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"Godzilla Minus One" Released in Japan, Director Pursues Original 1954 Film's 'Japanese Spirituality'

"Godzilla Minus One", an intense monster production by CG animator Takashi Yamazaki, hits Japanese theaters on Godzilla's 69th birthday, promising a reimagining of post-war Japan with themes of war, nuclear weapons, and an embodiment of traditional Japanese spirituality.

Overview

  • Godzilla Minus One, directed by Takashi Yamazaki, has been released in Japan, coinciding with the 69th birthday of Godzilla. It promises a reimagining of post-war Japan, featuring themes of war, nuclear weapons, and Japanese spirituality.
  • The film is set just after Japan's surrender in World War II and portrays a country so devastated it's left with nothing to fight off Godzilla, pushing everything back into 'minus' territory.
  • Takashi Yamazaki aimed to evoke the 'Japanese spirituality' that characterized the 1954 original Godzilla movie, addressing issues of war and nuclear weapons. Godzilla is portrayed as a 'tatarigami,' a concept in Japan referring to both good and bad gods, making Godzilla half-monster, half-god.
  • Yamazaki's rendition is unique in that it suggests that only a prayer can calm or stop the monster – as opposed to trying to kill it.
  • The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki as the hero, a soldier who survives the war and loses his family, only to end up confronting Godzilla, while the depiction of the monster is the work of the Tokyo-based Shirogumi digital special-effects team, which includes Yamazaki.