Glasses (2007)
"Megane" (original title)

Taeko an stressed out career woman leaves her stressed out life in the city for an island vacation. The vacation does not become what expected, as everyone on the island are rather strange.

Director:

Naoko Ogigami

Writer:

Naoko Ogigami

Stars:

Satomi Kobayashi, Mikako Ichikawa, Ryo Kase

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Satomi Kobayashi	...	Taeko
Mikako Ichikawa	...	Haruna
Ryo Kase	...	Yomogi
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Yuji
Masako Motai	...	Sakura
Hiroko Yakushimaru	...	Taeko's friend
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ken	...	Koji

Storyline

Taeko an stressed out career woman leaves her stressed out life in the city for an island vacation. The vacation does not become what expected, as everyone on the island are rather strange.

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Plot Keywords:

vacation | travel | woman with glasses | one word title | black humor

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

22 September 2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Glasses

Filming Locations:

Yoron Island, Okinawa, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu, Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV), Paradise Cafe

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in 'Megane' kôkai kinen tokubetsu bangumi (2007)

User Reviews

A subtle gem

Some newspaper critics dismissed this as a simplistic new-age fantasy about yuppies that want a break from their hurly-burly city lives. To me they seem to miss the point.

I'm one of those people for whom form is much more important than story. Megane is really beautifully shot: the colours, the interiors, the food, the arrangement of the main actors in each frame and the timing of their movements are obviously designed with great care and precision. Yet there is a story here too. It's not very complicated, but beautifully arched and perfectly paced. Like the best of classical music performances, if you make the effort to concentrate and connect you loose track of time and simply enjoy the here and now of the experience. Classical music doesn't 'mean' anything either, or at least it can mean very different things to different persons.

The music in Megane, by the way, is often beautiful too (and sometimes downright weird). It doesn't dominate, but subtly supports key moments and adds a little spice. I particularly liked the occasional cello solo.

There's little dialog dialog in the film, and the critics are right in saying that it isn't very profound (but occasionally very funny!). Sometimes though, more can be said by two people sitting silently in a quiet spot, watching a sunset and drinking the here and now than by the entire Iliad.