Ghost in the Shell tells the story of Major Kusanagi, a member of Sector 9, a private defense organization of the Japanese government to investigate cybercrime. Most of all members of sector 9 have altered their bodies, and have cybernetic augments. Our protagonist has only his physical human brain, the rest of his body is synthetic, what could be considered an android. Other comrades like Batou have cybernetic eyes, with multiple uses, while almost everyone has intracranial radio implants to be able to speak without using a microphone.
The post-Third World War society that presents us with the world of Ghost in the Shell, combined with the use of this cybernetic improvement technology of the body for all of society, generates a new vision of humanity. These improvements range from simple implants, entire limbs or improvements to productivity. As for example extendable and quick fingers for the secretariat or stronger arms for weight jobs. These improvements generate the concept that human consciousness is "bottled" and refers to it as the "ghost", the spectrum.
The story itself narrates the investigation of a cyber pirate, called the puppeteer, who is wreaking havoc on section 9 and the government, assaulting the bodies and memories of the people. Without going too far into the spoilers, Major Kusanagi, in her quest to know who she is, develops an intellectual fascination for him.
This is the starting point for the reflections that the film proposes later, especially those focused on what defines humanity. Where the barrier between the synthetic, the virtual and the real diffuses. Everything that makes you be you may not be yours.
Kusanagi spends the whole film wondering who she is and, in the end, reborn between angel feathers and symbols of resurrection. We find nihilistic metaphors in the motif of the reflections, where Kusanagi tries to glimpse what the real world is and who she is. The film's own presentation is replete with these symbols. Kusanagi emerging from the water and merging with his reflection. This symbology reflects our inability to perceive what is real. Oshii gets the viewer to interpret the abstract as a possible world that appears as real to our eyes, the world we inhabit. As the puppet master explains to Kusanagi that only she can see him through a crystal, but with his fusion She will be able to see clearly. The crystal and the water, the reflections, are poetic expressions of the idea "we can not know what is real". They are visual symbols of the epistemological nihilism that appears continuously throughout the film...
Ghost in the Shell has left an indelible mark on our cultural history, planting the seed of many ideas in different creators. Perhaps the most important and well-known is Lana and Lilly Wachowski's Matrix, the number lines in green when entering the system, the puppet master can be compared with Agent Smith, with his existentialist reflections, aesthetics and especially the fact of that our minds can be part of a world made entirely of data and consequently stop feeling the "reality" that we supposedly perceive.
It is truly a feature film that is a visual marvel, but the best way to enter into symbiosis with Ghost in the Shell is to watch the film and be predisposed to our mind merging with the delightful images and transport us to another reality.
10/10.
The post-Third World War society that presents us with the world of Ghost in the Shell, combined with the use of this cybernetic improvement technology of the body for all of society, generates a new vision of humanity. These improvements range from simple implants, entire limbs or improvements to productivity. As for example extendable and quick fingers for the secretariat or stronger arms for weight jobs. These improvements generate the concept that human consciousness is "bottled" and refers to it as the "ghost", the spectrum.
The story itself narrates the investigation of a cyber pirate, called the puppeteer, who is wreaking havoc on section 9 and the government, assaulting the bodies and memories of the people. Without going too far into the spoilers, Major Kusanagi, in her quest to know who she is, develops an intellectual fascination for him.
This is the starting point for the reflections that the film proposes later, especially those focused on what defines humanity. Where the barrier between the synthetic, the virtual and the real diffuses. Everything that makes you be you may not be yours.
Kusanagi spends the whole film wondering who she is and, in the end, reborn between angel feathers and symbols of resurrection. We find nihilistic metaphors in the motif of the reflections, where Kusanagi tries to glimpse what the real world is and who she is. The film's own presentation is replete with these symbols. Kusanagi emerging from the water and merging with his reflection. This symbology reflects our inability to perceive what is real. Oshii gets the viewer to interpret the abstract as a possible world that appears as real to our eyes, the world we inhabit. As the puppet master explains to Kusanagi that only she can see him through a crystal, but with his fusion She will be able to see clearly. The crystal and the water, the reflections, are poetic expressions of the idea "we can not know what is real". They are visual symbols of the epistemological nihilism that appears continuously throughout the film...
Ghost in the Shell has left an indelible mark on our cultural history, planting the seed of many ideas in different creators. Perhaps the most important and well-known is Lana and Lilly Wachowski's Matrix, the number lines in green when entering the system, the puppet master can be compared with Agent Smith, with his existentialist reflections, aesthetics and especially the fact of that our minds can be part of a world made entirely of data and consequently stop feeling the "reality" that we supposedly perceive.
It is truly a feature film that is a visual marvel, but the best way to enter into symbiosis with Ghost in the Shell is to watch the film and be predisposed to our mind merging with the delightful images and transport us to another reality.
10/10.