Avalon (2001)

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... See full summary »

Director:

Mamoru Oshii

Writer:

Kazunori Itô (screenplay)

Stars:

Malgorzata Foremniak, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Jerzy Gudejko

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Malgorzata Foremniak	...	Ash
Wladyslaw Kowalski	...	Game Master
Jerzy Gudejko	...	Murphy
Dariusz Biskupski	...	Bishop
Bartlomiej Swiderski	...	Stunner (as Bartek Swiderski)
Katarzyna Bargielowska	...	Receptionist
Alicja Sapryk	...	Gill
Michal Breitenwald	...	Murphy of Nine Sisters
Zuzanna Kasz	...	Ghost
Adam Szyszkowski	...	Player A
Krzysztof Szczerbinski	...	Player B (as Krszysztof Szczerbinski)
Marek Stawinski	...	Player C
Jaroslaw Budnik	...	Cooper (voice)
Andrzej Debski	...	Cusinart (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elzbieta Towarnicka	...	Soloist at Philharmonic

Storyline

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?

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Plot Keywords:

dog | winning | battle | near future | warrior | 

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Taglines:

Dare to enter a world of future videogames

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

27 March 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

Avalon

Filming Locations:

Filharmonia Narodowa, Jasna, Sródmiescie, Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deiz Production, Bandai Visual Company, Media Factory

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bishop is played by Dariusz Biskupski. 'Biskup' is Polish for bishop.

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Goofs

When Ash starts searching for The Nine Sisters, she enters some keywords and the results show up on the monitor of her computer. However, the reflection on her glasses doesn't match what happens on her screen.

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Quotes

Murphy: Why did you come? Because of me?
Ash: Isn't that a good reason?

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Connections

Featured in Avalon VFX Making (2003)

User Reviews

Strengths & weaknesses of a pretty good film

There is a lot to recommend this movie, including a richly-stylized world, exciting action, and excellent music. I will admit that I was first interested in this movie because I knew of the director Mamoru Oshii from the anime "Ghost in the Shell", so I wasn't surprised to find that the movie felt much like a very stylized high-quality anime movie. Indeed, I wasn't surprised that the Japanese director revealed (in an interview included with the DVD I watched) that his relationship with the Polish actress playing the main character Ash was much like his relationship with a character from one of his anime projects, since he could no more communicate personally with Malgorzata Foremniak than he could with one of his anime characters. To him, the actress was entirely her character, and it's intriguing to see what became of that very unusual relationship on film.

I'm always wary of getting carried away with a first reaction to a film, so I should admit that this film isn't perfect. I found myself wanting to know more about the background of the main character, and her family, and how she came to become the person we see in the film; certainly, Malgorzata Foremniak does a very good job of playing a character whose fantasy life (the life of her online RPG character) is more real than her 'real' life, but the lack of background detail makes her character Ash very much like a two-dimensional anime character, and that can be considered a weakness. Also, this movie bears an obvious similarity to "The Matrix" (which predated it), so most viewers will inevitably compare this movie to "The Matrix" and find it perhaps wanting in that it doesn't lay out the background of the virtual world of the Avalon RPG as clearly as "The Matrix" lays out the background of its world.

These factors notwithstanding, I still enjoyed "Avalon" and I recommend it to anyone with more than a passing interest in virtual reality stories, anime, or highly-stylized science fiction in general. In the aforementioned interview, the director mentions that his films tend to deal with a borderline between fantasy and reality, and it's quite apparent that Ash's 'real world' is somehow both grittier, and less real, than the world of the Avalon RPG which she's so obsessed with. The action sequences in the film (featuring real-world equipment from the Polish army, such as tanks and attack helicopters) are exciting in their own right, but the special effects of the film (such as explosions reduced to 2-D images and bystanders who disintegrate when shot) make it clear what is supposedly real and what is supposedly virtual. Also, the contrast between fantasy and reality is much more vivid here than in the Matrix movies - and that's especially apparent toward the end of the movie where the viewer is left to wonder just what (if anything) is ultimately real, and what is simply imagined. Also, I must say that the music of this film is extraordinary, including choral music that is downright eerie, but also beautiful at the same time. A world both real and unreal is conjured very effectively in this movie, and therefore I would recommend it to any fans of this sub-genre of science fiction in particular, and fans of highly-stylized film-making in general.