TOKYO (AP) ā Godzilla, the nightmarish radiation spewing monster born out of nuclear weapons, has stomped through many movies, including several .
Takashi Yamazaki, the director behind the latest Godzilla movie, set for U.S. theatrical release later this year, was determined to bring out what he believes is the essentially Japanese spirituality that characterizes the 1954 original.
In that classic, directed by Ishiro Honda, and trampled over cityscape miniatures to tell the story of a prehistoric creature mistakenly brought to life by radiation from nuclear testing in the Pacific. The monster in āGodzilla Minus Oneā is all computer graphics.
āI love the original Godzilla, and I felt I should stay true to that spirit, addressing the issues of war and nuclear weapons,ā said Yamazaki, who also wrote the screenplay and oversaw the computerized special effects.
āThere is a concept in Japan called ātatarigami.ā There are good gods, and there are bad gods. Godzilla is half-monster, but itās also half-god.ā
The world has been recently thrust into a period of uncertainty, with the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic. It was a mood that fit his supernatural āvery Japaneseā Godzilla, Yamazaki said at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where is the closing film. It opens in Japanese theaters Friday.
āYou have to quiet it down,ā he told The Associated Press of Godzilla, as if only a prayer can calm or stop the monster ā as opposed to trying to kill it.
Set right after Japanās surrender in World War II, Yamazakiās rendition predates the original and portrays a nation so devastated by war itās left with nothing, let alone any weapons to fight off Godzilla.
And so its arrival puts everything back into negative, or minus, territory.
Ryunosuke Kamiki portrays the hero, a soldier who survives the war and loses his family, only to end up confronting Godzilla.
The monster's finely detailed depiction is the work of the Tokyo-based Shirogumi digital special-effects team, which includes Yamazaki. A frightfully realistic-appearing Godzilla crashes into fleeing screaming crowds, its giant tail sweeping buildings in a flash, its bumpy skin glowing like irradiated embers, its growl getting right up into your face.
feel Hollywood has at times incorrectly portrayed , like an inevitably fatalistic natural disaster, when the nuclear angle is key.
Yamazaki, a friendly man with quick laughs, stressed he loves the special effects of Hollywood films, adding that he is a big fan of Gareth Edwardsā 2014 Godzilla film.
That helped inspire directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. Toho studios hadnāt made a Godzilla film since 2004.
Yamazaki, who has worked with famed auteur Juzo Itami, has won Japanās equivalent of an Oscar for āAlways - Sunset on Third Street,ā a heartwarming family drama set in the 1950s, and āThe Eternal Zero,ā about Japanese fighter pilots.
He is ready to make another Godzilla movie. But what he really wants to make is a āStar Warsā film.
What got him interested in filmmaking as a child was Steven Spielbergās āClose Encounters of the Third Kind.ā He was so enthralled with the film he couldnāt stop talking about it, he recalled, following his mother around for hours, even as she was cooking dinner.
āStar Wars,ā the franchise created by George Lucas and another science-fiction favorite, evokes so many Asian themes that make him the perfect director for a sequel, Yamazaki said.
āI am confident I can create a very special and unique āStar Wars,ā ā he said.
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Yuri Kageyama is on X, formerly Twitter
Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press
