Mamoru Oshii

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer

Mamoru Oshii (押井守 Oshii Mamoru; born August 8, 1951 in Tokyo) is a Japanese animation and live-action film writer and director famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling. Presently, Oshii lives in Atami, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan with his dogs – a basset hound named Gabriel (ガブリエル) and a mutt named Daniel (both are featured in Tachiguishi-Retsuden).

Contents

[edit] Career

As a student, Mamoru Oshii was fascinated by the film La Jetée by Chris Marker as well as the films of Andrzej Wajda, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Andrzej Munk and Ingmar Bergman.

In 1976, he graduated from The Fine Arts Education School of the Education Department of Tokyo Liberal Arts University ("Tokyo Gakugei Daigaku"). The following year, he entered Tatsunoko Productions and worked on his first anime as animation director on Ippatsu Kanta-kun. In 1980, he moved to Studio Pierrot under the supervision of his mentor, Hisayuki Toriumi. During production of the Nils no Fushigina Tabi ("Wonderful Adventures of Nils") and Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman II TV series, Oshii first met longtime collaborators, writer Kazunori Itō and painter and character designer Yoshitaka Amano.

Mamoru Oshii's work as director and storyboard artist of the animated Urusei Yatsura TV series brought him into the spotlight. Following its success, he directed two Urusei Yatsura films: Urusei Yatsura 1: Only You in 1983 and Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer in 1984. While the first film, though an original story, continued much in the spirit of the series, Beautiful Dreamer (which was also written by Oshii') was a significant departure and an early example of his now contemporary style. It deviated so far from the original manga by Rumiko Takahashi that she barely approved the script.

In the midst of his work with Studio Pierrot, Oshii took on independent work and directed the first direct-to-video OVA series, Dallos, in 1983. In 1984, he left Studio Pierrot and has remained independent ever since. He next wrote and directed Tenshi no Tamago (Angel's Egg) released in 1985, a surreal film with biblical themes featuring the painting-like character designs of Yoshitaka Amano. The producer of the film, Toshio Suzuki, later founded the renowned Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Following the release of the film, Miyazaki and Takahata began collaborating with Mamoru Oshii on his next film, Anchor. The film was cancelled early in the initial planning stages when the trio had artistic disagreements. Despite their differences, Toshio Suzuki and Studio Ghibli would later help Oshii with his production of Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 (2004). To this day, Oshii and Miyazaki maintain skeptical, but respectful, views of each other's films – Oshii considers Miyazaki too idealistic, unrealistic, and ruthless with his workers, while Miyazaki finds Oshii to be too much of a philosopher and not enough of an entertainer in his work.

In the late 1980s, Oshii was solicited by his friend Kazunori Itō to join Headgear as a director. The studio pooled the different talents of Itō (screenwriter), Masami Yuki (scenarist/concept), Kenji Kawai (music composer), Yutaka Izubuchi (mechanical designer), Kazuchika Kise (animation director), Akemi Takada (character designer), and Hiromasa Ogura (art director). Together they were responsible for the Mobile Police Patlabor OVA (1988), the second episode of Twilight Q, "Meikyū Bukken: File 538" (1987), and the Patlabor: The Movie (1989), and Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993) films. Released in the midst of Japan's economic crisis, the Patlabor series and films projected a dynamic near-future world in which grave social crisis and ecological challenges were overcome by technological ingenuity, and were a big success in the mecha genre.

Between production of the Patlabor movies/series, Oshii directed three live action films. The first was The Red Spectacles (1987) which led into his later work Stray Dog: Kerberos Panzer Cops (1991). The third was Talking Head (1992), a surreal look at Oshii's view on film executed through a plot about an anime production where the director is missing and has to be replaced by a new one.

In 1995, Mamoru Oshii released his landmark animated cyberpunk film, Ghost in the Shell, in Japan, the United States, and Europe simultaneously. It hit the top of the US Billboard video charts in 1996.

After a 5-year hiatus from directing to work on other projects, Oshii returned to live-action with the long-awaited Japanese-Polish feature Avalon, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. His next animated feature film, Innocence (a sequel to Ghost in the Shell), was selected to compete at 2004 Cannes Film Festival for the coveted Palme d'Or prize, making it the first anime in this top category (previous animated films to nominated include Fantastic Planet and The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat)[1] and only the sixth animated film shown at Cannes. The festival described Innocence as a film in which "the political tone has given way to a philosophical one, a hymn to life. Furthermore, the technical rendering is much more formal, mixing 2D, 3D and computer graphics."

[edit] Style

A scene from Ghost in the Shell
A scene from Ghost in the Shell

Mamoru Oshii's films typically follow a rhythm of slow-paced exposition in near-silence, punctuated by several sequences of fast action. His visual style is easily recognizable with long dramatic moments of beautiful images in montages in which nothing significant generally occurs. Frequently repeated elements include flocks of birds (like Hong Kong action director John Woo), and basset hounds similar to his own. The basset hound was seen most prominently Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, and was a major plot point in his live action film, Avalon.

Oshii is especially noted for how his directing style has uniquely influenced the films for Urusei Yatsura, Patlabor, and Ghost in the Shell. In their original manga or anime forms, these three titles exhibited a mood that was more frantic slapstick comedy (Urusei Yatsura) or convivial seriocomic (Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell). Oshii, in adapting the works created a slower, more grey overcast atmosphere especially noticeable in Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer and Patlabor: The Movie. For the Ghost in the Shell movie, Oshii elected to leave out the humor and character banter of Masamune Shirow's manga, resulting in a presentation reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick.

"Oshii's work... steers clear of such stereotypes in both image and sexual orientation," wrote Andrez Bergen in an article on Oshii that appeared in Japan's Daily Yomiuri newspaper in 2004. "His movies are dark, thought-provoking, minimalist diatribes with an underlying complexity; at the same time he pushes the perimeters of technology when it comes to the medium itself. Character design plays equitable importance." [1]

Oshii also wrote and directed numerous animated movies and live-action films based on his personal worldview influenced by the ANPO Hantai (opposition to the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty) student movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Because the student movements were falling apart by the time Oshii became involved, he has a much more cynical worldview than older members of the same movements, like Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. The first film to touch on his political background was the live action film, Akai megane, known in English as The Red Spectacles (1987). This film, set in the same world as Hiroyuki Okiura's film Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (for which Oshii wrote the script), is about a former member of the special unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force dealing with a fascist government.

[edit] Themes in Oshii's work

For more details on Oshii's use of the stray dog theme, see Kerberos saga#Dog-Master relationship.
“ "A lone wolf"? Did you see his eyes? Those are the eyes of an abandoned stray dog. [...] He didn't have to be abandoned by somebody, Handa. Some poor mutts are abandoned from the moment they're born. Now for his own survival, he's leaving the world behind looking for the master he never had. He couldn't accept the society as his master -nor the police-. That's why he's come to [the Kerberos organization]. He's a stray dog that's only learned one trick. The least we can do is throw him a stick to chase. [...] Do you think he cares? He's already dead to the world as it is. [...] Maybe he was drawn [to the organization] by the smell [...] of others like him.
Cdr. Tatsumi to Lt.Cdr. Handa in Kerberos Panzer Cop		 ”
  • Stray dogs
  • Tachigui
  • Organized groups
 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.


[edit] Lifework: Kerberos saga

For more details on the Kerberos saga, see Kerberos saga.

[edit] 1980s

The English version of Kerberos Panzer Cop.
The English version of Kerberos Panzer Cop.

The Kerberos saga is Oshii's lifework, created in 1986. It spawned on all medias and last for 20 years since his January 1987 radio drama While Waiting For The Red Spectacles introducing the live-action feature film, Akai megane, released one month later. Then the manga adaptation Kerberos Panzer Cop was serialized in 1988 until 1990.

[edit] 1990s

The series compilation came in 1990, as a single volume (Acts 1~4). In 1991 the live-action film adaptation of the tankōbon, was released as StrayDog Kerberos Panzer Cops. In 1993, the 1990 volume was reissued as a "budget edition". In 1999, the manga was serialized again (under a completion perspective) and the 1993 edition was reissued for a "renewal edition". The same year, Jin-Roh, the anime feature film adaptation of the first volume was directed by his collaborator Hiroyuki Okiura and was released in International Film Festivals starting in France, with Annecy.

[edit] 2000s

In 2000, the second season (Acts 5~8) was serialized, then published as a second volume. After the manga's completion and publishing as volumes 1 & 2, Jin-Roh was finally released in the domestic market. Following the Japanese release of the anime, a limited edition, single volume collector reissue of the manga series was made available. This 10-year issue celebration boxset included the CD drama edition of While Waiting For The Red Spectacles. In 2003 the manga's sequel, Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs was serialized, then it was compiled as a single volume in 2005. In 2006 Kerberos Panzer Jäger was broadcasted in Japan as a 20-year celebration of the saga. The same year, Oshii revealed his plan to release an anime/3DCG adaptation film of the drama in 2009, the Kerberos Panzer Blitzkrieg project. In late 2006, Oshii launched a Kerberos saga crossover manga series titled Kerberos & Tachiguishi.

[edit] Other work

In addition to his directing work, Oshii is a prolific screenwriter and author of manga and novels. He wrote the Kerberos Panzer Cop manga drawn by Kamui Fujiwara (1988~90), which was translated into English and published by Dark Horse in North America under the name Hellhounds Panzer Cops. In 1994, he wrote the manga Seibu Shinjuku Sensen Ijou Nashi ("All's Quiet on the Seibu Shinjuku Front"). He wrote the script for the manga Seraphim drawn by Satoshi Kon and published by Animage between May 1995 and November 1996. He also wrote the script of Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade and was involved in the supervision of Blood: The Last Vampire in 2000. In 2005 he was involved in the production of the adaptation of MiniPato animation for the PlayStation Portable console.

[edit] Selective works

[edit] Director

[edit] Anime feature film

[edit] Anime short film

[edit] Live action feature film

[edit] Live action short film

[edit] Theme theater

[edit] OVA

[edit] TV series

[edit] Writer

[edit] Manga

[edit] Novel

[edit] Essay

  • Pax Japonica (2006)

[edit] Scenario

[edit] Producer

[edit] Quotes

[edit] Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2

On hearing about a nomination for the film:

"This is only the 5th time that an animated film has been screened in competition in the history of Cannes Film Festival. I am very grateful for the film to receive this honor, as this nomination is yet more proof that Japanese animation (Anime) is finally being recognized as a "movie." However, I am not too happy about having to wear a tuxedo, but I know that it's part of my job as a director. Wish us luck."

On the origins of the film:

"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."

On his narrative intentions:

"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.”

On life:

"This movie does not hold the view that the world revolves around the human race. Instead it concludes that all forms of life – humans, animals and robots – are equal. In this day and age when everything is uncertain, we should all think about what to value in life and how to coexist with others."

On Godard:

"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.”

On 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 designers' pencil. Even if he mixes 2D, 3D, and computer graphics, the foundation is still 2D. Only doing 3D does not interest me."

[edit] Avalon

On digital movies :

"On the digital level, all movies become ‘anime’."

[edit] Studio Ghibli

His opinion about Studio Ghibli:

"I think Studio Ghibli is (like) the Kremlin. The real one is long gone, but it's still sitting in the middle of the field in Higashi Koganei (Ghibli's address) . But in a sense, there is a reason for its existence, meaning, I think it plays a certain role by existing. Just like those steel-like athletes could not be produced other than in the communist countries, a certain kind of people cannot be produced by the principles of the market economy."

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Age of Innocence, Andrez Bergen. Daily Yomiuri, March 2004.

[edit] External links

Japanese Cinema
Live action films by Mamoru Oshii
The Red Spectacles (1987) | StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops (1991) | Talking Head (1992)
| Avalon (2001) | Killers: .50 Woman (2003) | Onna Tachiguishi-Retsuden (2006)
v • d • e
Kerberos saga by Mamoru Oshii
Kerberos arc
Tachiguishi arc
Kerberos files
Persondata
NAME Oshii, Mamoru
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Japanese film, TV, and anime director
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH