Adapting a property as respected and acclaimed asGhost In The Shellmust be something of a double-edged sword.
To be honest, weve been trying to push the boundaries of whats acceptable as much as possible.
But the beauty is, androids bleed white, so you could get away with quite a lot.
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Was 12A your initial thought?
I suppose the English version will be a 15 because were a bit more prudish.
Did you do any double shots, like Ridley when he was doingPrometheus?
Did you do an R-rated shot and a PG-13 shot at the same time?
We didnt, we didnt have time.
We had a crazy schedule.
It was a very hard film to make it wasnt an easy ride at all.
I think we had enough complications without having to double everything.
So how did land on the story?
I kind of made a graphic novel.
I think its a hard story to tell cinematically.
Theres so much philosophical introspection that its not an easy multiplex filler.
Our film, hopefully, will have that, but its not the A story.
Scarlett and I were very categorical that we wanted to do something different.
We wanted to exist beyond the Marvel universe, beyond the DC universe.
We wanted to be the rogue, I guess.
How do youll think youll market this film to people who dont necessarily know whatGhost In The Shellis?
A lot of people here, including me, love it already.
Thats a good question.
Were not steamrolling anything that was great about it.
That was never our intention, and I hope thats what people respect about it.
That theyll go, Its more than we thought it was going to be.
I think theres something there that a lot of people will get something out of.
What did you look at in terms of things to avoid?
Ive been onGhost In The Shellfor three years now, literally 24-7.
I love the old girl, but Im happy to have a little break from her.
Shes quite a task mistress.
What state was it in when you got to it?
Because it had been in development for a while.
Steven had done a great draft, and it was kind of a big, explosive movie.
To me, I wanted to touch the ground of the original series that was my conduit.
I wanted to channel that through.
What do you think the prospects are going to be like in the Chinese market?
Umm, we didnt set out to make a Chinese successful movie.
The Chinese are big fans of anime and manga.
Cinemas really surviving now on having to be a spectacle.
Weve watched so much stuff at home, and TVs gotten amazingly good that cinemas losing its drama.
It just seemed like it was right.
We dont even get the subtitles, but theyre just really into each other.
It was a beautiful thing to watch.
Was Masamune Shirow involved in the movie?
Oshii and Kenji Kamiyama and Kenji Kawai came out to visit us in Hong Kong.
It was great to show them the artwork.
Oshiis been a great advocate in what were doing.
He was very excited because he got involved and saw what we were doing.
It was an amusing evening.
Yeah, like I said, we didnt just remake the original.
That became what it is.
We still have the same questions and quandaries.
Where do we fit in with technology, and will technology need us?
[Inaudible question about aritificial intelligence]
How terribly wrong I was!
To me, if we parent technology, and we have to be needed to be technology.
If technologys looking around at humans and going, Why do I need humans?
All they do is go around destroying everything.
I dont need them because I need to operate.
Theyre just going to make us extinct.
Its a really great show.
In a way, to me, it brings both of our projects into the zeitgeist.
Oh you know, a bit of this… Hows your cyborgs looking?
So I feel were all talking about the same thing through different prisms.
Can you talk a little bit about the antagonist?
How are those two coming to the story?
Well, we amalgamated a few facets of some of the different antagonists through the series.
Kuzes kind of a bit of a few things.
Hes not like specifically fromStand Alone Complex,and hes not specifically from the Puppet Master.
But he has elements of both within him.
You see it with the Joker youve got to be at the top o your game.
Michael came really hard at it; Ive never seen anybody as immersed in a role before.
He was writing manifestos and he decorated it… an incredible actor, a marvel to watch.
So am I right in thinking youve melded Kuzei and the Puppet Master together?
Theres a few shades of a lot of them in there.
Hes quite non-specific, and then Michael added his own dimension to it.
Its a beautifully violent and yet tragic character.
What do you think manga and anime have given American cinema?
I think theres a beautiful symbiotic nature of all cinema.
You look atGhost In The Shell,it’s possible for you to see traces ofBlade Runnerin it.
You look atBlade Runner,you’re free to see traces of Kurosawa in it.
Were all kind of cross-pollinating, and thats the beauty of international cinema.
Weve invested a lot in there.
Theres a lot to see; its a dense film.
Every scene takes place somewhere different, and every scene has its own strangeness to it.
Im really nervously excited about how people will respond to it.
Who will make the soundtrack?
His name is Clint Mansell.
Will you also use the soundtrack from the trailer [Enjoy The Silence by Depeche Mode]?
We definitely a bit of…
I love that kind of music, and therell definitely be synths in the soundtrack.
Weve seen the original theme this evening, so thats clearly in there.
I have to leave something or you wont turn up to see it!
Look, if only you knew how far away we are from completing the film.
All these things are literally nail-biting finishes theres so much that has to align towards the end.
Its such an exciting and creatively exhausting process.
There will be some silences; there might not be Depeche Mode, but there will be synths!
[Laughs]
Whos Tricky playing?
Hes playing a kind of spiritual guide.
Im having to dub him.
He was great Tricky, a wonderful man.
Rupert Sanders, thank you very much.
Ghost In The Shellis out in UK cinemas on the 31st March 2017.
