Screened as part of NZIFF 2009

The Sky Crawlers 2008

Sukai kurora

Directed by Oshii Mamoru

Spectacular anime from the maker of Ghost in the Shell tells the story of a group of genetically modified eternally-young fighter aces in a world where war has become a company-sponsored reality game.

Japan In English and Japanese with English subtitles
119 minutes 35mm

Director

Producer

Ishii Tomohiko

Screenplay

Ito Chihiro. Based on the novel by Mori Hiroshi

Editor

Uematsu Junichi

Animation director

Nishikubo Toshihiko

Art director

Nagai Kazuo

Sound

Wakabayashi Kazuhiro

Music

Kawai Kenji

Voices

Kikuchi Rinko (Kusanagi Suito)
,
Kase Ryo (Kannami Yuichi)
,
Kuriyama Chiaki (Mitsuya Midori)
,
Tanihara Shosuke (Tokino Naofumi)

Festivals

Venice, Toronto, Pusan 2008

Elsewhere

Anime master Oshii Mamoru (Ghost in the Shell) returns with his patented blend of viscerally thrilling aerial action and future-gazing philosophical rumination. The Sky Crawlers is, by Oshii's standards, a relatively straight-ahead adaptation of Mori Hiroshi's sci-fi novel about a group of genetically modified eternally-young fighter aces in a world where war has become a company-sponsored reality game that never ends. — BG

“We begin in a near future alternate world that fuses noir sensibilities with World War II inspired retro-future designs... The style is distinctly noir, all muted emotions and hidden agendas... 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... a classic example of intelligent, geared-to-adults animation. Very much recommended.” — Todd Brown, Twitch