Angel's Egg (1985)

Boring

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A girl, naïve and innocent, blinds herself to care for only the spiritual, a midst a crowd of statues that only hunt for fish, the physical. After finding a human, she feels joy. However, he cracks the egg she cares for, and finds it was an empty shell all along. Her faith, her hope, was for nothing. She dies and becomes part of the statues, she's the dove, the angel they have all waited for. However, it's much too late for any of them. The young man stands in awe, but he's all alone. A truly beautiful film. A masterpiece, dare I say. You get sucked into this world, where the end has come, but it also never feels like it was anything before this apocalypse. There's so much more to analyze, but that won't be a problem for me if it means re-watching it. The movie is made to make you forget where you were some minutes ago, you feel like the same wandering statue, waiting for a sign of hope.

From the opening scene you're set into a dark eerie world were you follow along a young child awakening from a slumber. With not much dialogue to carry you through its up to you to makes sense of at all and discover the story that's being told. It's the type of film that usually requires a couple of viewings to really take in everything and appreciate it for what it is. The ubiquitous story telling is really what makes this movie so cherished and loved by many. This is what defines a "hidden gem" in every aspect.

This is an original work of Mamoru Oshii and Yoshitaka Amano who are two very known people.There is nearly no story in this anime, a little girl is guarding a mysterious egg and meet a man who seems to be interested about this egg. Not much script in this film, 5mn of talking for a 75 min movie.So, why this film is so excellent ? First of all, the drawings are exceptional as they are made by Amano, we are moved by the colors and the atmosphere of this dark world even if we know nearly nothing about it. Some would not like this film as there is "no message" within it. Sometimes, you need to think by yourself, as no message is given, it is your duty to create one, to seek what this film means to you. One more time this is clearly a visual work which drives us to unknown arts territories, I personally see a link with David Lynch's films.

Director Mamoru Oshii's 1985 film Angel's Egg was a fine example of the themes that would define his movies to come. Like his later films, Ghost in the Shell, Beautiful Dreamer, Patlabor and Avalon, Angel's Egg is a lush visual landscape filled with beautiful, mystifying (and often stupefying) imagery. The story involves a young girl who is highly possessive of an oversized egg from which, she believes, will hatch a beautiful bird. She wanders a dark and empty world clinging to the egg waiting endlessly for the moment to arrive. You are given the feeling that this world has existed for hundreds or thousands of years, maybe forever. The girl has also existed forever, waiting and dreaming. Into this dark world, wanders a soldier(?). From the very beginning his intentions seem ominous but never definite. The girl is initially afraid of the man but eventually they join forces and wander the bizarre landscape together, pontificating about the world around them until his purpose is made clear. Almost all of Oshii's films rely on an immense amount of Christian mythology. Angel's Egg is the most obvious. Filled with an oppressively moody and pensive atmosphere, it is all visual and very little story. The entire script only totals about a paragraph, the rest of the film is all atmosphere and tension building. This, however, is it's greatest strength. All the themes of Noah's flood, birth, death and rebirth are obvious even if we don't have characters to explain them. You are drawn into the world of the naive young girl by her innocence. You want to see the egg hatch and find out what's inside. You want to know the thoughts of the soldier and his true intentions. Some questions are answered, most are not. Oshii was wise to end the film early. (It clocks in at only a little over an hour.) Weather this was for financial reasons or for reasons of plot, it keeps you from becoming bored with the story no matter how thin it may be. The film is certainly not going to appeal to everyone. Most viewers will certainly be befuddled by the lack of a definite linear plot, but if you thrive on the philosophical or purely visual experience this film is a must.