I’ve actually seen this film before, a few years ago when I was doing a deep dive into the “anime world” (I’ve never really liked anime, but I wanted to give it a fair shot as much as I could. Sadly, I didn’t come out of it feeling much different than before). I wanted to revisit it for a few reasons: first, I wanted to give it another watch and see if I liked it more this time around; second, I thought it would be a good fit for the blog; and third, I found out that another film apparently used it as a basis and created a live-action story with the original animated footage spliced in (which sounded odd yet interesting). My plan is to cover the original film this week, and that sort of reimagination film the next. In terms of the original film, it’s very much an interpretive art project. It’s the sort of film that gives you enough context for you to draw your own conclusions from but isn’t going to be very conventional in its presentation or storytelling. For that sort of film, I think they did a very good job with it. It draws you in with its fascinating setting and style, and lets you know just enough of the storyline to let you interpret the meaning for yourself. I’m glad I gave it a second watch, but enough intro, let’s get into the story.
The first scene of the film depicts a large round space-ship-esque craft floating down to the surface of the planet, while a young man carrying an odd mechanical-cross watches. The ship appears to be covered with statues of goddess-like women and has an almost industrial-yet-ancient look to it, what with its dark steam whistles and old architecture. Speaking of the steam whistles, they seem to awaken a little girl with wispy white hair, who lives near a dark and seemingly abandoned city (though not quite abandoned, as we’ll see). The girl spends her days wandering around the city, scavenging for food and drinks, and collecting round jugs of water. She also carries around an egg, which she keeps underneath her dress (making her appear pregnant). One day, she happens upon a street, where these futuristic tanks are passing by, and comes face to face with the man from earlier. She runs away from him in fear, but as she comes back around, he’s nowhere to be found, so she goes back to her routine. However, she soon realizes that her egg is gone, as she had left it somewhere on one of her stops, and she starts frantically looking for it. In doing so, she runs right into the man again, who, it turns out, has found her egg and gives it back to her. He tells her to be more careful with it and asks what’s in it. She refuses to answer, and he suggests breaking it to find out, which sends her running off again. This time, though, he runs after her, and the two run into a group of statue-esque fisherman (who were previously shown to be motionless in the town center) who come to life as shadows of fish cast themselves on the wall. The fishermen throw harpoons at the shadow-fish, an act which doesn’t do much except break a few windows, since the fish are shadows and all. It is interesting to note, though, that at least one of the fish does look hurt at one point, though this isn’t elaborated on. After this display ends, the girl and man become a bit more acquainted with each other and head out towards a large boat-like structure on the outskirts. On the way, they head through a large structure, which turns out to be the bones of some prehistoric beast, within which is a carving of a tree. The man talks about how the carving looks like another tree he once saw, one which held a large egg in its branches (interestingly, the film showed glimpses of these large structures holding fetal beings in orbs near the beginning). As they continue on, they travel up a staircase lined with the circular water jugs that the girl was shown collecting before, and in addition, she’s shown adding two more, as if this is some sort of ritual for her. They talk some more and recount the story of Noah’s Ark, however with a twist in the end, wherein the dove that was sent out never returned, and thus the people on the ark eventually forgot about everything that was lost below the waves. This seems to parallel their current state, as they have no true idea of who they are or what the place they’ve been living in even is, even considering that they might not even exist at all. However, the girl believes the egg she’s carrying is real and does contain a true new life, as she ends up showing him a fossil of a human skeleton with bird wings (which she refers to as a “bird”). She believes that this egg contains a new bird, and thus, is determined to hatch it. Does she end up hatching the egg? Who even are the man and the girl? I won’t spoil the rest, though it’s going to be tricky to talk about the movie without doing so. I’ll just do the best I can on this front to avoid blatant spoilers (but please forgive me if I don’t).
I don’t want to sound like I’m repeating myself, but I appreciate that this film allows the viewer to interpret the material that it presents. We come to understand the general context of the story, that these characters are living in an almost dead world with very little life in it, and that the world’s state might be a result of the “failed Noah’s Ark” scenario that the man described. However, they never actually say that this is Earth, nor that this is actually the “semi-sequel to Noah’s Ark” or anything (though, one would wonder how another world would know the story of Noah, but it could just be a fantasy world where those stories exist as well). Instead, it’s left more as a possibility, or more so a point of comparison, in that the man was considering why their world might be like this when he told it. There are definitely intentional religious symbols/references, such as the structure the girl visits being shaped like the Ark, and the fossilized skeleton with wings clearly resembling an angel, to say nothing of the film’s title. Still, though, while the film nudges us towards the idea of the egg containing an angel, it never really says that. The beings are called “birds” several times, but we don’t know what this actually entails. Are they just calling human figures with wings birds, are these beings just a form of bird, or are they something else entirely? We do see these giant eggs in tendril-like trees, like the man describes, at the beginning and end of the movie, and the creatures inside certainly give off a possibly sinister quality. However, by that same notion, so does the man himself, what with his imposing and sullen demeanor that casts doubt over whatever nice act or attitude he puts on. It also doesn’t help that he expresses interest in breaking the egg, which we as an audience are most likely not going to want by nature. We’re led to be more sympathetic towards the girl, who appears defenseless and is taking on the task of motherhood, something that most would find virtuous and appeals to our natural inclination for life to perpetuate. On the other hand, the man might be the benevolent figure, as we have no idea what the egg contains. It could contain an angel that will help the world restore itself with its brethren, or it could be the head of some sort of invading force who will take over the planet as soon as their leader hatches. We might initially side with the girl for the previously stated natural desires, but those same desires might be betraying us, since we don’t fully know the background of the situation. We don’t even know if the girl is hiding something herself, or if she’s just naïve. I think all this helps to give the film a lingering quality after you watch it, making you think about what you saw and what you’re taking from it. Adding to this is the fact that the film is a rather unique and beautiful experience, though I did notice some stylistic parallels. The film has a very quiet and deliberate pacing for a lot of its runtime, with an otherworldly, subtly emotional, and possibly ominous vibe underscoring it. This seems very reminiscent of Eastern European cinema, like the works of Andrei Tarkovsky, who, as we saw from Solaris, implements a lot of these same elements into his work (though this film is closer to one of his earlier and not-as-deliberate works like Ivan’s Childhood than Solaris). I’m not sure if the writer/director, Mamoru Oshii, was influenced by those sorts of films, but I did notice that there was a similar bit of symbolism between this film and Solaris, that being a shot of a flowing underwater plant in a slow river. Whether or not this influence is there, the film achieves a similar tonal effect while still maintaining an experience that’s all its own. I also have to compliment the use of light and shadow in this film. The almost empty city really gives off a sense of death and mystery, with enclosed alleys and desolate streets all draped in shadow. The girl’s white hair and skin really pop against this sort of background, which adds to the visual symbolism. This contrast could be a sign that she’s a ray of hope for this world, or it could be an indication that she’s an outsider who doesn’t belong. I also liked the fact that the water jugs she collects are also orb-shaped, much like the egg she carries around. Water is often called the “source of life,” after all. I don’t want to go on for too much longer, since I think this film should be experienced for oneself more than anything, but before I go, I also wanted to note that a lot of the art style reminded me of Heavy Metal Magazine. The ancient-meets-industrial look of the circular vessel, the European city, the wanderer with a cyberpunk-esque cross, the ethereal female, and the general surreality of it all felt very reminiscent of the kind of stuff you’d see in there (minus the wild sex, of course). The main artist for the film, Yoshitaka Amano, was apparently the guy that did illustration work for the Final Fantasy games, which makes a lot of sense, as it always seemed like there was some Heavy Metal influence in those games. Anyway, I’d better get on to my conclusion.
Overall, I’d say that Angel’s Egg was a very beautiful and well-done film. I appreciate both its artistry and its willingness to allow the audience to be with it and think about it for themselves. I’m now both curious and worried about seeing the second part of this little reviewing duology I’m doing. Reimagining a film while using its footage and creating new footage in an entirely different medium to go with it sounds like a major crapshoot in terms of quality. Well, whether or not that film turns out to be any good, I still definitely recommend Angel’s Egg on its own. It’s a cool and lovely experience that you won’t soon forget.