It was a big weekend for Godzilla Minus One, which walked off with eight awards at the Japanese Film Academy equivalent of the Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Sakura Ando, who played Sumiko, the feisty neighbor who helps main characters Koichi and Noriko raise little orphan Akiko in post-war Tokyo as Japan is threatened by a giant walking metaphor for the atomic bomb.
And then at the actual Oscars, the film won the only award for which it was nominated, Best Visual Effects, which were indeed very impressive considering the movie was made at a fraction of the cost of the average Hollywood special effects blockbuster.
I don’t usually watch the Oscar ceremony anymore — they publish a list of all the winners anyway, right? — but I did catch this clip of director Takashi Yamazaki and his crew accepting the award, and I must say it was spine-tingling to hear the orchestra play Akira Ifukube’s immortal Godzilla theme as they walked to the stage.
My passion for Godzilla Minus One is such that I’m utterly tickled to see it receive any kind of recognition. Yamazaki made a film that transcends the often schlocky monster movie genre. As I’ve written several times before, you just don’t go into a Godzilla flick expecting to be moved by the emotional human story — this one is simply breathtaking.
Speaking of metaphors for the atomic bomb, the headline is that Oppenheimer won seven Oscars including Best Picture. I really have to see that one.
