[1989: pp. 132–133]
[2003: pp. 136–137]
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MOTHER Film Study
AMERICAN FILM FOUND IN MOTHER
Spielberg is the Key Word
Akira Kagami
鏡 明 Born 1948. Main line of work: Commercial director for Dentsu. Has a reputation for his deep knowledge of sci-fi novels and American film. The sci-fi reviews he writes regularly for Book Magazine have also become an author's source of information. Major Famicom authority.
MOTHER Makes Me Go: "Oh, I Get it! That's So Spielberg!!"
You know, I think MOTHER is just so America, in a humongous way.
While playing it I've been wondering why it makes me feel that way. 'Course, I don't think about it too hard, it's more fun to just play the game. Either way, it suddenly hit me: Oh, I get it! That's so Spielberg!
For instance, the beginning, where the lamp stand attacks you. It catches you off guard. Wh- what the heck are these guys thinking?
Since then, walking around the house, I've been on my guard around the sofa, I've been cautious around the armchair, I'm careful not to approach the bed, and when the phone rang, I just about made a break for it. And later, I thought, isn't that Poltergeist? A movie Spielberg produced?
There may be plenty of opinions out there on Steven Spielberg, but the man is very deeply rooted in Americana. The good old American dream is always apparent in his works. I get the feeling that leads us to the atmosphere of MOTHER.
Let's Go Looking for Spielberg in MOTHER, Even if We Have to Force it
There's a forced aspect to this, but what say we take a peek at MOTHER, making Spielberg the key word.
Get around Thanksgiving and a "Mad Truck" shows up. It calls to mind the truck from Duel, Spielberg's debut title. That's a giant trailer truck that pursues the hero's car like there's no tomorrow. It was uncanny. The presence of slingshots and caves also made me think, "Oh hey, The Goonies!" but maybe I was overthinking it on that one.
Let's jump ahead. Holy Loly Mountain, where the climax takes place, recalls Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and come to think of it, even though the Little Saucer has a different kind of design, it sort of brings Batteries Not Included to mind, doesn't it?
Then there's the Teleportation you'll be able to use in the latter half. When I first saw it, I gotta say, I laughed my head off, and had a blast doing nothing but making charcoal out of the three kids; but of course, it's the time travel from Back to the Future. I especially think the way the brakes are applied once you've reached your destination is, to tell the truth, a nice touch. I couldn't do it if I didn't like it. Just letting you know, the examples I've given don't necessarily have to have been directed by Spielberg: I'm including ones he produced, superfluous as it is for me to mention it.
Given all that, I wanted to find Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial², but nothing managed to jump out at me.
The Enemy Robot Characters Remind Me of My Favorite Old Sci-Fi Films
While we're at it, not all of these are necessarily Spielberg. A good number of bits and bobs from old sci-fi films show up as well. For instance, this includes Jane, the gynoid that shows up in the game's latter half. She's a clear nod to Maria from Metropolis. Mix up Maria's imagery well enough, and you have C-3PO from Star Wars. I also get the feeling the Old Robo has its origins in the robot toys from the 30s and 40s of the Shouwa Era³, but it wouldn't be crazy to think of it as Robby from that masterpiece, Forbidden Planet. That masterpiece! That's what I call it, yet those who don't know about it won't be able to relate — I remember being quite shocked by the conclusion: What? The culprit was the Id!?
The Starmen, which weren't any stronger than I thought they'd be, recalled the giant robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still. Not only that, but the one I'd thought was actually the master was really more of a puppet, and the one I'd thought was just a robot turned out to be...! When I learned that flip-flopped fact, it honestly left a deep impression on me. I was awfully naïve when I was a boy. As for what I'm like now... If any of the boys and girls reading this expect the unexpected, or are distrusting, or think something is off, please don't let yourselves end up like me.
I Want to Play MOTHER Again and Take Movie Notes!!
The zombies who appear in the zoo⁴ early on aren't particularly reminiscent of either Michael Jackson's "Thriller" or John Carpenter. Zombies are a strangely popular subject. If anything, seeing the appearance these "Pseudo-Zombies" take on, I can't help but be vaguely reminded of a guy named Shigesato Itoi. Nah, that can't be it.
Come to mention it, Friday the Thirteenth showed up somewhere too, didn't it?
This one is probably no more than my own association, but there's a swimming cat in Magicant, right? Let's not forget the one that swims in the ground either. They reminded me of the swimming man in The Beatles film HELP! I'd never come across a gag in that category of absurd. It's actually quite memorable.
Although the concept of a town of nothing but children is pretty common in sci-fi, I feel like the Twilight Zone (to branch off into TV) had something like that in it. There may have been others, but hmmm, I can't remember.
You know, thinking about all this makes me want to play MOTHER again and make a serious effort to take notes. I get the feeling there are all kinds of other examples, but I don't have the time to replay it. Maybe that's one thing to look forward to when I'm old.
[Screencap from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The scientists at Devil's Tower are staring at the floodlights from the mothership.]From Close Encounters of the Third Kind (RCA Colombia Pictures Video)
¹ Itoi admitted in this interview (link goes to Mother Forever, with the translated text taken from the Yomuka! blog) that the Mad Truck's resemblance to the one from Duel is a coincidence. Thanks to Biozilla for pointing me to it.
² Maybe not in the game, but the frog story from Ana's Starring Cast page certainly reminded the translator of E.T.
³ Shouwa Year 30 started in 1955, and 40 began in 1965. If he's talking about two full decades, that's mid-'50s to mid-'70s.
⁴ "Zombies who appear in the zoo": Either he was remembering things wrong, or he wasn't paying attention to what word he was writing. Or somebody on the editing team goofed. Whatever happened, it should read 墓場 (cemetery), not 動物園.
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