SHIN GODZILLA (2016, Japan, Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi)
SHIN GODZILLA is a film of immense beauty and fierce intelligence about creation, evolution and destruction. A film that is operatic in its movement, contemplative in its stillness/silence and meditative in its depiction of politics, economics and science.
Even though it is about Gojira, the film cleverly uses Gojira as a lens to demonstrate human logistics and problem solving. How fast can humans mobilize and come up with a solution? How fast can humans ingest data and find a pattern?
The film also shows the political side of humans when decisions are made to crush a nation only for self-preservation.
The movie is rooted in Japanese identity and the film shows how Japan has been impacted since WWII but the film is also universal in depicting how outside governments and institutions can impact a nation. In this regard, some moments in the film point towards how outside influence has drastically altered the face of the Middle East and even Latin America.
One of the best films of the year!
