make Godzilla and his son like human beings, and to show the affection of the two toward one another.

IT'S A SURPRISINGLY TOUCHING MOMENT, AND A SURPRISING PIECE OF MUSIC FOR A MONSTER MOVIE.

I tried to devise something unexpected for the audience. Godzilla can't act, right? Therefore I had to express his feelings through music. It was a little over the top, but it was necessary to express their affection.

YOU DID MANY FILMS FOR JUN FUKUDA BESIDES MONSTER MOVIES. WHAT WAS SPECIAL ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP?

He's very quiet. He doesn't have a strong, overbearing character. I've worked with 96 directors. Akira Kurosawa, Kihachi Okamoto, Yoji Yamada. Probably less than 10 of the 96 are still active.

DID THE DECLINE OF THE INDUSTRY AFFECT THE BUDGETS FOR THE MUSIC?

In the Golden Period, we had a whole range of movies, big movies, little movies; then the average budget became smaller. We'd never be able to do a special effects film like Forrest Gump with all its computer effects. Godzilla movies are something of an exception. But today's Japanese movies are too much for kids. Directors like Kurosawa devoted themselves to the story and worked very hard on the script. Audiences today aren't patient enough.

ALTHOUGH NOT AN ESPECIALLY GREAT FILM, YOUR SCORE FOR THE LOST WORLD OF SINBAD (1963) IS REALLY WONDERFUL!

It's a kind of non-nationality/Arabian Nights kind of film. The film itself is not really great compared to the American Sinbad movies, but one rarely has the chance to work in that particular genre, so it was fun to do.

SPEAKING OF SINBAD, DO YOU LIKE THE WORK OF BERNARD HERRMANN?

His work is not so delicate; his music doesn't stay in my head the way Mancini's does. Or the music for Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), or the zither music for The Third Man (1949). For example, Herrmann is like John Williams' theme for Jaws (1975)--dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum--Herrmann's work is effective, but not delicate.

YOUR WORK REMINDS ME A LOT OF HENRI MANCINI, AND OTHERS HAVE COMPARED YOU TO NEAL HEFTI. HAS EITHER OF THESE COMPOSERS INFLUENCED YOU?

Henri Mancini was one of my favorite composers. He changed American film music, and made it popular to the masses. I had the opportunity to meet him many years ago in Japan. He asked to see me, and when we met, he was surprised at how young I was. 'Have you been composing film music since you were born?' he asked. This was right after Yojimbo came out, and I remember he asked me a lot of questions about that score, such as how long it took to compose and record and things like that.

BUT YOU FOUND IN HIM A KINDRED SPIRIT.

Yes, in terms of melody we have a similar spirit. I think that his scores are the most popular in Japan.

YOU WROTE THE MUSIC FOR GIGANTIS THE FIRE MONSTER/GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN (1955) MORE THAN 40 YEARS AGO. WHEN YOU LISTEN TO IT NOW, DOES IT SOUND 'SATO-ESQUE?'

It's like listening to a kid, trying to learn.

YOU'VE WRITTEN 300 FILM SCORES. HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN THIS PACE?

One year I wrote 18 complete scores; that's my record. Last year I did three. Recently, with the Japanese film industry the way it is, I've slowed down to just a few each year. No one could break that record now--that was during the Golden Period.

DO YOU EVER INTENTIONALLY OR UNINTENTIONALLY BORROW FROM YOUR EARLIER WORK BECAUSE YOU'VE SCORED SO MANY FILMS?

Somehow, I'm sure I have written scores that have been very similar, though I try not to. In preparing some of my work for a CD set, I was really surprised to find some similar pieces among my old and new work, and I came to recognize this issue you mention.

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST MEETING WITH FUMIO HAYAZAKA, COMPOSER OF SUCH SCORES AS SEVEN SAMURAI and UGETSU?

Yes. Clearly. I went to see him a week or so before my graduation from music school. I chose him as my mentor; I thought he was the very best person for me, because of his work in films and especially his score for Rashomon (1950). At first he refused, but he was really surprised by my understanding of his work and then accepted me as his student.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT WRITING FILM MUSIC FROM HIM?

Orchestrations, and also how the atmosphere of the music affects the film. At the time, the orchestras in films were very small, so I used modern orchestrating methods. This was something that nobody was teaching in college!

ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKE ABOUT YOUR WORK IS THAT YOU SEEM TO KNOW EXACTLY WHERE MUSIC SHOULD AND SHOULDN'T GO. IS THIS ALSO SOMETHING YOU PICKED UP FROM HAYASAKA?

Not only that. To me the timing of the music is much more important that the content. That's the most important thing. Then the tone and the manner of the music come next. It depends on the director. Sometimes the director will point out if a film is being under- or over-scored, and this is very helpful.

DID AKIRA KUROSAWA OFFER SUGGESTIONS WHEN YOU WORKED FOR HIM?

He didn't give me any direct advice. He would say, vaguely, 'Could you please try something a little bit different?' He wanted to do a lot of improvisation, not realizing that with an orchestra that was very difficultsomeone has to write the notes! In that sense, he is the only demanding director in Japan.

IS IT BETTER FOR YOU TO HAVE A LOT OF INPUT FROM THE DIRECTOR, OR DO YOU PREFER TO WORK BY YOURSELF?

I'd rather be with a good director; he'll help inspire me and my work.

*Fantasy Films: Gigantis the Fire Monster, Half Human [score deleted for American version] (1955), The H-Man (1958), The Lost World of Sinbad (1963), Godzilla versus the Sea Monster (1966), Son of Godzilla (1967), Submersion of Japan/Tidal Wave (1973), Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster (1974), Blue Christmas (1978).

*Also by Masaru Sato: Throne of Blood, The Lower Depths (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958), The Bad Sleep Well (1960), Yojimbo (1961), Sanjuro (1962), High and Low (1963), Red Beard (1965), The Sword of Doom (1966), Goyokin (1969), Men and War I-III (1970-73), The Yellow Handkerchief (1977), Hunter in the Dark (1979), The Silk Road (1988), Rainbow Kids (1991).