Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima win the Oscar for best visual effects for “Godzilla Minus One” at the 96th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.
15:28 JST, March 11, 2024
LOS ANGELES — “Godzilla Minus One,” directed by Takashi Yamazaki, won best visual effects at the 96th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night, while “Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka” (“The Boy and the Heron”), directed by Hayao Miyazaki won the Oscar for best animated film.
It is the first time since 2009 that two Japanese films have won an Oscar in the same year. “Okuribito” (“Departures”) won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film that year, and “Tsumiki no Ie” (“La Maison en Petits Cubes”) was the animated short winner.
“Godzilla Minus One” is the first Japanese film to win an Oscar for visual effects. Set in Japan shortly after World War II, the film tells the story of a group of people, including a member of the suicide pilot corps of the former Imperial Japanese Army, who band together to confront Godzilla as the monster ravages Tokyo.
Made to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first ‘Godzilla’ film, which was released in 1954, ‘Godzilla Minus One’ opened in Japan last November. It became a major hit at home and abroad, with box office revenues exceeding ¥10 billion worldwide.
Yamazaki, 59, walked to the Academy Awards stage amid the theme music for “Godzilla.”
Hayao Miyazaki
‘To all VFX [visual effects] artists outside of Hollywood, Hollywood listened, and this award is proof that everyone has a chance,” Yamazaki said happily.
Miyazaki, 83, won an Oscar for best animated film for the first time in 21 years. His previous Academy Award was for “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (“Spirited Away”) in 2003.
‘Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka’, which takes its title from a novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, shows the adventure experienced by Mahito, a boy who has lost his mother in the war and wanders around in a strange world. The film is said to be a semi-autobiographical work by Miyazaki.
“Perfect Days,” directed by Wim Wenders and starring Koji Yakusho, was nominated for Best International Feature Film, but did not take home the trophy.
