Ghost in the Shell 2:Innocence - Behind the Scenes
While the first “Ghost in the Shell” was said to have been based on the original story by comic artist Shirow Masamune, both that movie and “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” have original storylines, created by Oshii, that are different from those of the original mangas. Oshii comments, “It’s not always important for a director to faithfully follow the original story when making a movie from it, as movies and novels, or movies and comics, are completely different things.”
Shirow noted that the first request to make “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” came in from Production I.G, one of Japan’s most cutting-edge animation studios, which is well-known as the creator of “Ghost in the Shell,” as well as such titles as “Patlabor,” “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” “Blood: The Last Vampire,” “Jin-Roh,” and the animation segment in Quentin Tarantino’s international hit “Kill Bill: Vol. 1.” He said he needed no input into the film as long as it was being directed by Oshii and produced at Production I.G, the only animation studio with which Oshii chooses to create his anime titles.
“Mr. Shirow basically told me that he’d leave everything about the movie entirely to me. He did not need to approve of the script or storyboard. I had full freedom on both movies,” says Oshii, whose overall outlook on the world bears some similarities to that of Shirow, although they diverge on some of the details.
In 1995, Oshii and Production I.G thrilled moviegoers with “Ghost in the Shell,” a cyberpunk action anime about cyborg cops battling terrorist hackers. At the end of the film, the hero, Major Motoko Kusanagi, abandons her technologically enhanced body or “shell” to become pure soul or “ghost,” and disappears into cyberspace. It was a provocative conclusion to a film that posed questions about the nature of what it is to be human.
Oshii’s striking visual style brought him international attention and a devoted following. “Ghost in the Shell” was distributed theatrically in the US and Europe, and topped Billboard magazine’s video sales chart in 1996. The movie’s impact on the film community was even more pronounced: It reportedly influenced such notable filmmakers as James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, and the Wachowski brothers, a testament to the extraordinary vision of its creator.
The sequel, “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” marks a new creative milestone for Oshii and Production I.G. It was four years in the making from development to completion—the festival segment alone took more than one year to accomplish.
The film also marks a blend of traditional and computer animation, with all the characters drawn in 2D animation, and all the machinery and backgrounds rendered entirely in 3D animation.
Oshii’s research for “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” took him around the world, from New York to Taiwan, from Berlin to the La Specola Museum in Florence and to the gothic cathedral of Milan, among other locations.
One of the producers of “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” is Studio Ghibli’s Toshio Suzuki, who has produced the work of two of Japan’s foremost animators, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. This unexpected collaboration between Oshii and Suzuki became a reality when Suzuki was asked to come on board by the other producer, Production I.G’s Mitsuhisa Ishikawa.
Though Oshii and Suzuki have known each other for 20 years, they hadn't worked together for 18 of those years. As soon as Suzuki joined the project he went to work studying the script and storyboards thoroughly. During this phase, it was Suzuki who came up with two important ideas, the first of which was the title “Innocence”—a word found nowhere in the script—and the second being to use a song entitled Follow Me as the theme of the movie.
Jazz singer Kimiko Itoh’s “Follow Me,” set to the second movement of Joaquin Rodrigo’s famed Concerto de Aranjuez (made famous on Miles Davis' seminal Sketches of Spain album), is one of Suzuki’s favorite songs and one he had long wanted to use in a movie. Suzuki suggested that using “Follow Me” in the scene where Batou finally reunites with Motoko would help clarify the theme of the film.
Follow Me
Music by J. Rodrigo, lyrics by H. Kretzmer/H. Shaper
Ediciones Joaquin Rodrigo, Madrid
Follow me to a land across the shining sea
Waiting beyond the world we have known
Beyond the world the dream could be
And the joy we have tasted.
Follow me along the road that only love can see
Rising above the fun years of the night
Into the light beyond the tears
And all the years we have wasted.
Follow me to a distant land this mountain high
Where all the music that we always kept inside will fill the sky
Singing in the silent swerve a heart is free
While the world goes on turning and turning
Turning and falling.
courtesy of DreamWorks and Go Fish Pictures
