Full body banner of Godzilla in Godzilla: Minus One.
This winter sees the release of Toho’s next entry into their famous Godzilla franchise, and this time it’s going back in time! Unlike most science-fiction franchises however, this isn’t going to lean into the cliché ideas for stories found in films like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), the Back to the Future trilogy, or even the story in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah[Gojira tai Kingu Gidora] (1991). In contrast, the film explores the idea of Godzilla appearing during the time of the American occupation that occurred from 1945 following the surrender of Japan until 1952. The US occupation was led by General Douglas McArthur, who oversaw the reconstruction of Japan socially, economically, and politically. Of these reforms, two major changes conducted was the abolishment of the Japanese Imperial Army (and later on the development and establishment of the Japanese Self-Defense Force) and changing the country into a democracy. In the 2016 film Shin Godzilla [Shin Gojira] one of the characters states, “Post-war lasts forever.” This echoes the impact that World War II and the events following the war have shaped Japan’s culture.
The first Godzilla movie was released nationwide in Japan November 3, 1954, and has since spanned thirty-six films with two more to be released before summer of 2024 along with seven television shows, with a new show airing in November 2023. The franchise has always seemingly taken inspiration from the politics of Japan at the time (barring the American films), discussing topics such as commercialism, capitalism, industrialization, pollution, the development of Japanese children, the Cold War, religion, natural disasters, and much more. Unlike most popular entertainment IPs, Godzilla has always been vocal with its politics, and covering various topics (some more transparent than others). The original 1954 film Godzilla [Gojira] being of the most vocal films, covering the topics of the Lucky Dragon No. 5 Incident (which occurred March 1 of that year), the fear of nuclear weapons and their impact on the world (especially the events of Hiroshima or Nagasaki), and so on. Many film historians have explored the metaphorical background of Godzilla–publishing books, thesis, documentaries, and articles exploring it. Now, almost seventy years later Toho has finally decided to let Godzilla go to the source of everything the franchise was built on: US-occupied Japan in 1947.
Godzilla: Minus One [Gojira -1.0] is set to be released November 3, 2023, exactly sixty-nine years after the original film was released. This time, Toho has tapped the A-list Japanese director Takashi Yamazaki (Returner, Space Battleship Yamato, & The Always Sunset on Third Street trilogy) to bring the daikaijū back to the silver screens in Japan following the seven year time-gap between this production and 2016’s Shin Godzilla from the duo of Shinji Higuchi (Japan Sinks, Shin Ultraman, & the live-action Attack on Titan duology) and Hideaki Anno (Cutie Honey, Neon Genesis Evangelion, & Shin Kamen Rider). Director Yamazaki has been the top of many fan’s list to helm a new Toho Godzilla film for now well over a decade following the monster’s appearance in Yamazaki’s well received Always Sunset sequel that got the director two more Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Screenplay (following the 14 wins the first Always Sunset On Third Street received at the 2006 Japanese Academy Awards). Since then, Yamazaki has went on to develop adaptations of Crayon Shin-Chan (who had a crossover with both Shin Godzilla and Shin Kamen Rider in the animated television show), Space Battleship Yamato, Parasyte, and has even adapted some World War II stories to the silver screen.
After graduating from Asabi Art School, Yamazaki found himself working for the production company ShiroGumi Co., Ltd. (of which Yamazaki is now one of the heads of the company) He worked there for two decades acting as the head of VFX (or visual special effects) for Juzo Itami (Tampopo, Minbo, & The Last Dance)’s films.
Mr. Itami talked to us as equals even though we were young, and taught us a lot of things, like… how movies are made… I think very seriously about what I can do to continue doing what I love. I want to make an entertaining movie, I want as many people as possible to see it. Rather than seizing the opportunities that come your way, it’s about being prepared, and prepared not to miss them when they come your way. I always try to think about the themes that I want to photograph.
As Yamazaki continued to work on VFX in the film industry in Japan, he eventually found himself in the director’s chair, and since then Yamazaki has become popular in Japan for his usage of “VFX” from his early films like Juvenile [Jubunairu] (2000) and Returner [Ritaanaa] (2002) to his biggest live-action movies like the Always trilogy or Space Battleship Yamato [Supēsu Batorushippu Yamato] (2010). Many people have labeled Yamazaki as the “James Cameron of Japan” for his heavy use of computer generated imagery (or CGI). Yamazaki when addressing the rise of VFX said,
We’re no longer in an era where everyone gets excited just because a dinosaur appears, like in the first Jurassic Park (1993). We live in an era where VFX is meant to be a spectacle. In the extreme, anyone can use VFX. “Paint” has become available to everyone… Now anyone can buy it. When VFX contributes to a story, it’s a very powerful companion. I want to show people something they’ve never seen before, even when they think they’ve seen most of it. So what’s important is [the] vision.” Continuing, “I want to make a movie with a high level of quality, and I want to see what they can do if I give double the usual amount of money to the staff… I want to make an elaborate movie. I want to make a movie with rich VFX.
For Godzilla: Minus One, Yamazaki is acting as the writer, director, and VFX director. It’s very possible due to director Yamazaki’s stance on VFX thatMinus One will be Toho’s most expensive Godzilla movie ever produced (beating Ryuhei Kitamura’s 2004 film Godzilla: Final Wars). This wouldn’t be a huge surprise as since director Yamazaki’s Always trilogy, he’s gone on to be one of the biggest directors in Japan and has brought in over fifty–billion yen at the Japanese box office and is within the top ten most successful Japanese filmmakers. As of 2019 he, was reportedly the fourth-highest grossing director in Japan behind Katsuyuki Motohiro (Space Travelers, Psycho-Pass: The Movie, & Shaolin Girl), Kunihiko Yuyama (various Pokémon movies), and the master of animation Hayao Mayazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, & The Boy and the Heron). In 2014, Yamazaki had two films within the top three highest grossing domestic Japanese films with number 1– Stand By Me Doraemon [Sutando Bai Mī Doraemon]–and at number 2–The Eternal Zero[Eien no Zero]. To say that Yamazaki has accomplished a lot is an understatement. While mentioning The Eternal Zero, it’s worthy to note that Yamazaki, much like Ishirō Honda (Godzilla, Rodan, & Mothra), both directors having developed World War II films. For Yamazaki, his filmography includes two war–time movies. These titles being the aforementioned The Eternal Zero and The Great War of Archimedes[Arukimedesu no taisen] (2019), one covering the story of a Zero pilot and his redemption from being labeled a “coward” and the other a fictional telling of the development of the Battleship Yamato (the largest battleship ever constructed). Both films take place and cover events during World War II and have caused controversy, mainly Eternal Zero due to the author of the original novel being a Japanese war–crime denier, but that didn’t stop Yamazaki as he would go on to adapt another one of the author’s works into Fueled: A Man They Call Pirate [kaizoku to yobareta otoko] (2016).
Yamazaki is not one to shy away from controversy. The director has been accused of being pro-war and a war–crime denier but has gone on record multiple times during the press–tours for both films, in 2014 when addressing the claims for The Eternal Zero, “It’s centered on its human drama, with the war era as a backdrop… It’s similar to Titanic(1997), which was a love story set against the backdrop of the Titanic sinking. The film depicts the war as a complete tragedy, so how can you say it glorifies war?”
Then in 2019 when discussing The Great War of Archimedes,
…my generation may be the last generation whose parents knew about the war and were able to listen to first-hand information. I think it’s better to have it as one of the themes you draw [upon]. At the time of The Eternal Zero, some people criticized it as ‘glorifying war’ or ‘[being] belligerent’ but I don’t understand why people took it that way. I think [Archimedes] as well as ‘Eternal Zero’ are solid anti-war movies. I think it’s best to make an anti-war movie that only focuses on the horrors of war, but if you do that, it won’t reach the hearts of the general public. In order to deliver it, it has to be entertainment. I wish I could convey my anti-war message like a blow to the body.
Furthermore elaborating on the choice of doing a Battleship Yamato movie,
It is estimated that more than 3,000 people died when she sank. It is said that 4,000 people died in kamikaze attacks… That was really shocking.” Also commenting on the portrayal of Admiral Yamamoto in Archimedes, “I portrayed him as a person with a deep and interesting dark side. That makes him feel like a living person. It’s interesting to see the unworthy parts of fine people… Like Kenji Mizoguchi’s ‘Chikamatsu Monogatari’ [a.k.a. The Crucified Lovers] (1954), and at the end of that movie, the heroine, Kyoko Kagawa, shows the happiest face even though she is in a tragic situation where she is about to be sentenced to death. I think this dual structure is what [Archimedes] is all about.
Throughout Archimedes, Admiral Yamamoto plays the anti-Pacific War character that director Ishirō Honda appreciated about him (citing that as partial influence as to why he continued to work on TheEagle of the Pacific [Taiheiyo no wash] (1953) following Toho denying and telling him to scrap his initial script after collecting the stories of pilots and the family members of military men), but within the last ten minutes of Archimedes, Yamazaki brings the horror of war home with the reveal of what is to come as Admiral Yamamoto references a proposed plan to bomb the United States Navy base at Pearl Harbor and declaring war against the United States, a truly haunting experience for any American to hear.
It’s interesting to see that both Honda and Yamazaki did war films about similar topics, The Eagle of the Pacific being a story about Admiral Yamamoto and his war-time experiences with trying to prevent the attack on Pearl Harbor all-the-while leading his troops and remaining loyal to emperor Hirohito. Whereas The Eternal Zero follows a zero pilot who is declared a coward by his squadron and must fight to prove himself a worthy pilot whom just wishes to return home to his family.
While Great War of Archimedes follows a mathematician who wishes to see Japan not go to war with America and is tricked by the military to help develop the perfect weapon to prevent war from breaking out as that’s his job, Farewell Rabaul [Saraba Rabauru] (1954) follows a group of Zero pilots as they learn about how the Japanese military doesn’t value their lives and so they look for any companionship they can have before they’re sent to do their “job.”
Following the release of The Great War of Archimedes, Toho producer Minami Ichikawa (Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman, & Space Battleship Yamato) approached Yamazaki and “suggested the next Godzilla. [Yamazaki] said, ‘If I were to do it, it would be Godzilla set in an old era.’ The script took about three years to develop, and filming took place from March to June of [2022].” The idea of an “old era Godzilla” for Yamazaki dates back over ten years ago to a quote from him during the press-tour of Always Sunset on Third Street 2 [Always zoku san-chôme no yûhi] (2007) saying this about the character,
Shōwa was the highlight. I believe that Godzilla could not be created without the Shōwa era, and once I thought about that and what if I were to create Godzilla, I thought that the Shōwa era is inseparable from that. The mood of that era, which still bears the scars of war, no longer holds true in modern times. It’s interesting as fiction, but in modern times it’s too far removed from reality.
From his work on the Always trilogy, many people commented on how Yamazaki was able to bring the Shōwa emotions back to Yamazaki because the Shōwa era never left him. He said, “I’m… proud of the fact that I was born in the year of the Tokyo Olympics. Even though the Heisei era is over, I feel like I’m still in the Shōwa era. I’m not used to the Heisei era, so I find it strange that the Shōwa era is so far away… It was a time of excitement.”
And:
”I really like nostalgic things. Things like the feeling that you can’t be a child anymore, and that it’s okay to be a child even when you grow up. There are times when I feel like I haven’t grown up at all. When I’m making [films], I feel like I’m [back] at the school [film] festival.” Adding on in a later interview, “I really like nostalgia because I think the way of life back then can give us hints for the way we live now.”
In a recent press release for Godzilla: Minus One, Yamazaki has elaborated furthermore by saying,
I’ve wanted to make a Godzilla movie for a long time… I’ve always had the image of Godzilla as a nuclear threat or a monster that reflects the shadow of war… If I was going to [do a Godzilla movie], I wanted it to be from that era, there was an idea that the Great East Japan Earthquake was going to be the inspiration, but Shin Godzilla depicted it so vividly that I wanted to do it in the post-war era to counteract that. I realized that it would be really difficult to make the main story of Godzilla… It was quite difficult. I thought that this would not be possible unless we made significant technical advances.
And while Yamazaki wanted to refer to the Shōwa era for Godzilla, he did draw some inspiration for the design of the Always Godzilla (of which has seemingly been the base design for all of his Godzilla designs) which is “based on [Shusuke] Kaneko’s Godzilla design. (the Godzilla design from Godzilla, Mothra, & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack(2001))Continuing, “I liked Godzilla with white eyes, and I wanted to make Godzilla scary… I wanted to think of something that would be scary for adults to watch, something that would be suitable for entertainment for adults, and I wanted to cherish that image.” Yamazaki, much like Kaneko, has an idea of Godzilla being this force of revenge, much like that of the Onryō (or vengeful spirit). The Onryō is a type of yūri (or ghost) in Japanese folklore which most people would recognize as famous fictional depictions such as Sadako (of the Ring franchise) or Kayako (of the Grudge franchise). Often depicted as women in white clothing and long black hair, but while Godzilla doesn’t have those attributes, the message and similarities are still felt. Onryō often not only take revenge on those that truly did them wrong, but they also punish the innocent that are in the way or close by. We see moments like this in Ju-On: The Grudge [Ju-On] (2002) where anyone who steps foot in the blood-ridden house is doomed to be killed by the vengeful curse that resonates within the building. Godzilla is not heroic in GMK or Minus One; he is filled with unfiltered rage and the desire to take revenge on humanity, more so than your typical “nature restoring balance” trope found in the recent Hollywood MonsterVerse films from Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers. “That Monster… will never forgive us,” is a line well-edited into the official trailer as it clarifies how Godzilla will be portrayed in this movie. Much like the original Godzilla (who went out of his way to kill innocent people with his atomic breath or animalistic strength), Godzilla in Minus One is seen to be going after the Japanese who are just trying to run away, killing in cold vengeful blood.
Yamazaki wants to elaborate on the fear of Godzilla and the parallels for the fear of the atom bomb. Godzilla in GMK could be interpreted as the third coming of nuclear weapons against Japan. In the movie, it mentions Godzilla being the physical embodiment of souls killed by Japanese soldiers and that of fallen forgotten Japanese soldiers. This means Godzilla does have American souls within him, and upon his unannounced arrival, he kills innocent people and the first use of his atomic breath results in a mushroom cloud the size of that like Hiroshima or Nagasaki, followed by a school teacher saying, “Atom bomb,” and a shot of a poster in a lab with the daigo fukuryū maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5) on it. The symbolism is present, and the fear of godzilla is established. The fear of Godzilla was born. Godzilla: Minus One may take a similar approach but extend the fear of Godzilla and his direct links to World War II throughout the film with it taking place in 1947. In the initial teaser trailer we see something that looks oddly like that of the crater of an intense explosion, this could be a hint to a much greater link than any previous Godzilla film to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, showing the fallout from it. How far will Yamazaki take this film? Ishirō Honda was held back by executives at Toho to clearly depict much of the World War II connections, so they remained embedded in the film’s postwar Japan allegories throughout the film. Sixty-nine years later, that isn’t the issue any more. Tahashi Yamazaki has already depicted the sinking of Japan’s naval masterpiece the Yamato in The Great War of Archimedes. The film’s only time or date we know currently is found in the second teaser video which specifically showed “February 10th, 1947,” the date the Paris Treaty Accords were signed–which was the treaty to officially see World War II as over. Granted, Japan was not involved by this point in World War II, but the letter this date is attached to is a letter from General Douglas McArthur to the prime minister of Japan. The day the United States stops fighting, they must return to war, this time with Godzilla, which producer Minami Ichikawa also highlighted: “Since the story takes place immediately after the war, I think it’s innovative to create a time when there were no Self-Defense Forces and no weapons or ammunition. In other words, what would happen if Godzilla came to Japan at a time when Japan was unarmed? That was the starting point.”
Japan is defenseless, which means the United States must protect the country and will be met with major criticism from the Japanese parliament and public. We see a brief glimpse of this between the teaser trailer and the official trailer, where we see our two main characters standing watching as Godzilla gets a very powerful bomb dropped on him (not a nuclear weapon). We see the shockwave briefly but then once you include the footage from the previous teaser, the Wako Clock Tower (as seen in Godzilla (1954), Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995), Shin Godzilla (2016) and Godzilla: Singular Point (2021)) still standing with the remains of the other buildings around it. Prior to this, we also saw a wide shot of protestors standing in front of wreckage that, once you compare the building on the far right of that shot to the building in-front of our two main characters in the explosive shot in the official trailer, they match up. I can only assume this is the beginning of the criticism the US forces will face for their failure to protect Japan, a country that the United States already crippeled and “sent Japan to zero” and now with Godzilla are “in the minus.” Who will protect us? If the most powerful military can’t kill it, what can? The film will have to touch upon these questions.
Perhaps the United States is also the ones responsible for the creation of Godzilla? Godzilla in the original 1954 film was awoken by the Bikini Atoll hydrogen bomb testings in the 1950s conducted by the United States. We already know that Yamazaki is taking more influence from the franchise with the line, “That Monster… will never forgive us,” said by Ryunosuke Kamik’s character, Koichi Shikishima. It echoes the same sentiment from Kenta Taguchi performed by Shigieru Izumiya (Fukushima 50 (2020), Death Powder (1986), Pom Poko (1994)): “Men did a terrible thing and made Godzilla angry… They made a huge fire and burned everything on the land. Godzilla will never forgive mankind”(Godzilla: Final Wars [Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu] (2004)). Judging by the footage we’ve seen so far too, this Godzilla will never forgive mankind. That being said, the film will not be Yamazaki lecturing on a soapbox for two hours about his politics; the film will be political and will have metaphors throughout, but Yamazaki doesn’t like the idea of filling a movie with politics and lectures:
You don’t want to be “preached” when you’re paying money to go to the theater, right? There’s nothing more infuriating than being lectured to, even though you’ve paid money to see it. It would be great if people come to see the show and take home something that struck a chord with them as a souvenir.
Godzilla: Minus One will be a very intense and exciting movie for audiences to watch. Fans of Yamazaki’s work will notice towards the end of the trailer. There’s a scene with a boat flying through the air and hitting a building. It may appear to just be a building near a harbor but it’s actually significant to World War II and Yamazaki’s filmography. The building the boat flies into is known as the Tsukuba Naval Air Corps Headquarters, and in World War II, it was used to train Zero pilots and was home to the “Kamikaze Special Attack Force Tsukuba Unit,” which remained active till the end of the war. Furthermore, the building was used in The Eternal Zeroand partially filmed at the building, which has since been turned into a museum. As a small bit of visual irony also rests in this shot as The Great War of Archimedes taught us, the war shifted away from ships and more so to airplanes, which led to the Japanese’s ultimate fate as they chose to continue developing ships and a stronger navy. Seeing a boat “fly” into the building is somewhat ironic.
Godzilla: Minus One is definitely set to be the biggest and truest of Yamazaki’s filmography yet, Yamazaki said confidently. “When I look at the completed work, it feels like a culmination of all my efforts to create a story. I believe that I have created a work in which I have generously poured in all the knowledge and skills I have absorbed from the many things that I have learned from them.”
In many regards, Yamazaki is the fresh outlook we’ve needed in the franchise that also returns to its roots. For me, Godzilla: Minus One echoes the feeling I have for the Shōwa era films. The look, feel, and respect for that era has been clarified by Yamazaki clearly throughout his filmography, known to many as the somebody who understands and respects the Shōwa era, Yamazaki is honored to have been born in 1964, which is highlighted by many as a height for the Japanese as it was the year the bullet train was established and the year of the Tokyo Olympics, in that of a good story, Yamazaki had the honor of supervising the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. While developing the opening ceremony, talked about how he approached the films he directed and told the interviewer, “When I make a movie, I want to be able to convey both superficial fun and a deep message at the same time…”He later added that which felt like it was straight from Ishirō Honda, when asked about the Japanese mentality:“Is it cooperation, dedication, etc.? I think the message we need to convey is how to incorporate these into our way of life.” Godzilla: Minus Onewill undoubtedly address this, with the line, “Somebody’s got to do it.”and our main character being a “disgrace” and needing to redeem himself, this’ll be a heartfelt story.
Yamazaki’s Godzilla: Minus One is gearing up to be one of the biggest Godzilla films with Toho directly distributing the film in the United States and Canada with a wide release for the first time in the franchise’s history. International distribution is slowly rolling out too (with the recent news of Germany getting the film December 1). There is no doubt that Toho has faith in Yamazaki and Minus One, and now all we need to do is wait for December 1 to get here (or November 3 for people in Japan) so we can see what exactly is in store for us. The story for the film has been kept secret from the public with very little information out there for people to know about. The film’s slogan tells us all we need to know: “Survive and fight.” This story will follow a group of people determined to survive and fight the biggest threat to their country in history, and what we can learn from the past mistakes made by man to better our tomorrow.
