For his latest feature legendary Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii promised to put aside his experimental leanings and produce his most mainstream oriented film since he left the giant-robot series Patlabor behind. And, true to his word, Oshii's Sky Crawlers follows a very direct, linear storyline centered on his characters rather than his concepts. So, yes, in many ways Sky Crawlers is the most mainstream film Oshii has directed in ages. That said, Oshii is still Oshii which means Sky Crawlers is not only a stunning technical achievement but also layered with meanings, obsessed with questions of identity, torn between a love and fear of technology, and operates in a dreamy haze. And, yes, a bassett hound features prominently. In the Oshii canon Sky Crawlers is most similar to Jin Roh - surely no accident, as the name is shared by a dead but important character within this film - and considering that I hold jin Roh as the very best work that Oshii has been associated with through his stellar career that is not a bad thing at all.
We begin in a near future alternate world that fuses noir sensibilities with World War Two inspired retro-future designs. The world is at war, the majority of the fighting taking place in high speed aerial dogfights and in the military world no pilot is more feared than The Teacher, an unbeatable ace who mows down all in his path. Arrayed against The Teacher are pilots known as Kildren, genetically modified youths who will never age past their teen years. The Kildren seem an odd but understandable twist to the war machine - after all, physical reflexes and responsiveness are at their peak in the teen years, which would make teens a reasonable choice as pilots - but it becomes painfully clear that all is not what it seems when a group of tourists appears on the military base declaring themselves fans of the pilots' team. Is this all some sort of perverse, grand scale bloodsport?
Mamoru Oshii has always been known as one of the highest concept animation directors in the world, a man unafraid to tackle big issues and break new ground. That willingness to push has always been among Oshii's greatest strengths but it can also prove to be his great weakness, his stories occasionally getting buried under layers of philosophy and high tech concepts, his characters lost within layers of image within image within image. It's a failing that Oshii is very aware of, apparently, and with Sky Crawlers his leaves the convoluted storytelling of Innocence behind, instead telling a very straightforward tale of a pilot freshly arrived to join his military unit.
That pilot is Kannami, a fresh faced teen who nonetheless quickly establishes himself as the ace of the unit, shooting down two enemy planes on his very first mission. We experience life through Kannami's eyes, from his first encounter with his fearsome - but beautiful - commanding officer, to his aerial exploits, to his introduction to a local brothel. The style is distinctly noir, all muted emotions and hidden agendas, and as the film progresses we share in the blossoming relationship between Kannami and his commander, a relationship that plays out against rumors that she shot her previous lover - the pilot that Kannami arrived to replace. As we try to understand that mystery we also learn that this war may not be what it seems and have to wonder at the true origin of The Teacher.
Sky Crawlers is a film with layers upion layers of meaning but, unlike some Oshii films where those layers become all enveloping to the detriment of character and plot, it is also a film that remains resolutely a human story. Oshii finds the story's heart and power in the person of Kannami. We understand the world as he understands the world and feel the effects of this world's harsh realities as they impact on the young pilot. It is no less complex than previous Oshii films but the concepts serve the characters here rather than the other way around.
A stunning visual piece of work that neatly balances heart, technical achievement and high concept Sky Crawlers is a classic example of intelligent, geared to adults animation. Very much recommended.