Review of Ghost in the Shell (1995) by Nbfc — 09 Jan 2018

Revolutionary for it’s combination of traditional cel-animation and CGI graphics (Ex. The opening green radar screen was homaged in The Matrix), Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 cyberpunk masterpiece concerns a public security agency known as Section 9 who are on the hunt for a mysterious hacker known as The Puppet Master. With the assistance of her team, Motoko Kusanagi tracks and finds the suspect only to get drawn into a complex web of political intrigue and cover-ups.

Much like Blade Runner, GITS has an over-arching philosophical theme throughout it’s narrative concerning self-identify. In BR case it’s the question of what does the word “human” mean in a world were the difference between human and robot has all but disappeared.

In the case of GITS, this question is taken deeper with the character of Motoko because she is a cyborg, so everything about her is artificial except her brain. If every part of your body can be replaced, then what room is there for a soul (aka. a ghost), hence the title?

It is also scary given how this movie covers the issues of hackers and corporate blackmail, which have become all too real in this day and age.

Part action-thriller, part sci-fi, and part art film; GITS is a movie that seems to only get better and better as I get older. Even though the movie has some great action scenes (Ex. Invisible Motoko vs. a henchman) and thought-provoking dialogue, my personal favorite parts are whenever the film slows down to silently showcase the cityscape.

The futuristic Tokyo presented in GITS differs from Akira in which it is not nearly as flashy and chaotic, but instead has a sense of surreal foreboding and alienation. Everything seems to look fine, but it all seems empty and the eerie artful score by Kenji Kawai is the icing on the cake.

It can be argued that this movie is just as influential as Blade Runner given it’s impact on modern-day science fiction (Ex. The Matrix, Avatar, A.I. Artificial Intelligence). It may come off as cold for some, but the deep philosophical subject manner and artful execution are what elevate this film to being one of my personal favorite films.

And if you like this movie, then check out the underrated sequel, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence.