I reviewed the classic Japanese anime film “Angel’s Egg” in 2022 when it screened at the Japan Society. On November 19 a new, remastered 4K edition of the Mamoru Oshii film opens in North American Theaters.

Oshii’s film was not a success when it was released in 1985; the near wordless, philosophically minded work later become a cult classic and Mamoru went on to direct anime hits “Ghost in the Shell” and “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.” The colors in the 4K restoration are richer and more vivid and the mysterious soundtrack and sound effects are much clearer. Like much anime, the animation is not total like a Disney film; sometimes the sky is a single image that pans by or a landscape is one large painting with a small animated figure walking through it. The drawing style is Asian steampunk, not unlike some of the illustrations you’d often find in Heavy Metal magazine. When the animation becomes busier the effect is more startling because of the contrast with the more still sequences.

The film begins with a large, round, ornate space ship landing. We see a young blonde woman (voiced by Mako Hyôdô) wearing a pink and maroon dress and dark cape emerging from what looks to be an abandoned missile silo; she is giving warmth to a watermelon-sized egg. She wanders through a gloomy but hypnotic landscape. Dark blues and greens predominate. The trees and she are seen reflected in the pools of water until a shriek of music returns her to land.

She arrives at an unoccupied city filled with 17th century architecture. A row of baroque-looking tanks roll by and a young man (voiced by Jinpachi Nezu) emerges from one and glances at her. She fetches water from a public fountain and food in a castle-like structure. We’re 24 minutes into the film and no dialogue has been spoken. Leaving her egg she runs back into the young man. He is dressed in medieval garb, bears an unusual futuristic weapon/staff and gives the egg to her, saying “You must keep what you treasure within your belly, or you will lose it.”

Much to her displeasure he follows her. Hundreds of ghostly fisherman rush by in the streets with long fishing poles. The young girl points out that there are no fish and we see the men use the poles as spears to throw at huge shadows of fish. She visits a cathedral and is awed by the stained glass windows, beginning a religious theme or allegory in “Angel’s  Egg.” (Only two percent of Japanese people identify as Christians, which may be one reason the movie was not initially a success. Church bells are heard chiming often in the film and fish were an early symbol used by Christians to identify themselves to fellow believers during times of persecution. And the boy’s staff is shaped like a cross.) 

A recurrent visual motif in the film are glass vessels of water and a building the couple stay in are filled with them. The walls have also melded with the bones of dinosaurs–they’ve turned into stone. The boy tells the girl the story of Noah’s Ark but changes the part about the dove Noah sends to discover if land has reappeared on earth.

One obvious interpretation of the story would be to see the couple as Adam and Eve with the egg representing Jesus’s non-corporeal impregnation. But the film’s resolution is much more ambiguous than that. (Another reason it may have had trouble finding an audience in 1985.) Whatever the story ultimately means, the most satisfying aspect is the inspired art work: in one bravura sequence the girl dives into a body of water, meeting her other-worldly twin with a kiss, rippling the water into concentric circles somewhat like the liquid mirrors in Jean Cocteau’s “Orpheus.” The line drawings are incredible, the shadow and color work are stunning, qualities made even more evident in this beautiful restoration.