ANGEL’S EGG: 54 THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING THIS MOVIE

Definite spoilers ahead! (As essentially this post is the same thing as watching the movie with me…)

Angel’s Egg is a 1985 film released by Tokuma Shoten. It was a collaboration between the artist Yoshitaka Amano and direct Mamoru Oshii. The film follows a young girl who protects an egg under her clothes as she lives in a decaying gothic city. One day she meets a mysterious man who manages to earn her trust, and they discuss religious beliefs.

1. Okay so far this seems really cool and dark

   

2. Man this music really sets the creepy mood… I’m getting a real ghost/tragedy/thriller vibe

   

3. It’s exactly 1 minute and 42 seconds in and I can already tell that this is a masterpiece

   

4. This is reminding me quite a bit of The Thief and the Cobbler but that may just be because the two title characters never speak (expect for that one line the Cobbler has)

   

5. He looks so done

   

6. Wow wow wow no you do NOT JUST GET TO TRANSITION FROM THAT STRAIGHT TO THAT!

   

7. I’ve decided that I love visual storytelling

   

8. The siren wailing things and the whooping noises and the FRAMES LINGERING ON THE ANIMATION GOSH WHY IS THIS SO MOVING???

   

9. Black screen with mood music? Sign me up

   

10. I’m going to be honest and say that I have no clue what’s going on. I didn’t read a synopsis or anything before launching in to watching this film. I probably should have

    

11. I love the world design. It’s so dark, dystopian and creepy!

    

12. I feel like watching this movie on my laptop, or even a phone, is a better idea for me than a large screen. I think that I’d get bored of all the lingering frames if it was on a large TV screen

    

13. Unholy screeches and symbolic looking sleeping things going on? Okay now you have my full attention

    

14. I take that back about the dystopian stuff. This world seems more post-apocalyptic if anything. I wonder what happened to it…?

    

15. There has been a total of exactly 2 lines said throughout this film in the first 15 minutes and oddly enough, I’m okay with it

    

16. Anyone else feel like there’s a lot more meaning going on in this film than I’m picking up on? They show the exact same image at different angles for a long time and stop the music a lot

    

17. Boy do I love contrast

    

18. All the actions and emotions… Man I really need to watch more stuff with visual storytelling!!!

    

19. I feel like these strangely shaped jugs are important to her and I just don’t know why yet…

    

20. What are those bodies doing there? Obviously there’s something off (maybe sinister or depressing) about them since they just blend with the background, but what’s the backstory?

    

21. Hmm… nice gothic architecture. I don’t know why I felt like I needed to comment upon that. But I did.

    

22. I don’t know either sister. But on a more serious note, I do want to know who he is. He’s got a cross so I’m assuming that’s a good sign? And why is she a child? And what’s he doing with the red things? Why’s he after the egg? He clearly knows something.

    

23. Wait, do I not get to hear him explain to her who he is after she asked him and now she’s walking with him instead of running away like she previously was?!

    

24. Okay never mind I take that back. All is right with the world again.

    

25. He’s still following her? He seems like he doesn’t want to hurt her and just wants something with the egg? So I’m guessing it’s hers and she doesn’t want anyone to take it away and break it?

    

26. Okay so I thought that the soldiers were just kind of some general tribute or hint about why this world is the way it is? But they seem to be protecting themselves from these fish or something? Since they’re not bothered with the only two colourful characters? What’s wrong with the fish then? And aren’t they just shadows?

    

27. I’m halfway through this movie and am so confused. I’m guessing there’s some more religious undertones about to come into the movie too because that’s a stained glass window so you know, church?

    

28. Somebody needs to explain what’s up with the fish and the soldiers to me. I need a full world explanation and history. Since the fish don’t seem to be hurting anyone? And is the girl in the Church for sanctuary or something? I guess that makes sense since she’s probably the title’s angel?

    

29. Ooh I know I complained about this up above but know I’m liking the move made to not have any of the guy’s answers shown to the audience. So when she asks who he is and asks him to promise not to do anything to her egg and we don’t get to see his response, that definitely makes it more interesting to watch. It seems like he must give her the responses she wants though since she lets him tag alongs. But it’s mysterious for us and we don’t get to gauge whether or not he’s being honest

    

30. Okay well this dialogue is just confusing me more. I need answers.

    

31. Hey, I want answers too dude. But neither of us are getting what we want today.

    

32. And the jugs have made a reappearance! What for? I have no idea!

    

33. Great. So the characters don’t know who they are and what they’re doing either. Great.

    

34. Ooh so the bird is the dove from the story of Noah’s ark! SO THEN ARE THEY LIVING UNDERWATER AND THAT’S WHY THE FISH ARE THEY AND THE HUMANS HAVE JUST ADAPTED? OR THEY LIVE ABOVE LAND AND ARE TRYING TO FIND THE BIRD TO FREE THEM FROM THE LAND THEY LIVE IN? I THINK I CAN KIND OF UNDERSTAND THE VERY BASICS OF WHAT’S GOING ON??? ARE THEY ONLY AWAKE WHEN THE FISH COME OUT? THAT EXPLAINS WHY THE SOLDIERS SEEM TO BE FROZEN MOST OF THE TIME

    

35. Hmm… I sense a theme of identity about to shine through in this animation… Though that makes more sense that the humans (soldiers) are being ‘oppressed’ in a way by the fish and these two main characters and the fish are the only ones left to know either what happened. Or the main characters are the only ones left who are a part of this post Noah’s ark world – which the humans don’t fit into it and therefore can only walk when the fish are awake – but everyone seems to have such limited information that they’re willing to share with the audience despite that they seem fully informed as to what’s going on

    

36. Well that’s depressing…

    

37. OKAY WAIT SO THEN THAT’S THE ARK??? THAT MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE NOW

    

38. Going to be honest and say that this scene is confusing me a bit

    

39. This frame and music has been going on forever tbh I’m actually editing my notes on this movie at this point because despite that there’s music and some flickering between some transitioning looking things – I can get bored easily

    

40. DANGER ALERT DANGER ALERT IT’S JUST GONE DARK AND THEY LINGERED ON THAT FRAME BEFORE WHERE HE HELD HER HANDS AND THEN THE START OF THIS FILM WAS SOMEONE’S PALE HAND BEING CRUSHED I’M SCARED FOR HER AND FOR WHAT HE’S ABOUT TO DO AND THE WAY HE’S MOVING SO MECHANICAL LIKE HE’S UNEMOTIONAL TO WHAT HE’S ABOUT TO DO URGH I’M SCARED IF YOU COULDN’T TELL ALREADY AND THERE’S SOMBRE AND THEN NOTHING FOR MUSIC THIS SCARES ME

    

41. Stuff’s about to go down! Do you not hear that dramatic music building up and his stance!

    

42. Ooh I like that fact that as he brought his staff down onto where the egg was we didn’t get to see it or hear it so we don’t know what happens

    

43. So the town seemed to flood? As the soldiers stood frozen as statues as water rose around them and the buildings distorted to look like they were underwater? And does this sudden dark mark on his face mean anything since it wasn’t there before?

    

44. Ahh poor baby she doesn’t know what’s happened probably to her egg and where the guy’s one. She’d have to be so confused… And she seemed to trust him too…

    

45. Oh no… And the unholy screeching and wailing… She’s so distressed…

    

46. Her falling off a cliff was a DRAMATIC TO SAY THE LEAST THIS HAS BEEN A TURN OF EVENTS AND HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN SHE RAN STRAIGHT OFF OF IT???

    

47. Special sprity things seem to be happening… Okay so from what I gather, she must be the angel then (hence Angel’s Egg) and it was her egg and she was going to do something with it to stop whatever was going on in the world? And that’s why she looks older now because she’s conceiving the egg put for some reason in this the bubbles turned to eggs? (Though there did seem to be one she was clutching around her stomach in the water)

    

48. Okay so these are eggs then that she must have been caring for and waiting for one to hatch or something? Which is why this final egg shot is in the Church? Because that one she had was ready to hatch and now it’s gone before it was ready? Was she the one who was meant to determine if the world was ready or not to leave the ark then? And she didn’t think that they were and wanted to wait for the bird to be ready then?

    

49. Okay feathers = angel wings + bird. Which makes sense I think?

    

50. Okay again definitely something religious here but they’re all stones and this guy knows about this weird ‘Atlantis’ thing coming out of the water and the stone with the egg looks like the girl? So that’s why he wanted her egg? Because he thought she was the girl and the egg would set the world free?

    

51. Wait that’s sand?! So did he succeed with what whatever it was that he wanted to do then?!

    

52. Hold on a minute those look like pathways along the land? So did someone leave a trial behind to find they’re way back or is that people trying to move inland? Oh wait no… it’s probably just the eggs rising up from the ground after the girl dies. Never mind me!

    

53. Hmm this geography is confusing me…

    

54. OH WAIT IS THAT NOT ACTUALLY LAND BUT THE BOTTOM OF THE ARK OR SOMETHING AND WE’RE LOOKING UP AT IT FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR?! OR IS IT SOME SUPERNATURAL BEING LOOKING DOWN ON THE PLTO OF LAND WHICH NOW HAS THE EGGS RAISED OUT OF THE GROUND? I DON’T KNOW SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME

    

Well thank-you to everyone who put up with this messy post of mine! And as you would have read, throughout this movie I was pretty confused while watching a lot of it. I also didn’t actually put in many of the times when it did click for me and (I think) I understood what was going on plot-wise because this post contains my first impressions. So my take on all the symbolism in the film also isn’t in this post. But because this post is already super long I’m going to upload the review/analysis part tomorrow! 🙂