Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

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Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

Ghost in the Shell 2 Poster
Directed by Mamoru Oshii
Produced by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa
Toshio Suzuki
Written by Mamoru Oshii
Starring Akio Ôtsuka
Atsuko Tanaka
Music by Kenji Kawai
Cinematography Miki Sakuma
Editing by Sachiko Miki
Chihiro Nakano
Junichi Uematsu
Distributed by Toho (Japan)
Go Fish Pictures/Bandai Entertainment (North America)
Manga Entertainment (UK)
Madman Entertainment (Australia, Licensed by Dreamworks SKG Australia and Paramount Films Australia Ltd.)
Release date(s) Japan:
March 6, 2004
United States:
September 17, 2004
United Kingdom:
October 28, 2005
Running time 100 minutes
Country  Japan
Language Japanese
Budget US$ 20 million
Preceded by Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (イノセンス Inosensu?) is the 2004 sequel to the anime film Ghost in the Shell. Released in Japan on March 6, 2004, with a U.S. release on September 17, 2004, Innocence had a production budget of approximately $20 million (approx. 2 billion yen)[citation needed]. To raise such a large amount of money, Production I.G's president Mitsuhisa Ishikawa asked Studio Ghibli's president Toshio Suzuki to work on the project with him as a co-producer. The film is written and directed by Mamoru Oshii, with a story loosely connected to the manga by Shirow Masamune. The movie was produced by Production I.G, which also produced the original movie and the spinoff TV series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Alongside the film, there was a book published that served as a prequel to Innocence called Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence: After the Long Goodbye.

Contents

[edit] Story

Much of the storyline is taken from the original Ghost in the Shell manga, from a chapter called Robot Rondo, albeit heavily modified from the original tale. The story of Innocence begins in 2032, when cities are inhabited by the dwindling races of humans, purely mechanical androids, and cyborgs like Batou who still have a ghost (the in-universe term for the human spirit), but are vulnerable to ghost hacking.

The movie features several characters from the preceding movie, like Togusa, the most organic member of the team, Chief Aramaki and Batou, as the protagonists. Batou was originally partnered with Major Kusanagi, who disappeared at the end of the first film. He's now teamed with a reluctant Togusa, who says he never asked for the assignment and that he knows he could never compare to the Major.

The special officers of Public Security Section 9 are investigating a cyborg corporation called LOCUS SOLUS (from the novel of the same name by French author Raymond Roussel) and its gynoids—androids made in the form of young women and used as sex dolls—that have killed eight people, having deliberately been tampered with in order to trigger a police investigation. The dolls possessed a "ghost" (which made them so desirable) that was created by using a "ghost-dubbing" machine, an illegal procedure which produces "information-degraded, high-volume copies", but results in the death of the originals. Young girls were kidnapped by the Yakuza and sold to LOCUS SOLUS for this process. Two of the girls conspire with a LOCUS SOLUS shipping inspector named Volkerson to cause the malfunctions and thus draw official attention to their plight. Batou's body is fully artificial. As the movie's trailer dramatically posits, "the only remnants left of his humanity, encased inside a titanium skull shell, are traces of his brain, and the memories of a woman called Motoko Kusanagi." Major Motoko Kusanagi, the protagonist of Ghost in the Shell, is listed as missing, although government agents are still looking for her as she has confidential knowledge on Project 2501. In the film, Batou explains to Togusa that he helped the Major escape because the government only cared about what she knew and not her as a person.

In the climax of the film, when Batou is being overwhelmed by Locus Solus guards and gynoids killing each other, Kusanagi and Batou get reunited in the middle of a firefight when she downloads a part of her consciousness into an empty gynoid. After "Kusanagi" has fulfilled her task, she reassures Batou that "I'll always be with you online"; then the gynoid deactivates.

[edit] Mamoru Oshii on Innocence

Innocence is Life
"...untested, but virtue is innocence tested and triumphant." (William Henry Griffith Thomas, 1962)

On the origins of the movie, director Mamoru Oshii says:

"When Production I.G first proposed the project to me, I thought about it for two weeks. I didn't make Innocence as a sequel to Ghost in the Shell. In fact I had a dozen ideas, linked to my views on life, my philosophy, that I wanted to include in this film. [...] I attacked Innocence as a technical challenge; I wanted to go beyond typical animation limits, answer personal questions and at the same time appeal to filmgoers."

Innocence begins with a quotation from Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's Tomorrow's Eve (1886):

"If our Gods and our hopes are nothing but scientific phenomena, then let us admit it must be said that our love is scientific as well."

The movie is filled with references to fantasy, philosophy and Zen and addresses aesthetic and moral questions. The numerous quotations come from Buddha, Confucius, Descartes, the Old Testament, Saito Ryokuu, Richard Dawkins, Max Weber, Jacob Grimm, Plato, John Milton, Zeami, Villiers de L'Isle-Adam and La Mettrie, author of "Man a Machine" (1748).

The characters and character names contain many allusions to earlier works. For example, the "Hadaly" model robots refer to Tomorrow's Eve, the first book to use the word android, and which features a human-like robot named Hadaly. The police forensic specialist, Haraway, is most likely named for Donna Haraway, author of the Cyborg Manifesto. Haraway's character is most likely based on Susan Calvin from Asimov's Robot series.

Dolls are an important motif in Innocence; many beings have a "spirit" of some sort, but at the same time are not quite human. The female dolls are based on the art of Hans Bellmer, who is the pioneer of ball-jointed dolls. Bellmer's name briefly appears in one scene on a book cover. As Oshii comments, "They want to become fully human — but they can't. That dilemma becomes unbearable for them. The humans who made them are to blame. They try to make a doll that is as human as possible — but they don't think of the consequences." Even the human or partly-human characters move in doll-like ways, grants Oshii. Oshii also planned an exhibition to commemorate the film. The exhibition showcased several Japanese artists' work of ball jointed dolls.

It could prefigure a new century with people facing "towards a humanity of hard disks and memories" [2] when animate and inanimate start to merge in new forms like "interconnected 'living dolls'".

While pursuing the truth behind the crime incident that happened in the course of the movie, Batou and Togusa, flying to Etorofu, a special economic development zone, make the following observation: [3]

"If the substance of life is information, transmitted through genes, then society and culture are essentially immense information transmission systems, and the city, a huge external memory storage device."

On his narrative intentions Oshii comments:

"For Innocence, I had a bigger budget than for Ghost in the Shell. I also had more time to prepare it. Yet despite the economic leeway, abundant details and orientations, it was still important to tell an intimate story. [...] Personally, I adore the quotes in the film. It was a real pleasure for me. The budget and work that went into it contributed to the high quality of imagery. The images had to be up to par, as rich as the visuals." "This desire to include quotes by other authors came from Godard. The text is very important for a film, that I learned from him. It gives a certain richness to cinema because the visual is not all there is. Thanks to Godard, the spectator can concoct his own interpretation. [...] The image associated to the text corresponds to a unifying act that aims at renewing cinema, that lets it take on new dimensions."

Kenji Kawai's technologic music greatly contributes to the film's futuristic atmosphere, and reinforces its link to Ghost in the Shell: for example, the opening theme echoes the ubiquitous "Making of a Cyborg" piece from the first movie.

Some others turn to more modern jazz fusion and romance like the song "Follow Me", which is used in the trailer and became popular among fans of the movie. Previously, in early 80's the song was performed by Demis Roussos. Music was originally composed by Joaquín Rodrigo ("En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor.")

Mamoru Oshii's concept follows in the tradition of the romantic myth of the manufacture of a creature, which is at the same time human and artificial, such as Frankenstein's creature or the Golem from Jewish Folklore. There is a substantial amount of religious and philosophical musing on this general topic, which arguably gives it a more mystical tone than most cyberpunk.

Oshii said the film was first inspired by bleak thoughts of economic recession and violent crime. He imagines a world where humans have been replaced by their virtual selves.

"Distinguishing the virtual from the real is a major error on the part of human beings. To me, the birth and death of a human being is already a virtual event," the 52-year-old director told a news conference at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. "I think that accepting that what we are seeing is not real will open the doors of truth for mankind," he added.

Innocence achieves a unique spatial atmosphere which is also worthy of mention. Panoramic views are enveloped in orange light and deep haze. Sunlight seldom falls on Batou, who wanders in solitude at ground level, bathed in yellow light, red neon, and blue electric light, effects which enhance the movie's atmosphere of film noir beyond its obvious reference to Blade Runner.

Unlike with a filmed movie, the creators of an animated movie must envision and create all the detailed elements that make up a scene, and the movie comes to life. Innocence approaches this challenge with some weird 3D scenes softly integrated to 2D characters; but it is said that "in some scenes there was intentional direction from Oshii to make 3D environment look unreal to describe ghost-hack and such complicated concepts."

Oshii says:

"I enjoy making the world [of the film] as detailed as possible. I get absorbed in the finer points – like what the back of a bottle label looks like when you see it through the glass [demonstrates with a bottle of mineral water]. That's very Japanese, I suppose. I want people to go back to the film again and again to pick up things they missed the first time."

The dog Gabriel, looking one more time like the only real being, makes a key appearance, like in many of Oshii's movies. A scene of Batou feeding his dog is echoing Ash in Avalon and Mamoru Oshii in his real life, as the director himself admits: "Batou is a reflection of my own thoughts and feelings. Innocence is a kind of autobiographical film in that way."

He also explained the reason why all his films feature a basset hound—his faithful companion in real life.

"This body you see before you is an empty shell. The dog represents my body. Humans can be free only if they free themselves from their body. When I am playing around with my dog, I forget that I am a human being and it's only then that I feel free."

Even if some of the characters from Ghost in the Shell are present, Innocence goes far beyond the themes of electronic networks and human-machine technologies. The usual downbeat story line of Oshii's movies could perhaps restrict the audience to technology and anime fans.

Mamoru Oshii also adds his own reflections about art and animation:

"I think that Hollywood is relying more and more on 3D imaging like that of Shrek. The strength behind Japanese animation is based in the designer's pencil. Even if he mixes 2D, 3D, and computer graphics, the foundation is still 2D. Only doing 3D does not interest me."

The animation features a motif of figurative deformation of scenery — especially the massive cathedral-like Locus Solus building in the Northern Territories (Kurile Islands) and the Chinese parade, which will stay as one of the most amazing scenes in recent memory. Although the style is quite realistic and detailed, it mixes in startling distortions.

"The film is set in the future, but it's looking at present-day society. And as I said, there's an autobiographical element as well. I'm looking back at some of the things I liked as a child — the 1950s cars and so on. Basically, I wanted to create a different world — not a future world."

[edit] Cannes Film Festival

Innocence was one of the feature films in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It was only the 6th animated film to be featured at Cannes and along with Persepolis were the only two animated films to be finalists for the Palme D'Or award. The eventual winner that year was Fahrenheit 9/11.

[edit] DVD controversy

On December 28, 2004, DreamWorks (parent company of theatrical distributor Go Fish Pictures) released Innocence on DVD in the United States. Reviews immediately began appearing on Amazon and other websites criticizing the movie's subtitle track. Instead of including the overlay subtitles from the theatrical release, DreamWorks produced the DVD subtitles using closed captioning. The result was a script that intruded on the movie's visual effects; and in addition to reading dialogue, audiences saw unnecessary alerts like "Footsteps..." or "Helicopter approaches..." After receiving numerous complaints, DreamWorks released a statement saying that unsatisfied customers could exchange their DVDs for properly subtitled ones, postage paid; and that version 4 already had the proper subtitling.

Manga Entertainment, which released the first film and collaborated with Bandai Entertainment to release the TV series, released Innocence with an English dub featuring the same cast as used in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex in the UK on February 27, 2006. There have been reports that the UK English dub on the Region 1 Blu-ray disc features an audio error where the soundtrack has been pitch shifted down a few octaves, resulting in unnatural sounding deep voices, and mechanical sound effects similar to slow motion.

Bandai Entertainment has released the film on Blu-ray and DVD in the United States, with an English dub also featuring the cast used in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.[1]

[edit] Rating

This Film is Rated PG-13 for Violence, Disturbing Images and Brief Language.

[edit] 2005 English dub cast

[edit] 2009 English dub cast

Additional Voices:

[edit] Soundtrack

As was the case in the first movie, the soundtrack was composed by Kenji Kawai. As he wrote in the liner notes, knowing the movie would inevitably be perceived as a sequel to its predecessor, he agreed with Mamoru Oshii that the soundtrack would follow the direction of the music from the original film. Additionally, specific request were made by Oshii for a huge music box, a jazzy theme, and a reprise of the song Follow Me.

The music box, heard in the Doll House tracks, was procured from Sankyo Shoji, makers of the biggest music boxes in the world. Wanting it to sound as if played in a huge space, Kenji Kawai had it recorded in studio, and then played back in the underground quarry of Ohya, where it was recorded in 5.1, at 3am.

The characteristic minyoh singers chorus, heard in the Chants of the first movie, and in the Ballade of Puppets in this one, was expanded to include 75 performers, which proved challenging to record. The session lasted for 14 straight hours.

Follow Me is a reprise of a song originally interpreted by Demis Roussos in 1982. The music is based on Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, with lyrics by lyricists Herbert Kretzmer and Hal Shaper.

[edit] Track listing

  1. Dungeon – 1:22
  2. The Ballade of Puppets: Flowers Grieve and Fall – 3:38
  3. Type 2052 "Hadaly" – 4:05
  4. River of Crystals – 5:47
  5. Attack of the Wakabayashi – 3:29
  6. Etorofu – 3:53
  7. The Ballade of Puppets: In a New World Gods Will Descend – 5:09
  8. The Doll House I – 1:31
  9. The Doll House II – 2:54
  10. The Ballade of Puppets: The Ghost Awaits in the World Beyond – 9:44
  11. Toh Kami Emi Tame – 0:31
  12. Follow Me – 5:01

[edit] Literary references

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Bandai Entertainment Adds Ghost in the Shell:Innocence". Anime News Network. 2008-04-19. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-04-19/bandai-entertainment-adds-ghost-in-the-shell-innocence. Retrieved on 2008-05-10. 
  2. ^ "With a script written by the English (okay, American) voice of Batou, Richard Epcar (from Yurika Dennis’ translation) I got a chance to watch what was on screen and be able to pay attention to the plot. The main voice cast from the English dub of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex do a stand up job, although Richard Epcar is the only member of the English-speaking cast to have been involved in all of the Ghost in the Shell translations." [1]

[edit] External links

Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

[edit] Related links

Innocence - Opening at YouTube (Choral song)

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