GODZILLA MINUS ONE wins Best Film and 7 other awards at the Japanese Academy Awards

Godzilla minus one continues to enjoy success at the Japanese Academy Awards, where it won a total of eight awards, including Best Picture. It was nominated in 12 categories. This was easily one of the best films of the year, so it’s no surprise that it won.

The complete list of victories for Godzilla minus one includes:

• Best film – Godzilla minus one

• Best screenplay –Takashi Yamazaki

• Best Supporting Actress – Sakura Ando

• Best photography –Kozo Shibasaki

• Better lighting – Nariyuki Ueda

• Best Art Direction –Anri Jojo

• Better sound – Hisafumi Takeuchi

• Best editing – Ryuji Miyajima

The film only earned one nomination at Hollywood’s upcoming Academy Awards, and that was for the visual effects work created for the film. I think it deserved more recognition, but it’s hard for Hollywood to see how it’s a great film nowadays.

Set in the days following the end of World War II, Japan is recovering from the devastation left behind after the war. The emotional toll has brought the country to its lowest point.

The story follows failed kamikaze pilot Kiochi (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Noriko (Minami Hamabe), a woman forced to become homeless, taking care of an abandoned child. During this low point Godzilla marches towards shore, dragging Japan even deeper into chaos and devastation.

Written and directed by the Japanese director Takashi Yamazaki“Godzilla minus one draws on the pain, hope, trauma and guilt felt in the world following the tragedies of World War II and the 2019 Covid pandemic, during which the majority of the screenplay was written.

Yamazaki said: “Post-war Japan has lost everything. The film describes an existence that offers unprecedented desperation. The title Godzilla Minus One was created with this in mind. To represent this, the staff and I worked together to create a setting where Godzilla seems as if “fear” itself is walking towards us, and where desperation piles on top of desperation.”