Jin-Rô (1998)

Director:

Hiroyuki Okiura

Writers:

Mamoru Oshii (creator) and
Mamoru Oshii (writer) ...

Release Date:

17 November 1999 (France)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

A traumatized member of an elite para-military police force falls for the sister of a female terrorist courier who died in front of him on duty.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Policeman | Terrorism | Sheep | Post Traumatic Stress

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Yoshikazu Fujiki	...	Kazuki Fuse (as Yoshikatsu Fujiki)
Sumi Mutoh	...	Kei Amemiya
Hiroyuki Kinosha	...	Atsuhi Henmi (as Hiroyuki Kinoshita)
Yukio Hiroda	...	Bunmei Muroto
Yukihiro Yoshida	...	Hajime Handa
Sendai Eri	...	Nanami Agawa (voice)
Kenji Nakagawa	...	Isao Aniya
Tamio Ôki	...	CAPO Officer (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Doug Abrahams	...	Narrator, Hachiro Tohbe (voice: English version)
Michael Dobson	...	Kazuki Fuse (voice: English version)
Paul Dobson	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Brian Drummond	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Ron Halder	...	Shiro Tatsumi (voice: English version)
Ryuichi Horibe	...	Shiroh Tatsumi
David Kaye	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Michael Kopsa	...	Hajime Handa (voice: English version)
Scott McNeil	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Colin Murdock	...	Atsushi Henmi (voice: English version)
Maggie Blue O'Hara	...	Nanami Agawa (voice: English version)
Yoshisada Sakaguchi	...	Hachiroh Tohbe
Moneca Stori	...	Kei Amemiya
French Tickner	...	Isao Aniya (voice: English version)
Lee Tockar	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Dale Wilson	...	Bunmei Muroto (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade (USA)
Kerberos Panzer Cops
The Wolf Brigade (USA)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | France:U | Germany:16 | Japan:PG-12 | New Zealand:M (film festival rating) | New Zealand:R13 (DVD rating) | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

The machine gun used by the soldiers in the Protect-Gear is the German MG-42.

Movie Connections:

References Rotkäppchen (1962)

Ingenious plot, brilliantly pictured and narrated

The plot of Jin-Roh is set in a fictitious Tokyo, several years after the second World War. Violent combats between an anti-administration terrorist organization and the capital's para-military police rock the city over and over again. When Fuse, a member of the capital's police force, gets suspended after a young terrorist messenger blows herself up in front of his eyes, he tries to search for more information about her but gets mired in a secret power struggle between the administration and the capital's police force.

The plot of "Jin-Roh" is so sophisticated, it can hardly be described without spoiling some very important facts. The movie then comes up with several stunningly surprising twists that one would hardly have anticipated. But despite, respectively, due to the movie's complexity, it is sometimes hard to follow properly the events and incidents. There are so many different organizations interacting and intriguing, which shall not mean, that the story is inconsistent. Rather are all relationships and hierarchies between the organizations (police, administration, ministries) brilliantly thought-out, but the fact that everybody seems to play off against one another, doesn't make it clear who belongs to whom until the end. I had to watch the movie twice, before realizing every aspect of the story.

All this may sound like an ordinary political crime plot, but let me tell you, it is something totally unique. The plot's obscurity perfectly fits its grim atmosphere. The idea of a fictitious past is excellently illustrated by the streets and locations, that seem familiar, but at the same time totally strange.

The movie's subjects about guilt, atonement and living with burden make it also pretty depressing, but at the same time, a special cinematic experience, due to its unique stylistic features, such as narrating the story of "Little Red Riding Hood and the evil wolf" during several scenes, which accurately fits the events in the movie itself.

All in all, one of the greatest and most unique movies, that I have seen, Mamoru Oshii, once again, created a brilliant and intelligent plot, whose complexity sometimes really reminds oneself of Oshii's "Ghost in the shell". The movie's overwhelming picture language and music contribute to its excellence.