Godzilla Minus One
It’s terrific. I don’t know how it’s achieved, but the physicality of the kaiju is amazing. Whether it’s wading through the streets, swimming menacingly through the oceans or tearing into an apartment block or ships, the reality of the monster is amazing. Just don’t make it angry ‘cos it appears to go nuclear!
Plus this movie has a great score by Naoki Satō, really beautiful and atmospheric, and a proper story and characters. Set in 1945, still in World War Two, a young kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands his plane on a base at Odo Island, where he encounters a mechanic Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki). That night the base is disturbed by a mysterious incident — Godzilla attack. Kōichi leaps into his plane cockpit to shoot at the monster but can’t — and thinks he’s the only survivor, having been knocked unconscious in the attack. However, he isn’t — the mechanic is still alive too — and has seen everything. He blames Kōichi for the death of his colleagues.
In reconstructing, post-war Japan, Kōichi discovers that his parents have been killed in the bombing of Tokyo. Circumstantially he encounters a young woman, Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), looking after a baby Akiko (Sae Nagatani)— which isn’t hers. Noriko’s parents have been killed too, but urged her to live her best life. The best paid job Kōichi can get is clearing mines from the oceans — literal danger money.
Meanwhile Godzilla gets zapped in the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests run by America and nuclearised/mutated. Having destroyed a few American warships, Godzilla sets course for Japan to wreak more carnage. To avoid civilian panic, the Japanese government keeps this information top secret. America can’t help practically, beyond offering a few decommissioned Imperial Navy warships, due to escalating Cold War tensions with the USSR. Japan is very much going it alone against Godzilla attack.
Kōichi and his jolly minesweeper crew encounter Godzilla and soon realise that mines don’t work against him. Like Doctor Who, he can regenerate and has also developed a nuclear explosion-like heat ray to use against irritants like Navy cruisers or angry human beings with tanks. Full steam ahead for Japan’s land mass — can anyone or anything stop Godzilla?
With Akiko a toddler, and Kōichi in denial of their being a family, Noriko gets a new look and a job in developing Ginza. Unfortunately this is where Godzilla has landed, tanks don’t work against him either — and it’s heartbreaking to watch him destroying this newly rebuilt urban area. Kōichi races to save Noriko, but she nobly sacrifices herself to save him and apparently dies, traumatised by so much destruction.
One of the minesweeper crew, an engineer Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) has a plan to sink Godzilla. He just needs others to get on board — and in a healthy dose of reality, they say ‘no way’ at first. Kōichi develops his own plan — acting as a lure he will take Godzilla down by smashing into him with a plane loaded up with bombs. Enough former Naval personnel are recruited to make the plan work and off they go to lure Godzilla into Sagami Bay and ensnare him with Freon tanks and buoyancy balloons. Sink or decompression, one way has surely got to work.
Seemingly Godzilla evades the trap, before being hauled to the surface by a flotilla of ‘little ships’ (tugboats), partly manned by a younger colleague Shirō Mizushima (Yuki Yamada) from the minesweeper crew. Seeing the monster beginning to use his heat ray, Kōichi ditches his plane into Godzilla’s head, killing it — but also chooses life for himself, for he uses the ejector button and parachutes to safety. Sweetly he’s been urged by Tachibana to do this.
Even better, Noriko has been found alive, Akiko has two parents again who love each other — and a bit of Godzilla appears to be regenerating restoring him to full glory too. Everybody wins!
Absorbing, dramatic and thrilling, there were also some beautiful moments as older men encouraged younger men to embrace life, love and family, and reject warmongering and violence. A beautiful, life-affirming movie with great visuals and really good writing — and Godzilla looks terrific.
Enjoyed reading this article?! Support my writing at: https://ko-fi.com/susanadventuresinculture
