What Am I Watching - Angel's Egg

Synopsis - A little girl wanders a bleak and barren city, holding the only thing of true value to her, an egg. She meets a soldier who holds a bit of an interest towards that egg..

Outside of that, the entire film's plot is down to the viewer and where his/her head is at the time.

Review - Hoo boy. I came into this knowing that this was one of the most complex anime (and art films) to come out. But since I had an old VHS, I felt that it would have been a great disservice to the already-buried treasure. A few years back, I found on THEM Anime Reviews (good site) that the plot of the film is different to everybody. Being the kind of guy that I am, I bought my little brother (who is thirteen) over to the room and asked him to watch with me. He agreed, a decision that he probably regrets, haha.

As I said, the plot of the series is completely down to the viewer, which I was expecting, considering this  is an experimental art film. From what I can gather, the plot held some christian and existentialist views in there. For example, the soldier in my eyes, represented Jesus Christ or some sort of deity. It wasn't just his badass cross-sword, either. It was also his actions (which I won't spoil) that kinda gave me that impression.The image of this little girl is wandering within this dark world showed to me that the fact that she exists in this world alone is probably enough for her. If that makes sense...

Speaking of characters, the only characters the viewer ever really sees are the soldier and the girl. My brother made a silly joke in the beginning where this thing shows up.

He then proceeded to say that the "big alien thing" seemed bored. After watching how the soldier and girl live their lives in this world, he then asks, "why in the hell does everyone look bored??". Now, the answer is obvious, but he had a point. The characters were very...dry. The soldier, outside of how great he looks, doesn't really do anything with much energy. Even the girl seemed dead alot of the time. Don't take this as a negative, mind you, because, after thinking about it, this actually adds to the environment in which this movie takes place.

For some reason, the music (especially the final tune) haunts me. It's just the sort of ambient music one would expect one from Popol Vuh, Loscil, or Brian Eno. Better yet, Klaus Nomi's From Beyond fits the description perfectly. Google it, and you get the idea.

Nameless girl in movie

Since this was a fansubbed tape, I only watched this in Japanese. I can't truly criticize the voice acting, reason being because it was truly minimal with the script, with the only recurring lines of "who are you?". The only time someone spoke more than one sentence was when the soldier told a story that was really similar to Noah's Ark.

The big selling point of this film is the art and animation, which are fucking superb. Seriously, as an artist, I'd say this was up there in terms of best art in a film. The movie normally has landscape shots that last five minutes, which may be boring to most. To me, though, it was great art candy for me, especially the opening shot with the checkerboard floor. If you couldn't tell, the film was directed by Mamoru Oshii and the art was done by famed Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano.

So, is this film deserving of its usual five-star rating? Is it a film that is meant to confuse the viewer? Or is it the type of film where people like my brother are supposed to ignore everything and look at the imagery? Well, my take on this is that it is one of those prime examples of what separates a movie and a film. This is a film. This anime didn't have any cookie-cutter material in it. It was a very unique, trippy, and complex social commentary that kept me thinking for weeks. The film also had some of the most beautiful artwork I have seen, not just in anime, but in a film period.  I guess what I am trying to say here is that the film would be the epitome of a masterpiece for art film festival goers, while conversely, it would either be a chore to watch or a C-rate movie that's good on the eyes to the more simple-minded viewer. 

I will make this statement, though: If you are studying film, you MUST watch this movie. The little things, like camera composition and setup (I know it is animated, but hey, they deserve some credit) were astounding as well.

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Story - 8.5

Characters - 7.5

Content - 9.25 (4.5 if this is not your cup of tea)

Animation - 10 (for its time though, it was deserving of a higher grade)

Music - 9.5

Overall - 9

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