Godzilla Minus One, a profound appeal for a culture of life

Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast

You may be surprised to hear that one of the more morally profound new movies we’ve seen recently is a Godzilla reboot! The original 1954 Godzilla had its own ideas, being a way of processing Japan’s nuclear trauma and the ethical implications of superweapons. But the new Godzilla Minus One goes even deeper, examining not only the trauma of the war but the psychological and spiritual fallout of a culture that produced the kamikaze phenomenon. The film confronts the culture of death that dominated WWII-era Japan and its corruption of the idea of self-sacrifice, and shows how our sacrifices in war should be rightly ordered to preserving the value of human life rather than seeking a heroic death for its own sake.

Visual artist Erin McAtee, co-founder of the Catholic arts organization Arthouse2B, joins to discuss the themes of the film as well as the director’s choice to produce a black-and-white version.

00:00 Intro

06:15 Black-and-white version

14:18 Story and themes

Links

Godsplaining episode featuring James Majewski and Erin McAtee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kimE7ob1QKY&ab_channel=Godsplaining%7CCatholicPodcast

Erin K. McAtee https://www.erinkmcatee.com/

Arthouse2B https://www.arthouse2b.org/

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