Dir. Mamoru Oshii, Japan, 2004, 100 mins
Cast (voices): Akio Otsuka, Atsuko Tanaka, Koichi Yamadera, Tamio Oki
The discoveries of Issac Newton in the Seventeenth Century paved the way for modern science but brought the issues of free will and the transcendent Self into question. Newton theorised that everything was made of matter and that matter in motion followed deterministic laws of cause and effect. If this was true then were human beings simply cogs in a larger clockwork universe and nothing more? Rene Descartes responded to the challenge by positing a human soul - self-consciousness - that existed beyond the body and independent of it. Hence in his thinking free will, good and evil, life beyond death and the distinction between humans and other life forms were retained: all of which are explored by Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, the sequel to the popular Japanese Anime.
Despite the advances of science, we still cling to our belief in the ‘Ghost in the Machine’, the famous phrase from which the title of the film originates, that we are somehow more than the sum of our parts. Liberal democracies are arguably more firmly wedded to this idea than any previous form of society. Where religion and the state are indivisible, as in a divine monarchy or theocracy, we can invoke God’s providence as the guiding hand in human affairs. Communism ascribed a similar role to History. Capitalism ascribes it to the Market. However liberalism, insofar as it can be distinguished from capitalism, is inextricably tied to notions of free will, rational choice and individual autonomy entailing rights and responsibilities. All of these values are thrown into question if we live in a purely mechanistic universe. With further scientific advances we may not be able to avoid the issue indefinitely. In Ghost in the Shell 2 we are faced with the dilemma posed by ‘artificial’ intelligence. If a machine becomes self-aware then is it more than a machine? If self-awareness can arise in a machine then are we no more than machines ourselves? Then where is our free will, our much-lauded humanity?
In the film, Bato is a cyborg detective haunted by his vestigial humanity and the memory of his ex-partner Major Motoko Kusanagi, who became a ghost in cyberspace at the end of the first film. With his new partner, he investigates a series of murders by pleasure robots named ‘gynoids’. One of the robots commits suicide, countermanding one of its prime directives, raising the issue of whether it was able to ‘feel’ suicidal and choose death. The investigation takes the detectives to an interzone city where the multinational responsible for the gynoids is based. The plot becomes a little opaque along the way leading to a rather clumsy, and still slightly confusing, closing exposition.
The film is heavily indebted to Blade Runner, William Gibson, Issac Asimov and others, amid a web of philosophical, religious and literary references not to mention the ever-present techno-jargon that threatens to become an indecipherable stream. These multitudinous references will either delight or infuriate you depending upon your attitude. However the animation is at times awe-inspiring, particularly in the opening credits, the blistering action scenes and the strange city where the villainous multinational resides. The film’s sub-title implies an innocence lost through self-knowledge but was that very innocence our humanity, before we questioned it, or is it the questioning, the knowledge that we may be less than we’d like to be, that makes us human? If you enjoy such questions then here is a film that treats them with the grandeur that they deserve.
Peter Fraser
The Deluxe Double Disc Edition of GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (cert. 15) will be released on DVD (£19.99) by Manga Entertainment on 27th February 2006. This release will also be available as part of a three-disc GHOST IN THE SHELL MOVIE DOUBLE BILL Boxed Set (£24.99) along with the Special Edition of the original feature length "Ghost In The Shell" anime.
Special Features
Disc One
Widescreen presentation (1.85:1); The Making Of Innocence featurette; audio commentary by Mamoru Oshii (director) and Toshihiko Nishikubo (animation director) with subtitles; English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; English Stereo 2.0; Japanese Stereo 2.0; English subtitles.
Disc Two
English DTS; Japanese DTS; English subtitles; UK exclusive "Face To Face Interview With Mamoru Oshii"; Sneak Peak at Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig Volume 2, Episode 5; full-length Japanese trailer; Manga trailers.
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