Letters from Heather

Last week, my parents opted to buy a ten-dollar, seven-day unlimited rentals pass from Blockbuster and we were able to watch more movies than we ever rent in a week. The only catch is you can only take out one game or movie at a time, but that's a small price to pay when you live just a few blocks away from the store. When they left on Friday to drive my sister down state, my brother and I bought our own seven-day pass and watched several movies with it, including: Taken, Gran Torino, Role Models and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. When my parents came home yesterday and my brother went out, I used our unlimited rental to rent The Sky Crawlers, and though I was impressed by the beautifully subtle movements of the characters under Mamoru Oshii direction, the story itself was not so charming.

I'll admit, I did tear up once. I don't think it was during the scene after credits, but it was just before that. This movie pissed me off just as much as the last movie my parents rented (Changeling), ok, it didn't get me quite that furious–but the overwhelming swirl of uncertainty and unexplained information had me reeling. It wasn't until somewhere in the middle of the movie that the status of the children flying these planes was truly explored, and it was mentioned that these children were actually genetically modified humans called Kildren (キルドレ). These Kildren are incapable of growing up, though the commanding officer, Suito Kusanagi is keen to point out early on that it isn't a matter of being "unable" to grow up, but "unwilling." *

As it is soon revealed that the Kildren either block out a good portion of their reality, or live their lives in psychologically disturbed agony, it slowly becomes apparent that there is an even deeper element of dystopia to their endless war. The main pilot, a boy named Yūichi Kannami is actually the same pilot he has replaced–the "deceased" Jin Rho. This isn't just an endless war, but a sick soap opera where their battle "theatres" are full of invincible characters that are either revived beyond the normal point of human existence (death) or genetically cloned to reappear with ghost memories, similar to the explorations of Oshii's more famous work: Ghost in the Shell.

I apologize if I've spoiled anything with my vague summary, but the very thought that this kind of alternate reality could very probably exist in a world of genetic science and engineering is not only disturbing, but its perseverance is more than depressing...it's despair at its core. If you're going to watch this movie, be ready for something deeper than dogfights and conspiracy theories. This one's a real dystopic exploration into human suffering and struggle when one's most basic rights are stripped away that–though I pray never sees the light of day in our time–feels very present in the wars any "civilized" country of today is waging. The movie asks, is peace really possible without war? And more disturbingly: is war possible because of peace?

_{* It should be noted that this does not mean the children can change their physical fate and break free of this system by growing up into genetically correct adults, but rather that their current euphoric state of mind is driven by an inability to mentally mature and that by stepping beyond this they "age".}

Loading mentions Retweet