Jin Roh

A wolf in sheep's clothes is still a wolf.

A retelling of the fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood, Hiroyuki Okiura's debut feature, the Amine film JIN-ROH, is a tale of personal crisis amid intra-bureaucratic skulduggery. The film is set in an alternate reality in which Japan has emerged from World War II as a totalitarian society. The population riots, a group called the Sect creates havoc, and the armoured Special Unit of the Capitol Police Organization (CAPO) plots to acquire more power. A soldier named Fuse, who was once one of the most formidable men in the Special Unit, agonizes over the death of a young girl who worked for the Sect and in doing so he becomes a neurotic mess intent on befriending the dead girl's sister.

Okiura, who was the character designer of GHOST IN THE SHELL, creates an unforgettable image of the Special Unit soldier: a dehumanised, armoured figure with feral red eyes. Okiura's drama unfolds against a backdrop of very complex crowd scenes; the scenes are even more impressive considering that most of the work was done using traditional cel-animation techniques. Mamoru Oshii (director of GHOST IN THE SHELL) scripted the project, based on his KENROU DENSETSU. Punctuated by brief moments of violence, JIN-ROH is a psychological drama in which nothing is, as it seems.