In May, a 4K restoration of cult anime film “Angel’s Egg” screened at the Cannes Film Festival, celebrating the experimental film’s 40th anniversary. Now, GKIDS has announced that the restoration will premiere in North American theaters on Friday, November 19. IndieWire can exclusively share the first look of the poster and trailer for the new restoration, below.
Released in Japan on December 15, 1985, “Angel’s Egg” was the third feature of director Mamoru Oshii, who is best known worldwide for his seminal cyberpunk animated film of a decade later, “Ghost in the Shell.”
At the time of “Angel’s Egg,” Oshii’s only other directorial efforts were two spinoff films of the popular anime comedy series “Urusei Yatsura.” A completely original work, “Angel’s Egg” was made in collaboration with artist Yoshitaka Amano, who is most famous in America for providing the character designs for the early “Final Fantasy” video games.
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Told with very little dialogue, the short, hand-drawn animated film takes place in a strange primordial fantasy world, and follows two unnamed characters: A young girl who protects an egg she believes will hatch into an angel, and a young boy searching for a bird he once saw in his dream. The heavily allegorical fantasy is notable for its heavy use of philosophical and Biblical symbolism, and touches on themes common in Oshii’s other works, particularly the relationship between dreams and reality.
Released on DVD by publisher Tokuma Shoten, “Angel’s Egg” was well-received by critics but performed poorly financially. In the decades since, however, it has been acclaimed as one of Oshii’s best works and has developed a cult following. The film has previously been difficult to track down in America, where it is currently unavailable on streaming.
The 4K restoration of “Angel’s Egg” was supervised by Oshii, and is the second collaboration between the director and GKIDS following last year’s rerelease of the director’s feature “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.”
Prior to its theatrical release, “Angel’s Egg” will play at the New York Film Festival, following screenings at Cannes, Fantasia Film Festival, and Fantastic Fest. Take a look at the poster and trailer, IndieWire exclusives, below.
