On his 70th birthday, Godzilla has roared back to relevance

From his conception, Godzilla has symbolised the fears of his time. He was created from the wreckage of the second world war. Ishiro Honda, the writer-director of “Gojira”, was haunted by the bombing of Hiroshima, the aftermath of which he witnessed first-hand. “It was said that, for the next 72 years, not a single blade of grass would grow there—and that really stayed with me,” he said. “Godzilla represents the frightfulness of nuclear weapons.”