I learned about the existence of this movie after watching Ghost In The Shell. Being a fan of the franchise, I thought other work from Mamoru Oshii would be at least as good. So, I stumbled upon Red Spectacles. Inspired by "1984" it said, so my interest was picking up. And then I watched it and was left disappointed, to say the least.
I'm not going to say why I like Ghost.. because this review will turn into review of the anime. Japanese anime and movies have tendencies to confuse the one watching more often than not, and while this is not always a good thing, there is always something that grips you to try to understand it. This movie is just confusing, and there never is a sign that something is going to happen that will explain things. It's just more confusing junk piling over at every corner, intertwined by pretentious quoting of Shakespeare and toilet humor.
Yes, toilet humor. There are scenes actually when the protagonist is struck by diarrhea. While the first time this happens it is amusing and you can attribute it to the quirkiness of Japanese culture, but by the third time you come to question the the director's fascination with it.
Second thing i don't get is why is considered dystopian, Orwellian, and other words connected with that meaning. At the beginning, it really sets the story in that direction. But by the end, (here come spoilers), you realize it may all be happening in the protagonists head. So why exactly am i watching this? It reminds me of another also pretentious western movie with Tim Robbins now that i think about it...
The only thing that made me give this movie 4/10 is the visual style, witch were this a different movie with actual plot would be great, and the score by Kenji Kawai. Besides that, nothing makes this movie worth your time.
I'm not going to say why I like Ghost.. because this review will turn into review of the anime. Japanese anime and movies have tendencies to confuse the one watching more often than not, and while this is not always a good thing, there is always something that grips you to try to understand it. This movie is just confusing, and there never is a sign that something is going to happen that will explain things. It's just more confusing junk piling over at every corner, intertwined by pretentious quoting of Shakespeare and toilet humor.
Yes, toilet humor. There are scenes actually when the protagonist is struck by diarrhea. While the first time this happens it is amusing and you can attribute it to the quirkiness of Japanese culture, but by the third time you come to question the the director's fascination with it.
Second thing i don't get is why is considered dystopian, Orwellian, and other words connected with that meaning. At the beginning, it really sets the story in that direction. But by the end, (here come spoilers), you realize it may all be happening in the protagonists head. So why exactly am i watching this? It reminds me of another also pretentious western movie with Tim Robbins now that i think about it...
The only thing that made me give this movie 4/10 is the visual style, witch were this a different movie with actual plot would be great, and the score by Kenji Kawai. Besides that, nothing makes this movie worth your time.