Plot Summary
Well, any effort to make a summary out of Angel’s Egg is doomed to fall short. There is a girl struggling to live on her own amidst a ruined and mosty empty city. She keeps a large egg hidden under her clothes, taking care and protecting it. At the same time she sets around her chores, partly for survival and partly as exploration.
A man appearing in the city all of a sudden breaks her routine. He seems to know some things about the girl and he wants to know even more. He follows her closely and tries to befriend her, but she is very suspicious of him even though he saves her from several dangers. Eventually she warms up to him and lowers her guard. Swooning her with a tale, he manages to get the egg from her and crushes it prematurely, destroying whatever existed inside.
When the girl wakes up and discovers that she has been tricked, she is overcome with guilt and despair and, as she desperately tries to follow the man as he exits the city, she falls into a pool of water and drowns.
Review
It is difficult to gauge, let alone grade, the “plot” of this movie. What scraps of story are there seem to exist purely for the purpose of making the characters move around in order to show the whole setting to the viewers. There is a climax to the story, but no resolution per se. True to its kind, the movie leaves the audience to interpret the meaning of the events depicted, and how they relate to one another and the world where they take place; in fact, there seem to be several symbolic cycles entwined in the movie, merging and departing from one another at different points. Likewise, the characters are only interesting for their symbolic ambiguousness. Their actions and movements are sparse and indecisive, almost ethereal. Their speech is likewise very rare; for the most part, the characters ask questions rather than provide any sort of fact or opinion. There is no character development in Angel’s Egg, and no effort is made to introduce any (even though it can stand as a coming-of-age story). Instead, the characters are presented as blank frames where the viewers can attach their own relations and symbols.
The setting is very abstract. The bare trees, ruined buildings and general delapidation point to a post-apocalyptic setting, but it is difficult to confirm that. There are no cultural references that would help pinpoint the movie in time or space; all artificial structures have a generic design that makes them familiar but at the same time doesn’t tie them down to any particular era.
It is all very beautifully drawn, of course. The atmosphere is very dark, with all surfaces and structures displaying shadows and nooks so as to absorb as much light as possible. The long shadows and overcast sky make the setting at once expansive and claustrophobic. Another major design element is water, drawn in various states and vessels. The artists use water to great effect in order to distort the images refracted through it. The character designs discard any cartoonish notion of anime and instead embrace a more traditional sketch. The details of their design seem to be drawn in equal part from character archetypes and religious references. By and large, Angel’s Egg sets itself apart from any drawing conventions commonly used in anime.
I don’t know if professional voice actors were used in the movie; in any case they would not be necessary. Scarcely one word is uttered during the first half of the movie, and what dialogue does exist from there on consists mainly of repetitive questions. On the other hand, the music score is a major factor in the movie, with complex melodies and themes, almost creating allegories of its own.
Even though it was made decades ago, Angel’s Egg continues to be a very innovative work. Its inherent abstruction is bound to split the opinions of the viewers. Whether one loves it or hates it, it is a very good example of an alternative approach to anime (and animation in general) taken to an extreme.
Stats
Type: Movie
Length: 70 min
Rating
Production: 8/10
Plot: 5/10
Setting: 7/10
Characters: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
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