I didn’t end up watching The Sky Crawlers until this year, and I was struck like so many other people that Oshii seems to have come to a pretty definitive point in his career with the flick. As in, if you had to answer “What is a Mamoru Oshii?” you could easily point to The Sky Crawlers and consider that a reasonable answer. Often times, visual art like sculpture or painting (and audio art as well) can say something a little more sophisticated than what is easily put into words. After all, we feel emotions with the same right brain with which me make art, not the left brain that reads words. It’s why Duchamp’s urinal can say more than stacks of books by art critics on the nature of art itself.
Oshii seems to have reached a hybrid of storytelling and visual impressionism that feels very natural, even if it’s probably somewhat uncomfortable to a lot of folks more familiar with traditional films. But I find that there are plenty of anime fans open to filmmakers like Lynch, or who are unafraid of something that’s “slow” or “weird” or “has no overt pantyshots.”
At any rate, there’s nothing like being absorbed into an atmospheric, moody, and thought-provoking piece of art cinema and then being presented with this scene.
Sexier to me than anything in Redline, just sayin’. (Not that Redline isn’t very sexy to me.)
Redline was ok, but here’s a spoiler. It does not feature in this 12-part list.
I probably didn’t recognize the irony in your title for your Redline post, but in any case I’m with you here.
and here I was worried I made it too obvious…
Won’t lie, this scene inspired me to start bowling!
That’s awesome! Don’t make me picture you bowling like that though.
Too late for me.
I really dug Sky Crawlers — a lot more than expected, actually. Now that I think of it, it was probably the first Oshii flick I saw.
And David Lynch is totally the shit, yo.
I completely forgot about this bowling scene! *adds to her bowling scenes in anime list*
You have such a list??
this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene this scene
I’ve always had an awkward relationship with Oshii’s movies. I feel that I ought to love them more, but for some reason the sucker punch to my brain never happens. Maybe I’ll feel differently when I get the time to watch his two Patlabor efforts. I hope so, anyway.
The Sky Crawlers on the other hand *worked* on every level. I absolutely loved it. It has all the Oshii hallmarks, but for me it’s the one movie of his that hit the spot. Sadly, I’ve yet to be able to articulate exactly why I think it’s so good. My response is always “it just fucking IS. Now go watch it.”
I’ve got a theory as to why I like this more than the other Oshii films I’ve seen: the characters. For some reason I became very attached to them in just a couple hours, and absolutely invested in their struggles in a way I never was with, say, the Major, or that girl from Angel’s Egg. The result was that for once I cared about the result of that dogfight at the end (and was emotionally devastated) in a way that I never cared about the endings to his other stuff.
I have the same thing with Lynch, too. The reason Mulholland Drive is my favorite movie of his is that I care more about the exploits of Rita, Betty, and Adam than I do about whoever that fucker was from Lost Highway.