Avalon

2001 [POLISH]

Action / Drama / Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Thriller

11
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 73% · 6 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 73% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 14039 14K

future video game obsession dystopia simulation addiction

Plot summary

In a future world, young people are increasingly becoming addicted to an illegal (and potentially deadly) battle simulation game called Avalon. When Ash, a star player, hears of rumors that a more advanced level of the game exists somewhere, she gives up her loner ways and joins a gang of explorers. Even if she finds the gateway to the next level, will she ever be able to come back to reality?

Director

Mamoru Oshii Photo
Mamoru Oshii

Top cast

Bartlomiej Swiderski Photo
Bartlomiej Swiderski as Stunner
Alicja Sapryk Photo
Alicja Sapryk as Gill
Michal Breitenwald Photo
Michal Breitenwald as Murphy of Nine Sisters
Dariusz Biskupski Photo
Dariusz Biskupski as Bishop
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
979.18 MB
1280*688
Polish 2.0
NR
Subtitles pl  
23.976 fps
1 hr 46 min
Seeds 2
1.97 GB
1904*1024
Polish 5.1
NR
Subtitles pl  
23.976 fps
1 hr 46 min
Seeds 18

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by kay-30 7 / 10

liked it but not sure I got it

I just saw this film on the first day of its opening. I went in not knowing much about it except that it's a Japanese SF film and had good reviews. To cut to the point, I liked it but I'm not sure I got it. The atmosphere's great - the monotone visualizations, the expressionless stares of the heroine, Ash and the majestic and dark music stay in your mind. The fact that the film's in a foreign language (Polish as I found out) adds to the exotic and surreal feeling of the film. As it's all supposed to be a game anyway, there's very little emotion shown and therefore viewers are truly spectators only with little empathy with the characters.Many people will be bored by this film, but if you're prepared to be a little patient and get sucked in, you'll love the look, feel and sound of it.
Reviewed by shusei 7 / 10

A good film for our time, of our time

I have seen this film in 2001,when it was released in Japan. Then I was rather disappointed. The plot seemed to be weak, the drama-- boring. But I changed my thought recently after having seen it again on DVD. It isn't so boring, It is a film for our time, when traditional cinema is dying or dead everywhere. It is a historical process,going not only in cinema. In fact "Avalon" tells about the background of contemporary visual medias--all our visual experiences by them is now digitalized and we can't discern clearly where the Reality begins to be replaced by digital VR space. Now VR very deeply intrudes into our life. It makes our life something empty. Now cinema depends on 3DCG and special effects even in the most usual scenes--fog on the night garden, the landscape outside the window, the color of actors' skin or even movements of their eyes... But only a few directors makes films "about it". Of course "Avalon" is not about cinema. Oshii had already made one film about cinema years before("Talking Head"), which is comical and grotesque but not so good. After that Oshii learned to disguise himself--use seemingly "commercial", "simple" stories or genres to tell things which is going on in the world. In this way he could keep making films with growing budget, with growing visual complexity, which is beyond the reach of other Japanese "art house"filmmakers. I had seen almost all the works of Mamoru Oshii,including his TV serials of 1970s. He is a skilled, unique director and his thought is recently going too far from usual audience, including lovers of old art house films. But his method--skillful use of commercial conditions--allows him to make films. It is a right way, when there is no other choice. From this point of view, "Avalon" is a good film for our time and of our time, though I can't use the word "masterpiece".
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