Angel's Egg

If Angel s Egg is a vision of the death of God, then The Labyrinth Files: File 538 is its sardonic counterpoint: a vision of her unexpected rebirth. Oshii s theological diptych uses genre references only as touchstones. Angel s Egg looks and behaves like allegory: a forlorn young woman longing to be pregnant wanders a depopulated landscape - medieval streets, post- industrial debris - under lowering crimson skies. Surviving inhabitants form an undifferentiated mass, united in worship of false gods. A young soldier whose musket has the shape of a cross gives the girl a giant egg to nurture. But that which is given can also be taken away... The Borges-like File 538 opens with radio reports of the disappearances of numerous jumbo jets as they fly over Tokyo. A sweaty private eye investigating a mysterious father and daughter has broken into their room. He finds a file marked for his attention on the computer screen, a tale of three men in one, a building which technically doesn t exist and a school of giant carp at 33,000 feet... Conceptually challenging, superbly designed and highly original, these two graphic conundrums are amongst the finest animations made anywhere in the 1980s. (T.R.)