Ghost in the Shell
1995 · Directed by Mamoru Oshii
Original language: Japanese
- action
- animation
- science fiction
The story
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
What it’s like
Dense night cityscapes washed in blue-black and sickly neon, rain-slick streets, and the hum of rooftop machinery, with a score built from ethnic chant, tolling percussion and slow synth swells that makes a crowded future feel hollow and vast. The animation is cel-based and deliberately still in places, with long held shots of rooms, data glow and rain that let the frame breathe between bursts of sharp, fast action. Its vibe is cool, brooding and philosophical, a noir-tinged unease about where a body ends and a mind begins. Violence is present and sometimes abrupt, with gunfights and bloody bodily damage shown plainly, though it is not gratuitous, and there is nudity in cyborg bodies rendered in a clinical way rather than erotically. Pacing is measured and talky, with quiet stretches of contemplation broken by sudden action. The emotional arc follows a woman who has long since lost her sense of a fixed self, quietly questioning what she is. It suits a late, solitary watch, or anyone drawn to cyberpunk atmosphere and existential science fiction over fast, cheerful spectacle.
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