Time Writer | Gummy bears
Don't walk gently into that good night.
At this year's Oscars, there was one person who stood out.
Short, stubby hands, honest smile, glowing dorsal fin...... The "brother" holding the Oscar golden man looked up to the sky and roared, which can be described as complacent.
The above animation was spontaneously produced by netizens, in order to celebrate this classic IP that has a history of 70 years since its birth, and finally won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects with its new film.
However, it was not the world's best-selling Monsters Cinematic Universe that won the award.
Rather—
Godzilla-1.0
Anniversary
For "Godzilla-1.0", the first question many people have after seeing the title is:
What's new in the Monsters Cinematic Universe?
In fact, there is no correlation between the two.
"Godzilla vs. Kong 2: Rise of Empires", which was released worldwide at the end of March this year, is a tripartite joint production of Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, and Toho Co., Ltd., and belongs to the Monster Cinematic Universe.
Toho only provided the filming rights, and the world view and script were handled by the American side, and the final product also met the audience's consistent expectations for Hollywood special effects blockbusters.
At the end of last year, "Godzilla-1.0", which was only released in Japan and North America, is a traditional Japanese monster blockbuster produced entirely by Toho, and it is also the 30th work in the series so far.
During its release in Japan, "Godzilla-1.0" sold more than 1 billion yen in its first weekend, making it one of the highest-grossing live-action films of 2023. After its release in North America, the total box office exceeded $100 million.
Compared with "Godzilla vs. Kong 2: Rise of the Empire", this achievement is naturally not enough. But considering its production cost of only $15 million, it's a miracle to have such a revenue.
Due to differences in world views, Godzilla's images in different movies are also significantly different.
In the American version of the movie, Godzilla, despite his terrifying appearance and amazing destructive powers, essentially exists as a guardian who will destroy other monsters that threaten the earth.
"Godzilla-1.0" inherits the setting of Godzilla's birth, which is a giant monster produced by the effects of radiation, and is the embodiment of the Japanese people's post-war nuclear fear on the screen.
The "-1.0" in the title is not only to distinguish it from Hollywood's "Godzilla 1" and "Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters", but also to refer to Japan, which had nothing after the war (0), and was destroyed to a negative value (-1) due to the appearance of Godzilla.
In order to emphasize the psychological oppression that Godzilla brought to civilians after the war, the special effects of this film also have a different focus.
Not only does it reflect Godzilla's efficient healing ability, but the terrifying impact formed after the release of atomic breath is also the same as the explosion effect after a nuclear bomb is dropped.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. You know, even among the five monster movies that Warner and Universal spent a lot of money on, only "King Kong: Skull Island" has been nominated for this.
At a cost of only $15 million, it beat out four competing films: "AI Creator" ($90 million), "Mission Impossible 7" ($290 million), "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" ($250 million) and "Napoleon" ($130 million), which also made many viewers curious about the film.
However, although it won the visual effects award, after watching the whole film for two hours, you will find that this is not a special effects film about Godzilla's brainless bombing of Tokyo.
On the contrary, the literary and dramatic plots related to human beings occupy a greater proportion.
And because the timeline of the film is set in the extremely sensitive period of the end of World War II, the controversy over whether the film is "anti-war" or "anti-defeat" has never stopped.
under the sign
The protagonist of the film is named Koichi Shikishima, a man who often draws "under the lottery".
Koichi was undoubtedly cowardly, and as a member of the kamikaze team, he didn't want to sacrifice himself to complete the mission, so he lied to his teammates that the fighter was malfunctioning.
As a result, the crowd had to stay on Oto Island for a short time, waiting for the plane to be repaired.
Unexpectedly, that night, they were attacked by Godzilla, a monster on the island.
And it was also because of Koichi's cowardice that he didn't shoot at Gothola in time, resulting in him and the maintenance staff being the only ones in the team who survived.
In the same year, Japan declared defeat. When Koichi returns to Tokyo, he discovers that his parents have died in the bombing.
A woman named Noriko, with the girl she picked up, forcibly ran into the Hiroshi family to live with him.
The three people, who are not related by blood, formed a temporary family in the decadent atmosphere after the war and supported each other to survive.
In order to support his family, Koichi accepted a well-paid but dangerous job as a drainage mine.
At work, he became friends with his colleagues on board.
In life, along with the reconstruction of Ginza, Noriko also found a white-collar job and was able to share the family's expenses.
It seems that everything is steadily improving.
However, with the nuclear test conducted by the U.S. military on Bikini Island in 1946, Godzilla also evolved again and began to attack ships at sea.
So, in May 1947, the nightmare returned.
Koichi's team, which was sent to Godzilla's infested sea area to clear mines, encountered this mutant monster head-on.
Although several people were lucky enough to escape, they were unable to stop Godzilla's strong landing in Tokyo.
Ginza, which has just come back to life, has ushered in a fatal blow. More than 20,000 buildings were affected, and 30,000 people were killed or injured.
Noriko was also blown away by the air wave of atomic breath because of her protection of Koichi, and her life and death are unknown.
As a result of the defeat, Japan was temporarily placed under the jurisdiction of the Allied Headquarters (GHQ), the army was disbanded, and all military weapons were placed under the control of the GHQ. Therefore, the Japanese government has absolutely no military strength to contend with the monster.
Only veterans scattered among the people can spontaneously organize and plan the expulsion of Godzilla.
Koichi, who can drive a fighter jet, has become the most critical part of the plan.
With severe PTSD, he finally has the opportunity to use this action to untie the knot.
On the surface, Koichi draws before each action to draw the nearest sign.
However, each time, he miraculously survived, including the final "special attack" operation.
negating the "special attack spirit" and supporting "life first", from this point of view, this film is undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face to militarism.
But why is there such a strong controversy?
The Dream of Corpses
The director of this film, Takashi Yamazaki, may be said to be the person who loves Godzilla the most among contemporary Japanese directors.
As early as his famous work "Eternal Sunset" series, Godzilla, who wreaks havoc, appeared in the form of the protagonist's fantasy.
"Eternal Sanchome Sunset 2"
After that, Saitama Prefecture's Seibu Garden Amusement Park launched the 3D movie attraction "Godzilla, THE, RIDE, Monster Battle". The short film is also directed by Takashi Yamazaki.
Both love Godzilla and are good at computer special effects production, it can be said that "Godzilla-1.0" is a bit unreasonable if he is not asked to direct.
Amusement ride commercial
However, the director's political stance never seems to be clear.
Among the past works, "Forever 0" has caused extensive discussion because of whether the theme of the film is "anti-war or anti-defeat".
The author of the original work, Naoki Momota, is an ultra-rightist in Japan who has never been disguised.
However, he is also the director of "Doraemon: Walk with Me".
As we all know, Hiroshi Fujimoto, one of the authors of the manga, has always been a staunch anti-war writer.
It can be seen from this that Takashi Yamazaki himself is actually more focused on the story itself under the lens than whether or not to export political ideas in the film.
But it is also such an ambiguous attitude, which ultimately leads to the rather subtle perception of "Godzilla-1.0".
Of course, there are many times in the film, and the lines of different characters are disgusted with war.
When a colleague who did not participate in the war sighed "I hope the war lasts a little longer", Koichi's fierce reaction directly frightened the other party.
When the demining team found out that they had been deliberately sent to Godzilla's infested waters to fight monsters with only one machine gun, they also complained that the state would only control speech.
At meetings of civil society organizations against Godzilla, it was repeatedly mentioned that the government's actions in wartime were tantamount to sending people to death.
But that's not all.
He simply lamented the damage of the war to his own people, but did not think about it deeply.
From the beginning to the end, he did not reflect on the devastation of the war on the peoples of other countries as the party that launched the aggression.
For some lines, you can even make completely different interpretations.
For example, Koichi's comrades-in-arms said that they could understand his behavior of retreating before the battle, because the order assigned by the higher authorities was simply to send people to death.
Then I added that even if we stick to the order, we will still lose this war.
I can't help but wonder if Japan would still have this feeling if Japan still had a chance of winning.
After Koichi returned to Tokyo, his neighbors' accusations against him could be interpreted as a reflection of militarism's brainwashing of civilians, or as a way for the production team to express their dissatisfaction with Japan's defeat in the war.
It was Godzilla, which was caused by the U.S. nuclear test, and the U.S. side's indulgence, that caused great damage to Tokyo.
Does this narrative think that Godzilla is a natural punishment for launching a war against Japan, or is it a victim who accuses the United States of inhumane acts?
Give food for thought.
In Time Jun's view, this film is more like the description of the protagonist Koichi under the collapse, that is, "a dream made by a corpse".
It's a nightmare based on despair.
Godzilla, who was born out of thin air and only knows destruction, the Japanese who have no military power to compete with it, and the male protagonist who is deeply affected by PTSD and loses the courage to face monsters.
But in the end, the veterans spontaneously took action, united as one, turned the tide, and blasted Godzilla's deadly threat back to the bottom of the sea.
The haze of defeat seemed to be swept away, the knot in their hearts was lifted, and they became the real heroes in their hearts.
Hot blood?
It's just a dream, after all.
No matter how hard it tries to revise history, Japan is still suffering from the defeat of the past, and this outcome has never changed.
Just as Godzilla is not really dead, as long as the militaristic ideology does not die, the threat to Japan will always exist.
It's a pity that not only the protagonist Koichi is trapped in such a chaotic dream, but the main creative team also seems to be the same.
Perhaps they tried to express their anti-war thoughts through the film, but in the eyes of those of us who were once on the invaded side, such ambiguous expressions are tantamount to scratching their boots.
After getting rid of the external noise, this work may be able to be enjoyed as a pure monster disaster movie.
But compared with writers such as Hayao Miyazaki, Hiroshi Fujimoto, and Osamu Tezuka, who really dare to draw and speak, the few complaints in the film that are not salty or light are really not enough to watch.
-END-
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