Angel's Egg

Tenshi no tamago (Mamoru Oshii, Japan 1985)
1h 11m - Japanese voice, Norwegian subtitles - Age limit 15 years

In Angel's Egg, we follow a nameless girl wandering through a desolate, otherworldly landscape. She looks after a large egg that she hides under her dress. Apart from a fateful encounter with an unknown boy, she is apparently the only living person there.

What has happened in this world that makes it abandoned? Why is the girl alone? Who is the boy? What is inside the egg, and why is the girl looking after it? Director and screenwriter Mamoru Oshii does not provide any definitive answers to these questions. However, one can say that Angel's Egg is a symbolic and lyrical portrayal of existential anxiety, loneliness and melancholy in a world and an existence that has lost an overall order and a greater meaning. With few lines and without a clear plot, Yoshitaka Amano's atmospheric animations create the feeling that you are watching animated art rather than a traditional narrative.

Review: Bergen Film Club