Revenge of Graphic Content #2: Godzilla Minus One – Image, Music, Tears

Welcome back to Revenge of Graphic Content! This past Saturday I decided to celebrate the big 70th anniversary of The King of the Monsters by taking in the rerelease of 2023’s Godzilla Minus One at my local Regal.

The screening also featured bonus features about the visual effects process, which won the film its Oscar.

It certainly was a step up from Terrifier 3.

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Godzilla Minus One – Image, Music, Tears

2023’s Godzilla Minus One uses Akira Ifukube’s “Godzilla (Main Theme)” three times. The first time occurs during the breathtaking full reveal of a post-atomic Godzilla in all of his gory. He doesn’t so much attack Ginza but rather leaves a wake of terror and destruction in his mere walking. The score is only partial here. Its focus is mostly on the iconic opening notes and the dramatic horn that signals his arrival. It reflects the terror and majesty of the situation at hand.

A God walks the Earth and in his wake, people are dashed, burned, and broken, barely registered to him; after all, what is the average person to a God?

It is an incredible moment in an incredible film. The majesty of the monster is matched by the perfect fusion of stunning visual effects and a score to keep pace with what is seen on screen, handled deftly by director, writer, and visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki (with co-direction of visual effects by Kiyoko Shibuya).

Godzilla fans ate well thanks to this movie, but then again, Godzilla fans have been eating well for nearly a decade now as Godzilla hasn’t been this culturally relevant in a while. The one-two punch of the Monsterverse and the release of Shin Godzilla (2016) and Godzilla Minus One from Japan show the King of the Monsters is more beloved than ever.

For the Love of Godzilla

I have seen Godzilla Minus One six times so far. Four times in color and twice in the special Godzilla Minus One (Minus Color) version. The latter is my favorite version. It is a film that I adore. When I weigh out the releases of 2023, it stands out as my absolute favorite.

Not only as a Godzilla fanatic, mind you, but as a film, in general. It deftly blends the horror and the charm of the kaiju genre with a compelling human narrative rich with great writing, aching drama, and philosophical meaning. Minus One is a Godzilla film that does everything I want out of a Godzilla film. It also takes Godzilla back to his roots of horror and monstrosity. I love Godzilla of all flavors, even Zilla, but Godzilla the world-ender is my favorite incarnation.

Operation Wadatsumi

Back to the iconic theme, we hear it the second time, later, in an entirely different context, as Operation Wadatsumi begins. It emerges as the endgame as Mankind clashes with God, and we get the classic theme in full, but it takes a curious and hopeful tone in the context of the scene.

The dramatic strings king in around 50 seconds in, and then transition to an alternating rhythm as the boats kick in to commence the attack against the sea monster. The image of the Japanese citizens waging a desperate gambit in what is almost assuredly a hopeless fight against an atomic-powered disaster is beautiful, empowering, and makes me cry every time.

Yes, I have seen the film six times. I always cry at the same part and the images and music come together in the desperate struggle against Godzilla. The combination hits perfectly.

The horns represent the unstoppable force of Godzilla. The strings represent the immovable object of the human spirit. The shift and dual throughout the score. I could say more about other elements of the score as arranged by Naoki Satō; the score outside of these moments is every bit as good as the Godzilla Suites. The usage of a droning, uneven tone to represent the trauma of failed kamikaze Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a particular highlight in punctuating the horror of war and the legacy of it that Godzilla represents.

Cinema With No Irony

The claim of something being “pure cinema” these days is a bit of a meme. It’s become a post-modern rallying cry of the online film nerd. It has been used interchangeably as a joke just as much as a marker of elitism about what real film is or not. The climax of Godzilla Minus One is Operation Wadatasumi, and the fusion of narrative, cinematography, performance, and score exhibited in these moments is cinema in its highest form. The tension has risen to its highest moment, and the sound of “Godzilla Suite II” is our signal to exhale. We’ve crested the hill, the resolution lies down the slope. Whatever be what may between the post-war Japanese citizens and the menacing entity that threatens to drag them back down to the depths of despair brought upon them through war will happen. We can only bear witness.

Some people may not get the appeal. That is something that is not uncommon to genre films; especially regarding cinema of Japan for US audiences, and especially kaiju films. But, the success of Godzilla Minus One means something about the broader power of The King of the Monsters. The visual effects Oscar was for visual effects, undoubtedly. But I think it also represents more than that to a degree. It is one of the only ways to recognize the power of the image of Godzilla contemporarily, at least until a whole lot of critics and academy folks are willing to come to terms with the fact that these films can be and have been truly great.

And believe me, Godzilla Minus One is great. I’ve seen it six times, and I cry every time. Not bad for a monster movie.