The Red Spectacles
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Director: Mamoru Oshii
1987 / 116min / 4K DCP
Though Oshii is more widely known as one of the titans of Japanese anime, with classics like Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999) to his name, his excursions into live-action filmmaking are no less distinguished, as is attested to by this new restoration of his first non-animated feature The Red Spectacles, the second entry in his multimedia “Kerberos Saga” franchise. Three years after the disbanding of his unit, former Panzer Cop Koichi Todome (Shigeru Chiba) returns to Tokyo to reconnect with his old colleagues only to find the city in an advanced state of dystopian desuetude, a haven for swindlers, hired guns, femme fatales, and other unusual and unsavory characters. A surrealism-tinged neo-noir with a decidedly philosophical and literary bent, and appointment viewing for both Oshii completionists and curious newcomers.
The new 4K restored version of The Red Spectacles (1987) was produced in 2024 through crowd funding from 2,953 supporters. The image was scanned in 4K resolution from the original 35mm camera negative, which was then digitally restored and color graded. The original monaural soundtrack was digitized from the 16mm magnetic track at Imagica Entertainment Media Services Inc. The new 5.1 mix was remixed at Sony PCL Inc. Both the image and sound restorations were completed under the supervision and approval of director Mamoru Oshii.
A Small Sensations release
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