Godzilla Minus One was only present two days in France for a short-lived outing that made great noise. Some happy privileged of which we were could see the return of the king of monsters on large screen and 4DX please. And despite such a fleeting shooting window, everywhere in his passage the title shows an insolent success at the box office. Like a Godzilla tour around the globe. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus one Can he make the big gap between the beast of the Showa era born in the 1950s and contemporary digital animation techniques?
Tokutsatsu minus one
As Japan barely recovered from World War II, the archipelago was immediately threatened by a new peril from the depths of Tokyo. Back to the sources with this thirtieth feature film of Godzilla by the Tôho studios. If one could fear the abandonment of the technique of Suitability with real actors in monster costumes, Minus One fully succeeds his bet while keeping the approach and appearance of the films of the Showa period. Finish the production-specific historical productions Tokusatsu the original purpose of which was to compete with SFX King Kong (1933) which owes much to the magician of the stoppage, the named Willis O的Brien.
The latter was already responsible for The Ghost of Slumber Moutain (1918) who had surprised his audience by the clever technique of animation in volume. The Tokusatsu favours an animation whose object is the absolute fusion of reality and imagination while preserving this paradox of a human limited by the laws of Newton. Indeed, with the vivacity of rapid movements, the Tokusatsu prefers slow but authentic movements, since the contradiction comes from the very real movements of Man incarnation of unreal creatures as opposed to the manually animated figurines of the above-mentioned films.
Usually, the work is shared between two filmmakers, the first for shooting with the actors and the second for special effects. Fabien Mauro. For Minus OneIt was Yamazaki who had to take on both roles alone for a budget that would be around ten million dollars. A lametelle when Hollywood studios align budgets ten times more, if this is no longer and for often qualitatively questionable results.
Despite the use of digital technology, which could have been feared to deprive the film of its genre-specific patina, Godzilla Minus One constantly tries to reproduce this rigidity. Godzilla has a well-trenched bandage here, its dorsal scales become sharp and its approach recalls that of a tyrannosaure handicapped by arms atrophied and too close to the body. Very popular in Japan, the Tokusatsu became popular genre in its own right. It is increasingly exporting internationally as evidenced by the success of the series Kamen Rider Black Sun Acclaimed on Amazon Prime by an audience not accustomed to Japanese tropes.
The next day that sings will wait
Far from the great permanent spectacle that the neophytes might imagine, Godzilla Minus One distills the appearances of the monster with wisdom rather than squandering the meagre budget allocated to him and reducing the fascination inherent in the appearance of the monster. Here we find a mechanics specific to the first Jurassic Park (and others before him) who knew how to largely temper Saurian apparitions and install his universe with small touches. Godzilla's first appearance on the island of Odo systematically plays with dizzying counter-dives in every plan of the king of the Kaijûs. It also takes some time to show up and then faint. Here Yamazaki prefers to take a distance to better highlight the framework of action: that of a Japan ravaged by the Pacific War and its consequences that cost the lives of nearly three million Japanese. The chosen prism is such that one would almost wonder whether Godzilla is not a pretext for denouncing otherwise more ferocious nationalism.
The cities were razed by massive aerial bombing campaigns without any mention being made of atomic bombs dropped on 6 August 1945 on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the Americans. This collective trauma experienced by an entire nation is a categorical prohibition. It is the unsaid that crosses the entire film, that of a catastrophe that will haunt generations of Japanese to the replicas of the Fukushima disaster. It is also, of course, the very figure of Godzilla who has a powerful laser beam that can in a fraction of seconds destroy a city. One of the monster's first eruptions on the archipelago is memorable and is an unforgettable cinema moment. Incarnation of a blind rage, the deflagration sid the spectator who is projected from his seat of which he clasps as he can in 4DX, from which to move a vertebra and engrave in our flesh this incredible episode.
It's not my war!
Beyond a striking staging at each appearance of Godzilla, especially during fantastic marine scenes, Minus one goes far beyond just a Kaijû film facing the arsenals of the time. Very quickly the spectator is dissonant in the face of a discourse that flourishes antimilitarism without giving up patriotism. Like other filmmakers before him, Yamazaki is an empire that didn't care much about human life whether it's a superficial shielding tank or a fighter plane without ejectable seats.
Most of the film is therefore naturally devoted to the character of Koichi Shikishima, a suicide bomber after simulated engine failure in the last days of the war. Koichi is consumed by the war that will never leave him, in the image of Rambo back from Vietnam. But it is not the atrocities that he could have committed that eats him or that he would have suffered, it is the gaze of a society entirely devoted to the Emperor and whose propaganda imposed sacrifice for the nation. Koichi is regularly caught up in night panics and Godzilla represents both the nuclear trauma and the buried fears of the hero, who only blurs the boundary between life and death, destiny and will. The relationship that emerges with a survivor (mother despite her), is touching and offers another degree of reading. Only the end is more questionable for giving in to the symbol and ease of text explanation.
Minus one is almost the same Top Gun. On this point, the role of aviation Minus One recalls the Return of Godzilla (1955) by Motoyoshi Oda but not only. The scenes of aerial fighting were already present in the episode Tokyo Ice Age of the series Ultra Q of the Tokyo Hyogaki (1966) as already noted Guillaume Lopez (see extract below). Far from Maverick's displayed confidence and blind confidence in the military apparatus, Koichi is the embodiment of doubt, that of a Man whose only fault would have been to have wanted to dream as he entrusts himself. As often in Japanese works, the hero is often close to the martyr.
The sacrifices that Koichi gave up have irremediable consequences that haunt his victim, condemned to relive forever his moments of weakness. It is also the meaning to give to the announced tragedy of a suicide bomber honni by those who have lost everything or have nothing to lose. For all these reasons, Godzilla Minus One is much more than a blockbuster, it's a feat, a real tour de force with such production constraints, a coup de maître that owes enormously to the passion of its director. Despite this meagre budget (but above the previous Japanese films of Godzilla), Yamazaki never renounces the strength of his story and renews in his way the diegesis around the king of monsters.
Great article! Specifically, what was the change in the 4DX format?
The 4DX is the sessions with the moving seats, the wind and water projected at times. On some points, it was hyper impacting almost too much at times. But the scene of Godzilla Beam was memorable with it. It was also very nice to feel the current and the waves during the maritime scenes. Apart from the fact that I was slipping from my seat, I will remember this session. After it can also come out of the movie, it's quite paradoxical. But my room was very respectful.
Very good criticism! For me this movie Godzilla is one of the very best in the franchise. It's going to be hard to make more impacting especially on the Hollywood side that has to learn from it. And given what the next Godzilla x Kong might give...
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