Oh yeah, love Shin Godzilla! I was lucky enough to see its one theatrical presentation here in Nova Scotia. My buddy and I showed up 20 minutes before it began, thinking it was going to be pretty quiet...only to end up sitting in the front row. It was...something...to watch that movie from that vantage point while reading the subtitles, character names and positions in Japanese, translated into English. Even under those circumstances, the movie was a wild and wonderful ride. I've since watched it a number of times on blu ray at home, and I'd go so far as to say it's in the top five best Godzilla films from the whole series (it may even be number 2 or 3 for me). It's definitely a darker film than, say, Ebirah: Horror of the Deep or Godzilla Vs Mothra, and it has some truly stark and artistic touches (like the close up of Godzilla's tale at the end of the film...a very disturbing image that could be open to many interpretations).
My personal favourite moment of situational comedy from the film is when the newly minted PM looks at his cold noodles and says something to the effect that he knew the job wouldn't be easy. So many weird little grace notes, and the mounting absurdity and irony is pretty much relentless throughout.
I think, in the same way that you treat Dawn of the Dead, I treat Friedkin's Sorcerer (which I only watched because of the Dissolve review way back when). I've watched that movie at least a dozen times, and it's taken on a sort of comforting place in my personal movie pantheon. Finding comfort in the hopeless and desperate circumstances of those characters perhaps reveals something about myself, but I could watch that movie any time, and it always engenders a hard to explain warmth in my soul.
This piece reminds me of how in my early 20s, going through a rough time, I kept turning for comfort to ... FULL METAL JACKET. Specifically the first third. I'd watch the boot camp sequence, then hit stop on the tape, and say to myself, "at least my life isn't that bad", and legitimately feel better.
Not sure if that chimes at all with you, but I do think that's a comfort of the apocalyptic, and even in terrible times there are worse ravages than the one we currently face.
Slowly working my way through all of the Godzilla movies in order and I’m really looking forward to finally getting to this one. Heard nothing but great things and Hideaki Anno is clearly a great artist
I was lucky enough to be able to catch this in a theater during that initial run, and I loved it. It was definitely a bit weird to have this odd creature be the source of destruction, but it actually helps the film's satirical message to have Godzilla look almost cute - the threat is consistently underestimated because taking it seriously would inconvenience those in power. Then when Godzilla reaches maturity there's a few OH SHIT moments that drive home what a primal threat they're dealing with.
Very late to the party here, but I'll note that the first thing I watched the day after NYC shut down was Soderbergh's Contagion (which I understand was the case for a lot of people). I also found the experience somewhat comforting because the film places such an emphasis on smart, experienced people tirelessly doing their jobs well. Made me feel good to know there were actual people like that out there working on our real-world crisis. Also, to some extent, it allowed me to think, "Well, at least I know it'll never get THIS bad."
Thought Shin Godzilla was the best metaphorical use of Godzilla since the original. Disappointed they never followed it up
Thanks for the reminder to watch this - have a Blu of it someone gave me and haven't yet cracked it.
Oh yeah, love Shin Godzilla! I was lucky enough to see its one theatrical presentation here in Nova Scotia. My buddy and I showed up 20 minutes before it began, thinking it was going to be pretty quiet...only to end up sitting in the front row. It was...something...to watch that movie from that vantage point while reading the subtitles, character names and positions in Japanese, translated into English. Even under those circumstances, the movie was a wild and wonderful ride. I've since watched it a number of times on blu ray at home, and I'd go so far as to say it's in the top five best Godzilla films from the whole series (it may even be number 2 or 3 for me). It's definitely a darker film than, say, Ebirah: Horror of the Deep or Godzilla Vs Mothra, and it has some truly stark and artistic touches (like the close up of Godzilla's tale at the end of the film...a very disturbing image that could be open to many interpretations).
My personal favourite moment of situational comedy from the film is when the newly minted PM looks at his cold noodles and says something to the effect that he knew the job wouldn't be easy. So many weird little grace notes, and the mounting absurdity and irony is pretty much relentless throughout.
I think, in the same way that you treat Dawn of the Dead, I treat Friedkin's Sorcerer (which I only watched because of the Dissolve review way back when). I've watched that movie at least a dozen times, and it's taken on a sort of comforting place in my personal movie pantheon. Finding comfort in the hopeless and desperate circumstances of those characters perhaps reveals something about myself, but I could watch that movie any time, and it always engenders a hard to explain warmth in my soul.
This piece reminds me of how in my early 20s, going through a rough time, I kept turning for comfort to ... FULL METAL JACKET. Specifically the first third. I'd watch the boot camp sequence, then hit stop on the tape, and say to myself, "at least my life isn't that bad", and legitimately feel better.
Not sure if that chimes at all with you, but I do think that's a comfort of the apocalyptic, and even in terrible times there are worse ravages than the one we currently face.
Slowly working my way through all of the Godzilla movies in order and I’m really looking forward to finally getting to this one. Heard nothing but great things and Hideaki Anno is clearly a great artist
I was lucky enough to be able to catch this in a theater during that initial run, and I loved it. It was definitely a bit weird to have this odd creature be the source of destruction, but it actually helps the film's satirical message to have Godzilla look almost cute - the threat is consistently underestimated because taking it seriously would inconvenience those in power. Then when Godzilla reaches maturity there's a few OH SHIT moments that drive home what a primal threat they're dealing with.
Very late to the party here, but I'll note that the first thing I watched the day after NYC shut down was Soderbergh's Contagion (which I understand was the case for a lot of people). I also found the experience somewhat comforting because the film places such an emphasis on smart, experienced people tirelessly doing their jobs well. Made me feel good to know there were actual people like that out there working on our real-world crisis. Also, to some extent, it allowed me to think, "Well, at least I know it'll never get THIS bad."