Director Takashi Yamazaki has had a tremendous career in film. He has won four Japanese Academy Awards and pushed the envelope of digital effects in Japan. At this point he could do anything he wants--even turn down a chance to direct the King of the Monsters himself.
"I had been approached several times but turned it down until my team’s technology was capable of expressing the Godzilla I had envisioned," explained Yamazaki. It wasn't until Shin Godzilla (2016) was released that he felt confident he could do it. "After seeing Shin Godzilla, my motivation increased, and my technology evolved considerably. I was once again formally approached and decided to give it a try."
Yamazaki's Godzilla came with a "very Japanese" slant, he feels is absent from the Hollywood films.
"There is a concept in Japan called ‘tatarigami.’ [spirits that bring calamity] There are good gods, and there are bad gods. Godzilla is half-monster, but it’s also half-god," said Yamazaki. "Toho’s Godzilla is pictured as both a monster and a god, while American-produced Godzilla seems to have a more monstrous flavor."
Though, he did clarify that he enjoyed the special effects of the recent Hollywood films and was a fan of Godzilla (2014) by Gareth Edwards, who recently praised Minus One.
Meanwhile, Yamazaki hinted that the movie's themes would lean closer to Godzilla's roots than the American films and some recent iterations:
“I love the original Godzilla, and I felt I should stay true to that spirit, addressing the issues of war and nuclear weapons ... I am hoping that people will feel the reality of a government that doesn’t do much in the face of national emergencies and that things do not go very well without civil initiative to resolve them. Also, the results of cronyism and disregard for life."
Set in a post-war Japan, Godzilla Minus One will once again show us a Godzilla that is a terrifying and overwhelming force. Japan, which had already been devastated by the war, faces a new threat with Godzilla, bringing the country from nothing (zero) into the ‘minus.’
Godzilla Minus One is directed by Takashi Yamazaki. An award winning filmmaker and avid Godzilla fan, his work on Always: Sunset on Third Street (2005) earned him two Japanese Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Screenwriter. He was honored with another Best Director and Best Screenplay nomination for the sequel, Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007). In 2016, he won the Best Director category again for The Eternal Zero. Yamazaki also helmed highly acclaimed actioners, Returner, Space Battleship Yamato and many others.
He gave Godzilla a cameo during an opening dream sequence in Always: Sunset on Third Street 2. In 2021 he returned to Godzilla and directed footage for Seibuen Amusement Park's Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monster Battle Summit.
Godzilla Minus One is now playing in Japan. It opens in the United States on December 1st, 2023.
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Source(s):
Deadline
Honolulu Star Advertiser
