Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers is an inaccessible film.

By his own admission, it wasn't something that lent itself to the international stage, unlike his work on Ghost In The Shell. It's themes and indeed its intent are harder to discern, but beneath the surface is a piece of media that begs to be examined.

An Endless Cycle

It's fitting then that Oshii's film would again explore the philosophy of what it means to have an identity.

However, Sky Crawlers primary message is easy to see. Opting to visually present and imply the futility of war and our morbid fascination with it. It does so with enough subtly to quietly drag you into the world.

Depicting one side of a never ending conflict and the difficulties and trauma of the humans and Kildren pilots that fight it.

Blank Stares

Pilots with whom death provides (arguably) no escape from battle. Something that the characters including the humans, seem to think taboo.

Because of this, we are often treated to awkward pauses for contemplation of repeated events. Blankly gazing into what once was and likely will be again.

It's no accident that Oshii places us first hand into these conversations multiple times in order to view the absurdity of them, asking us to look at our own unfavorable surroundings that we lack the initiative to change.

Imperfect

These flaws are not hindrances to the characters though. Chihiro Ito's screenplay provides an unmistakable layer of fear and doubt among the characters that rarely show emotions.

Acting as the same tools of war that they regularly control, only to continue to spiral back down to the ground.

The Harsh Reality

The undertones and themes of Sky Crawlers can be enthralling.

But while there is a visceral experience here if you enjoy film and art in general; just as I would seldom refer to a painting as entertaining, most of the film occupies the same vain in typical circles.

Still, Oshii's own identity and legacy in pushing the medium is only bolstered by The Sky Crawlers

http://dorkshelf.com/2014/07/12/interview-mamoru-oshii/

_DS: As an artist who works in different mediums on a regular basis, how do you ultimately want to be remembered in the global artistic community?
MO: As a conscious filmmaker._