released 18 jan 03 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* I had been impressed by Mamoru Oshii's movie version of GHOST IN THE SHELL and even more so by his movie PATLABOR II, one of animation's best-kept secrets, so I was interested in his movie JIN-ROH, THE WOLF BRIGADE and picked it up.
This film takes place in about 1960 in an alternate history version of Japan, one only slightly removed from our timeline. We Westerners tend to stereotype Japanese society as orderly, and it actually seems to be by our standards, but in the 1950s and 1960s there was a militant Left in operation that could be violent. JIN-ROH takes this scenario a step further, creating a full-blown Leftist terrorist organization called the "Sect". Of course, with terrorists on the loose, the government creates an antiterrorist force, the "Capitol Police", whose troops are heavily armed, inclined to brute force, and intimidating.
Now this sounds like a scenario for a good, violent, shoot-em-up anime adventure film. However, JIN-ROH is nothing of the sort. By the time the events of the film take place, Japan is becoming prosperous, just as happened in our timeline, and the Sect is losing popular appeal, with the ranks increasingly whittled down to diehards and the organization clearly headed for extinction. That means the Capitol Police are becoming less of a necessity and more of a liability, bringing to the surface a long-standing conflict with the normal city police force. This is the real struggle in the story, and it rotates around a Capitol Police trooper named Fuse.
The Sect uses old women and young girls, known as "Red Riding Hoods", as runners, deploying bombs and running other errands, since they don't attract attention. During an operation, Fuse corners a Red Riding Hood, but is unable to stop her when she detonates the satchel charge she is carrying, blowing herself to bits. Fuse survives without serious injury, though he seems demoralized and uncertain; he is assigned to retraining. Then, when visiting the shrine of the dead girl, he runs into another girl, who he finds out is the dead girl's sister ...
OK, that's as far as I dare go in revealing the story, since it immediately begins to spiral into a series of intrigues, where nothing is quite as it seems, and the mysterious "Wolf Brigade", a secret organization of rightists in various government organizations, lurks in the background.
What supports this story is outstanding artwork and production values. This is what I call "cin-anime", with no connection to big-eyed Eurasian characters of conventional anime, instead striving to portray the world in realistic (Japanese) characters and details.
This is not to say that the artwork simply transcribes photographic imagery, since it imposes a strong style on the imagery. And that style is ... DARK. Very dark. Really dark. Which is entirely consistent with the script, which takes a totally cynical view of human behavior, involving betrayal and cruelty (with some very graphic violence), leading up to a conclusion that reminds me of the old bit about things always looking darkest just before they go pitch black.
The production is technically outstanding. The images of a 1960 Japan are vivid and detailed. JIN-ROH has a particular fascination with weapons and depicts them in detail. This seems a bit odd for an antimilitarist like Oshii, but "it's a guy thing".
I am not wildly enthusiastic about grim movies. I'm into fiction for entertainment, don't take it very seriously, and can't see why I'd want to watch a movie that bums me out. However, I really do have to respect JIN-ROH, since it's such a beautifully and meticulously done piece of work. Grim, yes, ponderous, yes, but by no means shoddy or dull. Think of it as anime done by George Orwell.
Incidentally, I would recommend buying the standard edition of this movie. The additional materials provided in the "deluxe edition" are of no great interest -- for example, the soundtrack CD is, like the movie itself, conscientious but dark, sombre strings broken by searing guitar licks, in any case not something I'm likely play over and over again.
As another minor comment, the slipcover gives the movie running time as 162 minutes. Actually, it seems to be the conventional 90 to 100 minutes. I mention this because it made the conclusion something of an abrupt surprise when I was expecting the film to go on for another hour.