<\/p>\n
Anime legend Mamoru Oshii is among the most celebrated filmmakers in his field. He\u2019d be hailed if he were merely the director of 1995\u2019s Ghost in the Shell<\/a><\/em>. Helming one of cyberpunk\u2019s standout works puts you in good company. Many of his other works, including Angel\u2019s Egg<\/em> and Patlabor<\/em>, have become classics in their own right. But few here in the west know of Oshii\u2019s live-action works. Prior to Ghost<\/em>, Oshii co-wrote and directed a series of surrealist sci-fi movies all within the Kerberos Saga<\/em>. The first of those, 1987\u2019s The Red Spectacles<\/em>, has just received a 4K remaster and will debut at New York\u2019s Metrograph beginning November 21<\/a>.<\/p>\n Enjoy the very weird trailer below!<\/p>\n The\u00a01987 low-budget black-and-white film, has never screened\u00a0theatrically in New York. Hell, until very\u00a0recently,\u00a0the\u00a0only way to see it was through low-quality torrents or on YouTube. This changed when Oshii launched a passionate crowdfunding campaign last year to restore\u00a0The\u00a0Red\u00a0Spectacles<\/em>. The campaign reached its first goal of ten million yen on\u00a0the\u00a0very first day. The\u00a0upcoming screenings present one of\u00a0the\u00a0first true opportunities for American audiences to witness\u00a0the\u00a0film\u00a0the\u00a0way Oshii intended it.\u00a0The restoration premiered at LA\u2019s Beyond Fest last month.<\/p>\n The movie was not particularly well received during initial release with its blend of absurdity, political allegory, and existential exploration. It follows former exiled officer Koichi Todome (Shigeru Chiba)\u2014once part of\u00a0the\u00a0brutal paramilitary police unit known as\u00a0the\u00a0Kerberos Panzer Cops, which disbanded after public outcry\u2014as he returns\u00a0to Tokyo to reconnect with his old colleagues, only to find a changed city filled with strange characters, elusive memories, and a Kafkaesque absurdity that threatens to consume him.<\/p>\n