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Page 16 - Shelton-Mason County Journal — Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023
Review: Visually immersive technical craftsmanship
continued from page
“Shin Godzilla” and the “Mon—
sterVerse,” the latter produced
by Warner Bros. and Legendary
Pictures with Toho’s permission,
convey the scope of these gigantic
creatures’ savage combat, with the
whole of civilization potentially
on the table as their collateral
damage.
And for the absurdly low total
budget of $15 million —- less than
the per—episode budget for several
popular Netflix streaming shows ~—
“ lodzilla Minus One” has equaled
“Shin Godzilla” and the “Monster-
Verse” in visually immersive tech-
nical craftsmanship and has done
so with a narrative that even the
most snobbish of critics would ac—
knowledge as Oscar-caliber ~ if it
didn’t also star Godzilla.
The human story of “Godzilla Mi—
nus One” follows a failed kamikaze
pilot, from the final days of World
War II to just a few years after-
ward when neighborhoods in Ja—
pan, demolished by air raids, saw it
as significant progress that they’d
been able to tidy up the rubble that
surrounded their ramshackle, half-
rebuilt houses.
The end of the world war marks
the start of personal war for our
pilot, who is ridiculed for his per-
ceived cowardness. Godzilla attacks
“ the island aircraft landing strip
where he’s touched down, wiping
out his fellow Japanese military
members. He freezes with fear
rather than turning his aircraft’s
guns on Godzilla.
Over the decades of his onscreen
Smallégoh‘s
O l L DIST. CO.
“Godzilla Minus One” injects Oscar-caliber pathos into the apocalyptic
monster’s saga. Courtesy photo
existence, Godzilla has become a
personification for countless human
traumas and misdeeds, represent-
ing the consequences of everything
from nuclear warfare to the envi-
ronmental toll of industrial pollu-
tion. But in “Godzilla Minus One,”
he’s the living specter of the survi-
vor’s guilt felt by far too many war
veterans.
As this story’s shame-faced war
veteran returns to civilian life, he
acquires a surrogate family, taking
' in a woman his own age, who has
nowhere else to go, after she her_
self adopted an orphaned little girl.
While our veteran turns to hazard—
ous tasks such as minesweeping to
support this woman and her girl, he
never marries the woman, nor does
he allow the girl to refer to him as
her father.
It’s not until Godzilla resurfaCes
lUliRK ANTS
( UMP/\le
EATING OIL
COMPARE OUR LOW PRICES!
We carry kerosene.
lna nasallmr
nu:
Located at Sanderson
Industrial Park
at The Olympia Center
Columbia St NW in Olympia
Friday, Vec. 8 / 10 —~
that our veteran finally shares with
the woman how he’d previously en-
countered the creature, as well as
how he’d failed to save his brothers-
in—arms from the beast, because
like too many veterans, his war
never stopped inside of his head.
His inability to share his painful
story has built a wall between him
and those who would otherwise be
closest to him.
Although I’m technically a war
veteran (deployed as part of Opera-
tion Enduring Freedom and Opera—
tion Iraqi Freedom), I always hesi-
tate to compare my own experiences
on board ship to those who saw on-
the-ground combat, but just about
any veteran is bound to be haunted,
however slightly, by some aspect of
their service, and it can be tough to
communicate what those moments
meant, and still mean, to those who
weren’t there.
Of course, it’s not long before the
rest ofJapan starts experiencing
the sheer devastation that Godzilla
is capable of wreaking, with one
sequence, set in the upscale Tokyo
district of Ginza, hammering home
how profoundly destructive even
the least of the big lizard’s actions
would be, with his sweeping tail
alone effortlessly wiping out infra—
structure left and right, which we
as the Viewers get to witness from
the street spectator level.
And yet, for as harrowing as this
film is, it commits to a surprisingly
humane moral message, as one Jap—
anese ex-military scientist leads a
civilian campaign against Godzilla
by criticizing his country’s tendency
to lionize the supposed honor of
self—sacrifice, and other characters
embrace the View that building a
better future requires that people
choose to live, to care for their chil—
dren and improve the world that
they’ll grow up in.
Couple this with another war
veteran expressing the sentiment
that it’s a noble thing to have NOT
served in war, and “Godzilla Minus
One” makes a statement that argu-
ably qualifies as radical, for both
Japanese and American culture.
While several film awards may
have succeeded in overlooking
“Shin Godzilla,” “Godzilla Minus
One” offers the critical bait of being
a post-World War II foreign-lan-
guage historic period piece, which
practically makes it catnip for the
Oscars, so I’m not sure they’ll be
able to resist finally giving the kai-
ju their cinematic due. '
Kitten Rescue
We have many sweet and loving cats available for adoption, ready to bring
love and joy
into your life! Indoor only and a warm lap to sit on are ours and the
kitties’ only request.
Silver is a sweet and loving Lynx Point Siamese. Once she is settled and
comfortable,
she‘ll fit into any family easily and lay around to be pelted. The
shelter is offering
discounted adoption fees until the end of the year. It’s the purrrfect
time to bring
home your new best feline friend (or two!) today!
For more information, please go to our website at kitteflrggqmot
or call us at (360) 427-3167.
We have created
low~slress, healthy
environment
with soft lighting,
music, 0 regular
exercise program,
and frequent,
individualized
attention. We treat
every pet wilh
affection, respect,
and kindness.
Saturday; Rec, 9 10 fl 4
Including the ceramics
of Shelton artist Linda Frizzell
Come join us for cookies and cider and beautiful ceramics!
(360) 426-3052
270 SE Spring Place
Shelton, Washington 98584
Email: sylvarflrluhctcrom