Meaning of the egg when Johnny and Louis meet in the restaurant
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Angel Heart
billythewizard — 10 years ago(March 03, 2016 09:37 AM)
I posted this several years ago but it seems to have been deleted.
After watching the film many times, I finally realized what the significance of the scene in the restaurant was all about.
Perhaps as one of the "rules" when making a deal with Lucifer or perhaps because Louis Cyphre was being sneaky and cynical, Louis tells Johnny that in many religions the egg is a symbol of the soul. Then he offers an egg to Johnny. What he is really doing is giving Johnny a chance to reclaim his soul, but Louis knows Johnny won't take the egg because of his dislike of chickens. Louis then eats the egg, sealing Johnny's doom. Very subtle scene. -
movie_nazi — 9 years ago(April 03, 2016 05:27 PM)
Perhaps as one of the "rules" when making a deal with Lucifer or perhaps because Louis Cyphre was being sneaky and cynical, Louis tells Johnny that in many religions the egg is a symbol of the soul. Then he offers an egg to Johnny. What he is really doing is giving Johnny a chance to reclaim his soul, but Louis knows Johnny won't take the egg because of his dislike of chickens. Louis then eats the egg, sealing Johnny's doom. Very subtle scene.
Hmm, interesting. I never looked at it like that before. Do you mean symbolically or contractually reclaim his soul? You have to remember at that time Johnny/Harry actually still had his soul. Somehow I doubt Louis woulda gave up going after his soul if he did indeed take the egg.
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JakeKeating — 9 years ago(May 01, 2016 11:00 PM)
Well in almost all forms, the Devil is portrayed as a gambling man, always down for a bet. I think he offered it to Johnny knowing full well he'd turn it down. So although it was a gamble, he knew he was holding all the cards.
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billythewizard — 9 years ago(May 09, 2016 06:13 AM)
I disagree, BigRich. There was a lot of time and effort put into this scene. The egg has real meaning. No good filmmaker has scenes that mean nothing. I have tried to look up various myths and legends about making deals with the Devil. There's not a lot of information out there and I haven't found anything yet (perhaps because the whole thing about deals with the Devil are ridiculous anyway!)
P.S. Semper Fi! ( Me: 1966-1968 - Da Nang, S. Vietnam) Always good to hear from a fellow Marine. -
bsharporflat-50959 — 9 years ago(May 31, 2016 06:26 AM)
I think Jake Keating is right.
The Devil stories always work better if the devil offers his victim a chance to claim his own soul back. Usually some sort of wager or game. But, as noted, he plays with a rigged deck. -
tbickle84 — 9 years ago(September 01, 2016 09:16 AM)
The devil is not giving Angel a chance at reclaiming his soul. Angel is a stone cold killer who reneged on a deal with Satan himself. There's no way in hell "pun intended" that the devil is just gonna say "eh I'm feeling generous today. Here's your soul back in the form of an egg. Just bite it and you can go to heaven."
You have to remember, Cyphre knows that Angel's Johnny Favorite all along. Angel hates chickens because they most likely remind him of all the voodoo rituals involving chickens in the south which subconsciously remind him of that fact that he is indeed Johnny Favorite.
Cyphre is merely taunting him. He knows he won't accept the egg. It'll only make him uncomfortable. When he bites the egg, he's symbolically consuming Angel's soul right in front of him. So yes, the egg has meaning. The egg, like the soul, is also pure. It holds the potential for life but is not yet a living being.
The whole point of the movie is for Cypher to get as much pleasure out of Angel's physical and emotional pain until he comes to the realization that he is Johnny Favorite.