
After having seen Angel's Egg by one of my favorite current directors Mamoru Oshii, who's latest film was shown in Cannes last year, I was once again blown away.
This rarely seen masterpiece was released in 1985, and fastly aquired a cult following, though it still isn't properly aknowledged in film history, due to its lack of distribution and availability. I got to see a perfect quality fansub version which was shown here in Berlin last month in front of an audience consisting of about ten people, from which 5 left the viewing after a couple of minutes.
So what is so great about this unknown 70minute anime?
It is a story of a little girl guarding an egg who meets on our erth far in the future a man with a cross. They journey a bit together, meet some strange people hunting shadows of fishes, and that's about it, without giving away the final twist.
Doesn't sound much?
Well, it is one of the most personal films I've ever seen, and one that doesn't exactly tell a story. We have a parable that is presented through associative montage, with minimal dialogue and maximum symbolism. The whole film is bathed in christian mythology, and even the little dialogue consits mostly of quotes from the bible. Sounds very slow and difficult to "read", but once you've gotten into the right mood, (and that will happen fast or never) you are presented with an overwhelming portrait of Oshii's overcoming of a personal crisis. If it weren't for the animation we might be watching Bresson or even Dreyer, as the Faces and Eyes of the Characters tell us the most.
He made the film, after having lost his faith (he was a catholic previously) and it shows. A doomed atmosphere on a dead planet inhabited by strange machines and "people" that are caught in useless rituals. Everything seems to have ceased living and only appears to be "there" without purpose.
But at the end of the film we are witness to a spiritual rebirth and a new hope. The film begins with gods descent onto the earth, and ends with its ascent into heaven. In between we see a kind of death and rebirth of mankind. We have already all of Oshii's main themes he would later explore more deeply, and also a famous mirror-scene he would later use reversed in Ghost in the shell.
What can I say at two o'clock in the morning?
A spiritual film that isn't religious (though a little knowledge of christian mythology would help), and a must see for every anime fan. If you like Tarkovski, Dreyer, Bresson, you'll probably enjoy this one.