Godzilla Minus One (2023) December 22nd, 2023

Returning Godzilla to its roots as a metaphor for the threat, consequences, and suffering caused by nuclear war was a breath of fresh air in the radioactive climate of nonstop meaningless action-schlock Hollywood produces. In Godzilla Minus One our protagonist, Kōichi Shikishima, lands his kamikaze plane at a refuel and repair station on what appears to be a deserted island. Kōichi struggles with the shame of abandoning his duties as a kamikaze pilot but before he is arrested and court marshaled, Godzilla attacks the island and wipes out nearly all of the men stationed there. Further ashamed by his inaction to destroy the monster on the island, Kōichi faces new misery when he arrives home to a demolished city and dead parents. His neighbors lash out at him and lay the responsibility for losing the war, losing their families, on the shoulders of deserters like him. Overtime Kōichi builds a life for himself and his new family while being haunted by the ghosts of his cowardice. When Godzilla reappears Kōichi helps devise a plan to defeat the monster and is essential to the mission that saves the people of Japan and redeems his past failures.

More than a monster movie, Godzilla Minus One is a study on the role honor, guilt, and shame play in Japanese culture. For me the master movie aspect takes a backseat to the humanity in Kōichi’s story. In a way Godzilla Minus One feels like hearing a new perspective on an old story. Making the protagonist a failed kamikaze pilot who overcomes his guilt and shame is not a story I’d expect to see in a Japanese film from the 50s, but now… perhaps culture has changed and the narrative needs to change to accommodate modern audiences too.

Godzilla Minus One highlights one of film’s most magical qualities, allowing people from all over the world to experience life through the perspective of another. I’ll never know what its like to be Japanese, or Swedish, or Italian but through the eyes of Kurosawa, Bergman, and Fellini I can peek into those worlds, glimpsing life lived differently. Godzilla Minus One is not of their filmmaking ilk, but as Godzilla films go, it’s a masterpiece.