Angel's Egg

a personal allegory by a director rumored to have suffered a crisis of faith which swayed him from the path to priesthood. heavily informed by christian perspectives and symbolism, it's a grand and sombre work which magnifies the mysterious forces underlying how human beings exist and relate to the world, ruminating on various dichotomies: creation and destruction, innocence and experience, being and becoming, the material and the transcendent, truth and myth. it's anime for tarkovsky fans.

Serenely cold and withdrawn, the timbre is otherworldly and frightening. There are a few strange motifs: shadow men hunt shadow fish in a lifeless stone city; a brief exploration of the scientific process and the way humans err to learn; flirtations with Christian mythology only to reveal its Christ as distinctly human. Probably overambitious, and too distracted even in its short running time to achieve on its ambitions. But worth watching, with haunting artwork.

Oshii surely likes symbolism. Angel's egg is a journey through subconcsious without a word. Beatiful artwork by Amano. One may not get it (I didn't) which will not take out the unique and serene quality it has and still enjoy.

The allegories (if you can even call such a blatant Christ figure an allegory) are too blunt to be interesting, and the slowness of the film seems unwarranted. It invites you to provide your own interpretation, yet it doesn't really encourage you to. There were some parts I didn't quite understand, but the parts I did understand didn't inspire me to dig any deeper. I didn't like Ghost in the Shell that much either, but at least it had a fun hipness to it. This is mostly just goth twaddle.

The animation, art style and atmosphere are its biggest strengths, while the scattered metaphorical elements don't accomplish much to turn it into a meaningful experience by any means.

I enjoyed this, even if I'm still not sure what 'this' is.

?

I get that it's brimming with Christian symbolism and bleak themes and shit like that, I just don't really get why. Maybe that's the fault of my own dumbness but I just didn't understand why pretty much anything happened in the whole movie. But I can even more safely say I have no idea why movie sites tend to classify this as horror

With movies like this it's less of a story and more of a feeling - in this case, a feeling of limbo or emptiness - and the trick is to keep it going and going. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Either way, I enjoyed its quiet nature despite the so-so execution.

A beautifully animated symbolic mythological story. Quiet, elliptical, mysterious. Pure poetry. Very slow moving

With barely any dialogue, a very slow pace and metaphor-heavy, dark visuals this is definately not for everyone. It has a meditative quality that appealed to me and it is quite gorgeous but it's not something I'm gonna revisit.

This is the most artistically ambitious Japanese animated film I've seen, but it's important to note I haven't seen a lot. Beautiful, quiet imagery and an atonal musical score mixed with an esoteric, philosophical storyline make for a powerful experience. It's mercifully short at 71 minutes; I likely wouldn't be able to take much more. I doubt I really know what it's about (there's clearly a religious theme), but it's the kind of movie that succeeds thanks to its inconclusive outlook.

Obtuse and slow but never unengaging.

Atmosphere and symbolism. Not much else, but the story seemed better this way.

The artwork is simply beautiful, the atmosphere is this wonderfully sombre micture of confusion and admiration, and the hefty themes which peek through the cracks of the story as presented are interesting brain food at the least. But I feel like there is so little actually happening, so much left to interpretation, so much that tries to just pass its whole message simply through the art, that I ended up not liking it as a movie, and I think it would be better as a short or an art gallery exhibit

What a stunning movie; most frames are immaculate, and the soundtrack is exquisite. It has an eeriness to it that encapsulates the film's entire aura. However, I'd be lying if I said I fully connected emotionally to it. But either way, it's such a beautiful movie.

cinema

Angel's Egg felt like an eternity of some lost soul wandering the unending plains of nothingness to only reflect itself as a dream to me that I will never be sure is just that.

I've watched this film several times, and my recollection is still fractured and dream-like. A poem.

Boy: "I've seen a tree like this somewere... When was it? So long ago that I've forgotten... Under a sky where the clouds made sound as they moved. The black horizon swelled and from it grew a huge tree. It sucked the life from the ground... And it's pulsing branches reached up, as if to grasp something…"

Boasts a beautiful morose atmosphere with some clever usage of cinematography. But beyond that, getting meaning out of this movie is difficult given its vagueness and how the director himself seems uncertain of its meaning. I rarely like stories that rely on symbolism, but there is more substance here than most. Watching this as a Christian allegory can lead to a lot of interesting interpretations. On the other hand, a lot of things aren't conveyed too well even if you look at it symbolically.

Plot! We don't need no stinking plot!

A film which I deeply felt. Profound animation and while I'm not entirely sure of what I saw, powerful storytelling.

sure looked cool but was ultimately a load of bullhockey

What a movie! Very slowpaced (kind of reminded me of the Tree of Life), good music and probably the most mysterious movie I've ever seen. Lots of symbolism and amazing art. Also I loved the pretty simple story and the little dialogue (adds to the mystery). The dude must really hate birds :D. Souldn't be missed by anime lovers!

I understood that entire movie. Did you?

Good animation... but story just ends up being weird, arty anime.