Forum - View topicREVIEW: Sky Crawlers, The (Blu-ray)
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HardcoreSouma
Posts: 3 |
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But the above poster just reminded me!
The Sky Crawlers is actually a novel. Oshii didn't come up with the concept, nor the script I would hazard a guess. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sky_Crawlers ...Guess this kind of...makes all this wonderful discourse moot, doesn't it? |
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LondinCalling
Posts: 122 |
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He did't come up with most of the concepts for his films. But that's no to say his direction did not alter the course of the storyline in some way.
Ghost in the Shell is definately not his creation. Neither is Patlabor 2. The only film he had a huge involvement in storywise was Jin Roh. I don't know why he didn't direct it .He did write it though. |
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bravetailor
Posts: 817 |
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The credits list Oshii as writing the (finished) screenplay, IIRC? The concept may not be his, but anyone who's followed Oshii knows there's no mistaking that this is a Mamoru Oshii work through and through.
This would be like saying Vertigo isn't Alfred Hitchcock since it came from a novel. Or that it wasn't scripted by Hitchcock. But anyone who knows Hitchcock knows that everything in the film--the obsession with blondes, mistaken identities and "controlling" the physical appearance of women are quintessential Hitchcock tropes. |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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Just watched this, and I am a bit of loss. I think repeated viewings will be required to wring out all the the satire. But upon my first watch (even knowing what it was to be satire about), the final circuit did not connect. My brother watching with me, who is pretty well versed in anime but knew nothing of the film, was even more clueless.
And that means, it fails as entertainment. When even a more than moderately clued in anime fan does not 'get' what the film is striving for, then something is wrong. Was this film made for the 468 people who would actually get it? Bravo! But for the rest of us we want an explanation, and two hours or so of our lives back. Maybe it goes in with the theme of the satire, that the only way you can know that you are being ripped, is you have to buy the thing and watch it multiple times, which I would not put it past them to do so. |
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LondinCalling
Posts: 122 |
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Japanese viewers understood it. The film isn't that complicated. many people interpret it different ways true. After I watched it i said, what was the point?
Then it realized that this question was the most important aspect of the film. What WAS the point? A false war between peaceful nations. What's the point when nothing is at stake? They aren't even really dying for their countries. They weren't dying for anything. So what's war? Then there are other aspects to the film. Mostly the parts when they aren't flying. Eat, drink, sleep with women-lust after one another. For what purpose exactly? All these replaceable people in a never-ending struggle to achieve nothing. spoiler[Androids having children? ] What did that amount to? You just have to be complacent to the whole thing. Does little to worry or think about it much. |
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DavidShallcross
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Both ANN and the Wikipedia article list Chihiro Itō as screenwriter. I don't remember the actual credits as they appeared in the movie. |
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LondinCalling
Posts: 122 |
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This "review" feels more like a blog entry as oppose to a review. And yes it seems to me that he is kissing Oshii's as a bit.
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At0msk
Posts: 1 |
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I had to get this off my chest. I read the previous review for the movie immediately after watching the blu-ray. I have to agree with the minority that, despite achieving the goal of inspiring deeper thought in preparation for a film (or films), the review really comes off as more of an analysis than a review. Furthermore, I feel the interpretation is farfetched due to a lack of empirical evidence other than a notion built from the mere repetitiveness of the plotline. The fact that this was based on a light novel does the review no favors in serving so much credit to Oshii.
I know few people, if any, will care, but here is my personal interpretation. It's long, and it spoils. I, too, felt that this film presented a strong social critique. However, I felt it was set in a different and more obvious direction. First, the entire film is framed in the setting of World War II, or the last "great war." Arguably one of the most influential pieces of history, the film seems to take considerable steps to downplay the significance of this event. What might seem baffling to viewers is the use of Japanese characters in a European setting and the use of English during the dogfighting scenes. I felt this conveyed that national origin was insignificant. It was almost as if they were saying that there were neither "good guys" nor "bad guys." To further solidify this point, World War II is portrayed as nothing more than a demonstration of power by PMCs. There are no countries backing the PMCs as, I assume, they seem to be doing this only to prove military superiority for future financial support. Unfortunately, this also lends to how idealistic the message the writer seems to convey as, by definition, PMCs are contracted by countries. It would seem unlikely that companies in the business of killing would become lone pillars of influence and strength. The backdrop is delivered subtly. The cold and neutral position taken by the rest of the world as they watch these companies vie for superiority is presented by the intermittent news broadcasts of PMC activity. They are completely nonchalant to the fact they are broadcasting classified military movements to the general public. The pilots are given heartfelt concern by what seem to be independent citizens, but by their mere proximity to these child soldiers, they are exposed to much more than what the rest of the world sees. Thus, we are thrown in to this "bubble" and given very few visual cues as to the broad picture. World War II is thus, stripped of its cultural significance and we are left with a stark premonition of wars to come. It also feels as though the message is hard to grasp merely for the fact of my upbringing. Being an Asian-American born in the United States, I was essentially raised in the culture of the "victor." No matter what audience was targeted by this film, it was nonetheless written by those raised in the culture of a "defeated" nation. I do not intend this to come off as derogatory. I am merely saying that it is my belief that the impacts of World War II became deeply ingrained in Japanese culture. What this presents is difficulty in that many viewers may be coming from an outsider perspective on what may be a truly introspective work and that some assumptions may simply be impossible for us outsiders to grasp. Another point I feel needs to be belabored is the meaning behind the "eternal youth" of the pilots. I felt this presented the clear and immediate message that war is both infantile and cyclical. The "war" is fueled by those who cannot comprehend the meaning behind why they fight. They methodically eradicate enemy pilots, indifferent to the knowledge that they are killing other children. They count kills as if they are tallying scores in a game. Those that do comprehend the impacts are left to a sense of powerlessness. Those that are truly in control are faceless companies. What I felt was one of the most poignant moments in the film was cast off as "gibberish" in the review. Suito goes on a drunken tirade about the status of the world. Rather than gibberish, I felt as though it came off as an incredibly bitter and biased, yet astonishingly intuitive, view of the reality they live in. Her spin on things is understandable. Her reward for being a talented pilot is reliving the psychologically crippling events that seem to happen over and over again. I question the review's take on the main character being an "avatar." I, personally, did not have this feeling that "everything is going his way." It felt more like a coincidence than a message. The events that occurred seemed to be more of a coalescence of the most memorable pieces of his previous lives. I question the review's take on the final dogfight as being an act of "growing up." Rather, I feel it is impossible to conclude as to what "growing up" is in this reality as the most influential adult in this world is the "Teacher," who slaughters these children on a daily basis. Instead, I believe it conveys the message that it is near impossible to escape this world that thrives on an endless cycle of war and greed. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Every scene and piece of dialogue was fraught with meaning and inspired deeper emotion and thought. Since I felt secluded in this "bubble" around the story of the main pilots, the film left me with a desire to see more of the world Hiroshi Mori created. Who were the pilots on the other end? Is the Teacher trying to break the cycle? I can only hope that the novel series is eventually translated in to English for those of us who were left wanting more. |
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