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1985 • Angel’s Egg

Tenshi no Tamago

— Chris Stuckmann —

Angel’s Egg reminds me of a film I would’ve scrolled passed on the Sci-Fi channel back in the ’90s at 3:00 a.m. It feels like a drug-induced trip of psychedelic imagery while also being relentlessly meaningful. The deceptively simple story is as follows: A young girl roams a wasteland that resembles post-apocalyptic Earth. She carries with her an egg that we learn she’s very protective of. She meets a man who joins her on this journey, who may be friend or foe. This plot is decidedly free of conventional drama, character troupes, or really anything we’ve come to expect from traditional filmmaking, let alone anime.

Some have attempted to analyze Angel’s Egg in the past, I’m certainly not the first to do so. But there is an unfortunate lack of information about this film on the net, which is at once surprising yet also expected. I think this film is just as good as Mamoru Oshii’s more well-known Ghost in the Shell, but I also recognize that a film this different—that barely contains any concrete answers to its philosophical questions—will likely divide audiences. Even Oshii himself was quoted as saying he “doesn’t know what the film is about.” It’s wholly possible that Angel’s Egg is meant to be taken purely as an art film, with no concrete interpretation actually being correct. But I have one very specific thing that I’ve gleaned from the film I’d like to discuss.

Faith.

While doing research on the making of Angel’s Egg, I learned that Oshii dedicated much of his life to studying religion, specifically Christianity. He originally considered attending a seminary before he turned to directing. The large majority of his films all contain heavy religious themes. Patlabor: The Movie features an investigation surrounding a culprit who uses biblical phrases and passages as clues to his crimes. The Puppet Master in Ghost in the Shell often quotes scripture. But, for unknown reasons, he apparently had a falling out with his faith before production on this film began. Armed with this information, Angel’s Egg took on a whole new meaning for me.

Let’s break the film down piece by piece. It’s important to remember that the heavy Christian symbolism is extremely important to deciphering where Oshii’s head was at while he made this film. Even if there isn’t a definitive answer, the film has become clearer to me when analyzed from the perspective that Oshii was dealing with a major crisis of faith while making this film.

I believe the young man in this film represents Christ, and the giant orb that shows up is likely God or the eye of God. The man carries a large device on his shoulder that’s easily recognizable as the shape of a cross, and if that’s not enough of a hint, his hands are bandaged in the same place Christ was likely crucified.

The young girl and her egg seem to be a metaphor for the innocence of blind faith. In one very telling scene, she says she’s positive she can hear a bird inside the egg breathing, even when the man suggests that what she’s hearing is just the wind. Nothing can convince her otherwise. To her, that bird is in the egg, and it will hatch. It seems that this is Oshii’s commentary on religion and faith in general. The idea that belief in a higher power—despite having no tangible proof that it exists—is based entirely on faith, no matter what anyone else may tell you. The girl is very protective of her egg, as are people of their beliefs. Early on in the film, the man has an opportunity to break the egg, but instead, gives it back, stating that she should keep things precious inside her.

But later, the man breaks the egg while she sleeps. So if he planned to break the egg the whole time, why didn’t he just do it then? There are many examples of God giving various assignments or tests to his servants. God allowing Satan to afflict Job, Abraham being instructed to kill his own son, or even Jesus fasting for forty days. In all cases, after being proved worthy of the test, the individual was greatly rewarded for their steadfastness.

In this case, the girl’s faith is being tested. She wanders this world, collecting water, unsure of why she’s doing it, unsure of the passage of time, protecting an egg that she fiercely believes will hatch. The man encourages opening the egg, and yet she still refuses. He finally suggests to her that her faith is false, that she’s simply hearing what she wants to hear. When she still denies this, he breaks the egg himself.

She flees after him in horror, falling into a ravine, figuratively maturing into a woman, having been broken, her innocence and blind faith violated. She then seemingly gives birth to many more eggs, perhaps reaping her reward for maintaining faith. These eggs grow into birds, affirming her beliefs, and she’s eventually memorialized on the godlike orb, having become saint-like.

There’s another theory I have about these characters, one that I haven’t seen discussed anywhere to my knowledge. It’s possible that Oshii is exploring the belief of reincarnation, that of one’s soul coming back to life after death in another person or form. There are many hints to this possibility present in the film, and one that was staring me right in the face. Both the girl and man seem to have lost memories, gaps in their subconscious. The man sees a drawing of a large tree and reflects on a vague memory of having seen it before. In what little dialogue the film has, both characters discuss the feeling of having forgotten something about themselves, as if they’re both suffering from a monumental case of déjà vu. These are common traits of people who believe they’ve been reincarnated. Vague memories of a distant life often plague these individuals. The biggest clue, though, can be found on the film’s official soundtrack, under track number thirteen. This track is the music featured in the scene where the girl dies, giving birth to many eggs, which eventually become birds. The track name, when translated into English, is literally “Transmigration.” Which, if you know your theology, is simply another term for reincarnation.

So, if the reincarnation angle is correct, are we looking at a reincarnated form of Christ in the young man? He seems to have a vague memory of the Tree of Life, and when he sees the fossil of the giant bird, he undergoes some form of awakening, as if his mission has become clear, or he remembers what he must do. In the Bible, Jesus underwent a similar rebirth upon his baptism, realizing his mission on earth. Matthew 3:16 speaks of the heavens opening up to Jesus upon being baptized in water as if all had become clear to him. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s after the man steps into the water, becoming soaked by it, that he appears to come to a realization. It’s after this that the man destroys her egg, as if he was recalling some assignment he was once given but had forgotten about. Was this his directive? In the start of the film, as he awaited the godlike eye, while standing on a chessboard of sorts, was he sent to meet this girl, to reaffirm her faith, and his? Is he simply a pawn of his god, as indicated by the checkered board he stands on?

This is where things split in two for me. There are two ways you can view this. The positive view is that the girl kept her faith, despite the continual testing of it. Then, the Christlike man releases her from her test, and she reaps a hundred fold what she had before, in the process realizing that her faith was true, since the birds she envisioned grow from her eggs. Eventually, she’s memorialized in the godlike structure as someone to be praised or honored.

The negative view is that despite trusting in her faith and going about her tasks without question, her beliefs were betrayed nonetheless, and she’s left to die after her spiritual violation. The reason that I don’t give as much weight to this more cynical viewpoint is due to the ending. Despite how much of this film is left ambiguous, one thing that seems clear to me is that she is now in a position of honor.

I believe the message that Oshii is sending is simply how unclear and divisive faith can be. In his case, he seems to have dealt with considerable doubt in his beliefs and has made a gorgeous film that examines what one goes through when dealing with a crisis of faith. Just as the girl continuously asks the man who he is, it seems Oshii yearns to understand his faith, until finally, the man asks the girl the same question. Oshii is perhaps hinting that faith is simply a process of discovering who we are, what we are, and who or what we can become.

I think Angel’s Egg is an undisputed masterpiece. There’s not a single film like it in live-action, and certainly not in animation. It’s a film so ambitious and unconventional that nearly any interpretation can be considered correct. There’s really no right or wrong answers here. Oshii has clearly made a film steeped in heavy themes and imagery that’s meant to impact everyone differently. What do you see in Angel’s Egg?

This writing is condensed from Chris Stuckmann’s video “Is Angel’s Egg an Overlooked Masterpiece?” which can be found on his YouTube channel.