Seven years after “Shin Godzilla,” Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One” commemorates the 70thanniversary of the kaiju’sbirth.
The film was released in Japan on Nov. 3 (“Godzilla Day”), the same day the original film premiered in 1954, and in North America on Dec. 1.
Since its first appearance in 1954, Godzilla (Gojira ゴジラin Japanese) has continued to fascinate and shock not only Japan but the world. Last year, Toho announced the decision to produce the latest movie as a major project ahead of the 70th anniversary of the birth of Godzilla in 2024. This is the 30thlive-action Godzilla film produced in Japan.
Director Yamazaki won 12 major awards at the 29th Japan Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, for “Always: Sunset on Third Street” (2005), a depiction of a Showa-era town, and eight awards, including Best Picture, at the 38thJapan Academy Awards for “The Eternal Zero” (2013), a World War II drama.
He also directed the “Always” sequels, which surprised fans by introducing Godzilla at the beginning of the second film, and the award-winning “Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle,” an attraction at Seibuen Yuenchi that achieved an astounding 97% guest satisfaction rate.
Yamazaki directed, wrote the screenplay and created VFX for “Godzilla Minus One.”
The setting of the film is the aftermath of the war. Japan has been reduced to zero, and Godzilla appears to strike the country down to a negative. With the words “From nothing (zero) to negative (minus),” the trailer foreshadows an unimaginable crisis. The Godzilla that strikes down Japan in this film is strong, scary and almost divine.
The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki as Kōichi, a former kamikaze pilot; Minami Hamabe as Noriko, his wife; and Hidetaka Yoshioka as Kenji, a scientist and weapon engineer. The cast also includes Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Mio Tanaka, Yuya Endo, Kisuke Iida and Sae Nagatani.
“Postwar Japan has lost everything. The film depicts an existence that gives unprecedented despair,” Yamazaki explains. “The title ‘Godzilla Minus One’ was created with this in mind. In order to depict this, the staff and I have worked together to create a setting where Godzilla looks as if ‘fear’ itself is walking toward us, and where despair is piled on top of despair.
“I think this is the culmination of all the films I have made to date, and one that deserves to be ‘experienced’ rather than ‘watched’ in the theater. I hope you will experience the most terrifying Godzilla in the best possible environment.”
Born in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture in 1964, Yamazaki was strongly influenced by his childhood encounters with “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and decided to pursue a career in special effects. After graduating from Asagaya College of Art and Design, he joined Shirogumi Inc. in 1986. He made his directorial debut in 2000 with “Juvenile” and is a leading figure in the field of visual effects, making full use of advanced computer graphics.
His films include the computer-animated feature “Stand by Me Doraemon” (2014), which won nine awards at the 38thJapan Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Animated Film.
In addition to “Godzilla the Ride” (2021), the world’s first permanent Godzilla-themed large-scale ride attraction, this year saw the debut of Yamazaki’s follow-up, “Ultraman the Ride: The Great Duel of the Century.”
Yamazaki stated, “My childhood dreams are coming true one after another” by working on both Godzilla and Ultraman.
