The Knockturnal recently sat down with Juliette Binoche to talk about her character, Dr. Ouelet, in the newest adaptation of the manga series “Ghost in the Shell” out this Friday, March 31.
The film follows the cyborg, The Major, in her quest to seek out an intelligent hacker intent on hacking into the brains of other cyborg-humans.
Juliette plays the role of Dr. Ouelet, the creator of The Major’s cyborg body after a tragic accident that left her in need of full body prosthesis. As The Major continues on her quest to find the skillful hacker who is illegally tapping into the brains of other cyborg-human hybrids, she discovers that Dr. Ouelet has been keeping the real secret of her existence away from her.
This cinematic drama of action and self-discovery takes its audience on a journey of self-actualization. Dr. Ouelet is pivotal to The Major’s discovery of who she actually is.
Our very own OJ Williams got a chance to sit down and speak with Juliette Binoche on her role as Dr. Ouelet in the upcoming film adaptation of the popular manga series.
OJ Williams: Your character goes on a real emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. Can you tell us more about that:
Juliette Binoche: Well, Dr. Ouelet has some genius seed. She’s able to put this ghost, this spirit, into a shell. At the same time, it’s a little tricky because they’re taking souls. They’re stealing souls and putting them in this machine, this cybernetic machine. And morally, [she] always questioned that, but at the same time as a scientist you’re taken by your ambition, by the need of experimentation. You’re taken by the creation into science. And so I think it questions the limits or the moral limits of a scientist. After she’s made that major creation, somehow the politics [and] the military forces are taking over her creation. And she feels probably dispossessed by her creation. And yet, when she sees her again and repairs her, Dr. Ouelet repairs Scarlett Johansson’s character, because she’s been damaged several times. There’s sort of a relationship that’s building up. I’m the point of reference to Scarlett’s character.
OJ Williams: You guys have a mother-daughter dynamic:
Juliette Binoche: Yeah, at the same time it’s not exactly that because, first of all, Major has a mother. I’m feeding her with information that [isn’t] true. Yet, the glitches, which are the faults of the memory that [Dr. Ouelet] gave her, are frightening in a way because it means that my character might be in danger. But, also there’s the full hope that any human ghost has the need of knowing the truth, going to the origin, [and] being independent. And that gives information about who we really are originally. And I think my character is seeing this, feeling this, and that’s why she takes sides to Major’s character, because she knows that nobody will be able to destroy that. And that’s why she sacrifices herself. The character is so complex. When I had to say the lines, “We never needed your consent”, I had a swallowing moment with Rupert because he added that line at the last minute. But at the same time, I had to make Scarlett Johansson’s character believe that also. And for her to know that we fooled her. She knows it, but even more than what she thought.
