Takashi Yamazaki’s latest Oscar-winning entry in the storied Godzilla franchise reclaims the beloved kaiju’s roots, melding an awe-inspiring spectacle with a potent exploration of survivor’s guilt. It’s a historical reckoning that would make even the most jaded kaiju cynic sit up and take notice. Behold, its glory.
It’s finally here. Godzilla has been through quite the career since its 1954 debut with Ishiro Honda’s first-of-its-kind monster flick, morphing from a symbol of nuclear horror into a sometimes hero, sometimes villain, and always a box office draw. But in Minus One , Yamazaki strips away dear ‘ol Gojira’s past ‘iguanification’ and subsequent pink-washing, returning our favourite radioactive reptile to ground zero: steeped in the anxieties of post-war Japan and a scathing critique of American imperialism.
If we were fooled into believing that an atomic dinosaur couldn’t possibly get any more terrifying, here, for the first time in 70 years, Gojira serves as a colossal, scaly therapist of sorts, forcing Japan to confront its darkest hours and some uncomfortable questions (a true 21st century nightmare). The film opens in the immediate aftermath of World War II when Japan is counting its losses and reeling from the aftereffects of the war. The story follows Kōichi Shikishima (played with gut-wrenching vulnerability by Ryunosuke Kamiki), a man plagued by survivor’s guilt, wandering through the rubble of his homeland, and haunted by the spectre.