NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Godzilla has been to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, San Francisco, Boston, Moscow, London and Hawaii. But before now, he鈥檚 never been to the Oscars.
When the roll around on March 10, Godzilla will stretch its scaly, reptilian legs down the Oscars red carpet for the first time in the franchise's 70-year history. the 37th film in the film series, is nominated for best visual effects.
Though one of the most potent and long-running (or at least long-stomping) forces in movies, Godzilla has never before rubbed elbows at the Academy Awards. Its domain has been, well, the Pacific Ocean, but also the more popcorn-chomping realm of moviedom. Laying waste to metropolises has not, typically, been a gateway to Hollywood鈥檚 biggest night.
鈥淲e knew of the existence of the Oscars, of course, but there was never any kind of link between what was happening on the other side of the world and what we were doing,鈥� says Takashi Yamazaki, the writer-director of 鈥淕odzilla Minus One.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 entirely unexpected that these two worlds collide.鈥�
But 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� has proven to be an especially border-breaking phenomenon. And its success at both the Oscars and the box office reflects a deeper shift in moviegoer 鈥� and Oscar voter 鈥� tastes toward international productions.
鈥淕odzilla Minus One,鈥� the first Toho Godzilla film since 2016鈥檚 鈥淪hin Godzilla,鈥� was an unexpected hit when it landed in North American theaters in December. Though it was , 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� became the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film ever in the U.S. and Canada. Only two international live-action movies 鈥� and 鈥淟ife Is Beautiful鈥� 鈥� collected more than the $56.4 million grossed by 鈥淕odzilla Minus One.鈥�
It's all the more impressive because the film was made, somewhat miraculously, with a budget of less than $15 million. Some 610 effects shots were created by Yamazaki, who also served as effects supervisor, and Lacking the budget for hydraulics, the crew shook would shake a boat set to mimic ocean bobbing or rotate a cockpit to simulate flying. Godzilla, nominated alongside films like and 鈥� is this time a plucky underdog.
Set in the waning days of World War II and just before the events of 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� was also roundly acclaimed by critics who praised it for returning to the essence of Godzilla and grounding it in a Japanese perspective. Godzilla fans marveled at what Yamazaki accomplished. At the Oscar luncheon, and told him he had seen 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� three times.
鈥淨uite frankly, I wasn鈥檛 looking at the world when we set out to make this movie,鈥� Yamazaki said in a recent interview. 鈥淎 lot of our team members said, 鈥極h, it鈥檚 Godzilla, The whole world is going to see this. You have to treat it differently.鈥� I told them all: 鈥楾his is a small budget film made for a certain audience.鈥� They鈥檝e proved me wrong and I鈥檓 very happy that they did.鈥�
Much has been made of but the better double feature for Christopher Nolan鈥檚 film might be 鈥淕odzilla Minus One.鈥� Across seven decades of movies, Godzilla has been deployed in a variety of ways. But 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� returns to the essential nature of Godzilla as a sober symbol of nuclear holocaust and atomic trauma.
In the 1954 original, Godzilla is woken by hydrogen-bomb testing. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka once said: 鈥淭he theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the bomb. Mankind has created the bomb, and now nature was going to take revenge on mankind.鈥�
Ironically, that 鈥淕odzilla鈥� didn鈥檛 reach American audiences at the time. The version released in the U.S. was heavily edited and stripped of much of political themes. Raymond Burr, a Canadian actor, was inserted in new footage.
For some Western moviegoers, 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� is a truer introduction of Godzilla, one of the movies鈥� greatest and grandest metaphors, than ever before.
鈥淥ne of the many interpretations of Godzilla, through the evolution of the series of films over the years, has been forgotten 鈥� which is the original interpretation,鈥� says Yamazaki. 鈥淕iven the current state of affairs, what the world is going through right now, I thought it was very important that message not be forgotten. My intent was to put a spotlight on what Godzilla represented.鈥�
In 鈥淕odzilla Minus One,鈥� just as WWII is ending, Godzilla is growing. He begins appearing off the coast of Tokyo. For a kamikaze pilot Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who didn鈥檛 kill himself in battle, confronting Godzilla offers a chance for redemption. When Koichi returns to Japan, he finds his parents dead and the city in ruins. Meanwhile, American bomb tests on Bikini Atoll are fueling Godzilla鈥檚 power.
Recent Hollywood versions of Godzilla have put the kaiju into less Japan-centric contexts. The last was Legendary Pictures, which licenses the character from Toho, will on March 29 release with Warner Bros. If not for its coming debut, 鈥淕odzilla Minus One" might still be playing in theaters. It bowed out of cinemas in late January after the one-week run of a black-and-white version.
But unlike more broadly blockbuster-styled Godzilla films, 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� is rigorously rooted in a Japanese perspective. that 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� in leaves out any Japanese experience of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But what鈥檚 absent of 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� is everywhere in 鈥淕odzilla Minus One.鈥�
Yamazaki has only seen an English version of 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥�; the film But he believes it鈥檚 telling that both he and Nolan were separately drawn back to the dawn of the nuclear era.
鈥淭he world, in some sense, has forgotten the implications, the impact, the ramifications of what a nuclear war could entail,鈥� Yamazaki says. 鈥淗ow bad that can be, our collective awareness has been either desensitized or we鈥檝e simply forgotten about because so much time has passed. This increased level of threat and the possible usage of it, perhaps humanity on a very subconscious level is feeling that and we鈥檙e somehow compelled to address it or come up with our interpretations to this issue.鈥�
Another Oscar-nominee, is likewise set around World War II. The best animated feature nominee opens with the firebombing of Tokyo and the death of a boy鈥檚 mother. The boy, taken to the countryside, is forced to process his grief (his father marries his dead wife鈥檚 sister) while navigating a secret dream world.
鈥淭he Boy and the Heron,鈥� too, was for the venerated anime master Miyazaki 鈥� another recent example of international cinema attracting big U.S. audiences.
鈥淭his whole experience has made me realize and appreciate the literacy of the international moviegoing audience and the North American moviegoing audience,鈥� says Yamazaki. 鈥淭hat relates not just to 鈥楪odzilla Minus One鈥� but 鈥極ppenheimer.鈥� There鈥檚 so much political and historical nuance and baggage that those films carry, but audiences can find it entertaining and also critically acclaimed.鈥�
Godzilla will, hopefully, land at the Academy Awards a little more peacefully than he has in previous international trips. But he may walk away victorious. Some oddsmakers favor 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� to win. Either way, Yamazaki has been carrying a small Godzilla figurine in his hands wherever he goes.
鈥淚t was Godzilla who brought us here,鈥� Yamazaki says.
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
