372 Words on Shin Godzilla
god's in his heaven
The following was originally published on my tumblr blog on February 8, 2018. I have republished it here in celebration of the film’s rerelease in 4K in the United States.
Director Hideki Anno leaves viewers with one last image at the end of 2016’s Shin Godzilla. That of the ever evolving Godzilla’s tail, which has begun to sprout skeletal humanoids of its own. This image is meant to cap off one of Anno’s overarching themes of the film: that a group of humans working toward one common goal can be more powerful than a gigantic radioactive lizard. Attempting to take advantage of this power, Godzilla threatens us with our own capability for destruction.
Godzilla is not only a retaliation by nature towards man but also a consequence of man’s tampering with nature. And so, nature imitates the being so effective at destruction in order to try and save itself. No wonder that last image is so haunting. It’s not the humanoids frozen in death that makes us uncomfortable, it’s the recognition that we may be the bearers of our own ultimate end.
Anno mirrors his effective directorial style from his most famous work, Evangelion, throughout Shin Godzilla. From the quick audio/video cuts to quicken the pacing of conversations to the still images of peace among the chaos of evacuation, it all calls to mind images of his animated series. Strengthening this mirroring is composer Shirō Sagisu, who replicates his work from Evangelion. Not content simply to remix his own work, Sagisu also reintroduces several pieces from previous Godzilla films along with introducing original tracks into the Canon. Two of these, “Persecution of the Masses” and “Who Will Know” are most notable. The former establishes the deity of Godzilla while the latter taps into the grief that comes after the climactic destruction of Tokyo.
Due to the subbed nature of Shin Godzilla and its creation as a Japanese product first, foreigners may lose themselves at the sight of a silly bulge-eyed Godzilla early on. Perseverance is rewarded not only with a great finale of a large plan being executed perfectly but also with one of the largest destructive outputs of any recent Godzilla as it shoots purple beams of fire from not only its mouth but fins and tail too.
Even in defeat, Godzilla continues to tower over mankind and remind us of our folly, our capability for good, and our potential doom.
