In Conversation With... Mamoru Oshii
The visionary director of the fantastically influential anime hit Ghost in the Shell joins TIFF Cinemtheque for this rare onstage interview to discuss his long and multifaceted career in animation, live action, television, film, radio and manga.
Date: Saturday July 12, 2014 (at 18h30)
A series of films by Oshii is also programmed. Capsule reviews for 2 of the films follow the article below.
Director Oshii will also be present to introduce the screenings of GHOST IN THE SHELL on July 12 and THE SKY CRAWLERS on July 13.
For complete program listing, venue and ticket pricing, please check the TIFF Cinematheque website at:
CAPSULE REVIEWS:
GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (Japa 2014) **
Directed by Mamoru Oshii
GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE is the sequel and very elaborate and ambitious sequel to Number 1 and the first manga film screened at Cannes. Set in 2032 in Public Security Section 9, whatever that means, the story follows operative cyborg Batou teamed with the more human Togusa investigating a series of deaths reaped to gynoids, doll-like sex robots. The gynoid company Locus Solus turns out to be tied to the Yakuza and the plot thickens and confuses. Into all this, director Oshii infuses his philosophy an thoughts with references to fantasy, Zen, philosophy and sci-fi. The references are too many to list and the quotations too abstract at times to make any sense. Despite the attention to detail of the anime and the great deal of work involved, GHOST IN THE SHELL 2 remains too confusing to follow and impossible to comprehend.
THE SKY CRAWLERS (Japan 2008) ***
Directed by Mamoru Oshii
Feeling like last year’s Hayao Miyazaki’s THE WIND RISES, Oshii’s film is similar to WWII fighter pilots stuck in the task of battle in the skies. This manga anime difference is that the pilots are half humans, Kildren that do not grow old, created for the sole purpose of fighting companies so that the world can live in peace. Human nature still craves the clash of battle, however, so private companies now stage "war as entertainment," creating fictional wars for ordinary people to read about in the paper. The film centres on a young man named Yuichi - has been newly assigned to a base in the fictional war, but with no memory of his past and a mysterious woman named Suito watching his every move. Yuichi is about to find that this made-up war isn't as harmless as it seems. Oshii’s animation is a marvel with many animated segments looking like the real thing. His story is less confusing than GHOST IN THE SHELL 2 and this film is more watchable and entertaining.