Actor Jiro Sato has formed a "detective agency" to delve deeply into historical mysteries and new facts on the program "Rekishi Tantei" (General TV, Wednesdays at 10 p.m.). The October 1st broadcast will delve deep into the monster movie series "Godzilla," which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year.
Godzilla is not just an entertainment film, but many of its works strongly reflect the social issues of each era. This time, we will look at the "unprecedented ingenuity" employed by the filmmakers of the first Godzilla film (directed by Ishiro Honda, 1954), which served as a warning against nuclear weapons.
Furthermore, investigations were conducted overseas, and classified documents from the US Department of Defense revealed vivid exchanges between the producers and the US government over the depiction of the damage caused by the atomic bomb in the Hollywood version of "Godzilla" (directed by Gareth Edwards, 2014).
Through an interview with director Takashi Yamazaki, who won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for "Godzilla Minus One" (2023), the program also traces the evolution of global public opinion regarding nuclear weapons and war.
◇Comment from CP Koji Mikami
Godzilla celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. The latest film, "Godzilla Minus One," was a huge hit in the United States and became the first Asian film to win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Godzilla's stance and theme song are so well-known that everyone knows them.
However, not many people know the history of why Godzilla was created in the first place. We, the "history detectives," have unraveled the origins of the character and used the latest scientific technology to uncover the hidden thoughts of the creators behind Godzilla's standing pose and theme song.
We also conducted research in the United States. It became clear that there was a secret negotiation between the US Department of Defense and the filmmakers during the production of the Hollywood-produced Godzilla, which was released in 2014.
The MC will be the well-known Jiro Sato. "I actually appeared in a Godzilla movie for just four seconds as a defense force officer," he says. Don't miss his thoughts on the thoughts of the original Godzilla creators!
Director Takashi Yamazaki (of "Godzilla Minus One") will also appear on the program, and he will candidly discuss the secret behind Godzilla's popularity.
