The Red Spectacles (1987)

A surreal science fiction noir involving a man trapped in a future where seemingly everyone is a government spy and all-night noodle stands are outlawed.

Director:

Mamoru Oshii

Writers:

Kazunori Itô, Mamoru Oshii

Stars:

Shigeru Chiba, Machiko Washio, Hideyuki Tanaka

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shigeru Chiba	...	Koichi Todome
Machiko Washio	...	Midori Washio
Hideyuki Tanaka	...	Soichiro Toribe / Ao
Tesshô Genda	...	Bunmei Muroto
Mako Hyôdô	...	Young Lady
Ichirô Nagai	...	Billiards Man
Yasuo Ôtsuka	...	Taxi Driver
Hirô Oikawa	...	Hotel Receptionist
Takashi Kanematsu	...	Yakuza A
Toshio Furukawa	...	Yakuza B
Tomohiro Nishimura	...	Punk
Hidetoshi Nakamura	...	Bunmei's Minion
Takahiro Hirai	...	Bunmei's Minion
Fumihiko Tachiki	...	Bunmei's Minion
Takeyuki Funato	...	Bunmei's Minion

Storyline

A surreal science fiction noir involving a man trapped in a future where seemingly everyone is a government spy and all-night noodle stands are outlawed.

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Plot Keywords:

dystopia | cinema | movie theater | surrealism | suitcase | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

7 February 1987 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Red Spectacles

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mamoru Oshii: [bassett hound]

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Connections

Followed by Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)

User Reviews

A work that can be viewed only within the context of Oshii's total output.

I watched the trilogy by Mamoru Oshii. The words surreal, Orwellian and Kafkaesque come to mind. However, despite all their bizarre aspects I believe they are essentially jokes. The darkness was there as a chiaroscuro backdrop to highlight the humor. The first, Red Spectacles, is about a man who can not let go of his past not matter how painful and dangerous it was because he never felt more alive that when he was facing death. The second, Stray Dog, shows that man during an interim period when he seems to be almost at peace, being brought back to that death-seeking modus operandi which precipitates the events of the first film. The third film, Talking Head, while not directly related to the events of the first two, does refer back to them as a man attempts to create truth out of illusion. The idea is that film, as an art form, is essentially an exercise in madness and that illusion is finally a higher truth, an idea that was touched on in the first film. But it is the humor that is Oshii's ultimate goal. He doesn't want to make highly significant pronouncements on the nature of humanity and reality. He just wants to tell a story, and if the story is funny, all the better. I suppose that many parallels could be drawn between Oshii's work and that of Philip K. Dick.