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Mamoru Oshii has described his film Angel’s Egg as a pitiful daughter that never found its audience. He shared this sentiment as the 4K remaster of the 1985 classic was announced for its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
The director hopes that will change with the film’s upcoming 4K remaster premiere at the festival.
Speaking about the film’s legacy, he reflected on how Angel’s Egg struggled to find recognition when it was first released as an OVA nearly 40 years ago.
“This work is like a pitiful daughter that I couldn’t properly introduce to the world. If this opportunity allows even one more person to see it, there is no greater happiness for me as a director. I would like to express my gratitude once again to the staff who endured the painstakingly detailed work,” he said.
When the movie originaly released, it was a flop in Japan and it prevented Oshii from getting work for years. This was despite the fact that the movie garnered positive response from critics and industry experts. Fans, especially fans in the west, criticized the movie for being too confusing to understand.
The 4K remaster was supervised by Oshii himself, using the original 35mm film negative for scanning and upgrading the audio to Dolby Atmos to enhance the immersive quality.
Yoshitaka Amano, who developed the original concept and directed the film’s art, called the selection a remarkable honor.
He said he never imagined this recognition when he worked on the project in his early 30s and felt that the long-awaited appreciation made the challenges of that time worthwhile.
“Thank you for selecting ‘Angel’s Egg 4K Remaster’ for the Cannes Classics section. It is an incredible achievement I never imagined when I was in my early 30s creating the original version. Receiving such wonderful news makes me feel like the struggles of that time have been rewarded after 40 years.“
This remaster, which was developed to commemorate the film’s 40th anniversary, will mark the first time the film is screened worldwide in such high quality.
GKIDS had previously announced that the 4K version of the film will be screened in North American theaters in 2025.
Source: Mantan Web
