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Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike

by Troler

Free Software fundamentally misses the point. It fails on a practical, ideological, economic, and political level. Let’s examine precisely how (in a slightly different order for the purposes of presentation).

Such words were uttered in Mamoru Oshii's "Angel's Egg" by an unnamed man. What is the movie best be described as? That's hard to put into words. Due to the staggering lack of a plot. There is an egg, fiercely protected by a girl. She fills jars with water, while traversing the strange world. There are no animals, just plants. The only form of life are plants and the rain pouring down. And of course, the aforementioned man. The world does feel to be post-flood.

Really, that does not matter. Since the movie was, as pointed out by the legendary reviewer Grumpy Jii-san, a symphony and meditation than anything else. The shots are long, the music by Yoshihiro Kanno thrills with its churchesque harmony. Angel's Egg, if anything is a symphonic work, a meditation on death and desire to know. Whether the egg is alive or not, whether breaking it is going to reveal the meaningless of reality or something insightful. Either way breaking it.


I wasn't able to see the movie during its premiere in the local movie theater. It being the last day, I made sure to make the most of it. So did another person. It was a male in his 30s. I was intrigued by the man, what brought him there. When it came to buy a ticket, I chose the furthest row from him. I am not sure whether it was the fragile shell of mine, fear of breaking up someone's day by crawling into their personal space. I was far away, watching that man. In some regard I felt like the girl, precious of her egg. Instead of fear, I felt intrigue. What was he. Who was he. Those were the first words heard in the movie. They were addressed towards the unnamed man, carrying a cross.

The most important question was whether he had seen the movie before. It was up on YouTube for years and years. Angel's Egg was a comercial failure. Even with a small-scale release in Europe and USA, I would not term it a financial success. What matters are the people's reception to it. When the credits rolled, I stood up and looked at the man. His palm was pressed against his chin. I walked out and turned to him. He kept staring at the credits with the same facial expression. My desire to break his shell, and to know what was inside of his head was high. I pressed my foot on the floor and... walked out of the theater. The angelic voices of choir sung their melody as I walked home. The ground was cold, unnerving to my footsteps. Most of the snow had already melted. There were no puddles. I walked thinking not about the film, but about the man who watched it.

I felt the same when I saw an adaptation of Amélie Nothomb Métaphysique des tubes, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain It is an autobiographic tale of the author. It diverges being told from her birth to the age of three. Blue blooded, her life was deeply woven to the diplomatic envoys of her family. To point her growing up in Japan. In the land of the rising sun, it is held that children up to age of 3 are okosama, gods. The central theme is not so much about godhood. Although, according to the narrator (Loïse Charpentier), they are more like tubes, hence metaphysics of tubes. Through god everything passed through, it does not change, it does not alter, it only flows. Through tubes flows water.

That's the strange relationship. Both of the movies feature heavy water symbolism. This may be my erratic brain making connections when there should not be, Amélie, as explained by Nishio-san (Victoria Grosbois) has the part of ame (雨). The kanji itself looks like rain. There is the top bit, which is the sky. Then the ground is like the box, both the sky and the earth are connected with the line. On the ground there are 4 droplets.

Japan both ways? Water symbolism. Frequent mention of god. Young female protagonist. Little dialogue. Koi. Male antagonist? Both girls committing suicide by jumping into water?

Dear director Maïlys Vallade,
After watching your film, I've come to a realisation of my godhood.The body I have, as I've come to see, is a mere shell. It hides a more potent and wakeful state than it currently is. The serene world is a mere prison where my godhood is imprisoned. Every time I look up at the sun, I see an eye. I believe it is an eye of a koi, since it is said those fish live for centuries and are therefor reincarnates of gods. That eye is mine. It is rightfully said, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. In my limited form, I still possess the powers of a god. I thank you for revealing that to me. Now I must fly to the sun and bring back what I had lost. At last I shall leave behind this shell and break into new waters.

Yours faithfully,
雨

Fin

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  Troler c:0


Fun fact, mechanical eye in the sky is a trope. I believe it has its roots in Star War's death star. I noticed such a thing in El-Hazard, with an object termed The eye of God.

Japan sure has a fascination with Star Wars.

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  Blender Dumbass c:1


This felt like reading a slow meditation on madness, rather then a movie review. Which is much more interesting, perhaps, than a mere movie review. LOL

... replies ( 1 )

  Troler c:2



@blenderdumbass My goal, first and foremost, is to write a clear text, a logical piece, an insightful piece. Just retelling the plot of a movie and some production tid bits feels to be not adequate. A review is not a summary, it is not a Wikipedia page. It is an intention to foremost guide people what they ought watch. Nowadays so much cinema is being produced, it is all too easy to pick it. Time, as always has been, is limited. Thus, the picks ought to be rewarding.

I am looking at PicotheSpicyWarlord, Keksi, Accented Cinema and see the establishment of artsy reviews. Not a pragmatic look at art, rather a joyful interaction with the medium.

Experimenting with different ways to tell a review, some conventional, some extra-ventional is entertaining both for me and, hopefully, the reader.

Reply

  Troler c:2

... c:1

  Blender Dumbass c:1


This felt like reading a slow meditation on madness, rather then a movie review. Which is much more interesting, perhaps, than a mere movie review. LOL

@blenderdumbass My goal, first and foremost, is to write a clear text, a logical piece, an insightful piece. Just retelling the plot of a movie and some production tid bits feels to be not adequate. A review is not a summary, it is not a Wikipedia page. It is an intention to foremost guide people what they ought watch. Nowadays so much cinema is being produced, it is all too easy to pick it. Time, as always has been, is limited. Thus, the picks ought to be rewarding.

I am looking at PicotheSpicyWarlord, Keksi, Accented Cinema and see the establishment of artsy reviews. Not a pragmatic look at art, rather a joyful interaction with the medium.

Experimenting with different ways to tell a review, some conventional, some extra-ventional is entertaining both for me and, hopefully, the reader.

Reply

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