Avalon

SweetBirdOfTruth

Quite loved this, eXistenZ meets the Matrix by way of Nikita. Loved the whole soviet/industrial feel to it, Orwell’s 1984 souped up with hyper-real austerity. Cyberpunk with not too many ciphers. Visually worked in the places Final Fantasy only just touched. Can’t see the gaming fraternity falling in love with it (“the dress should have been red, the dress should have been red – it worked for Mila, it would have worked here!”). Nor will Bill Gates praise it much ("the future is not the command line! it's graphic user interfaces!"). It actually felt more like the product of someone who knows just enough about puters to fear them a lot (kept thinking something Zizek said apropos The Matrix and his fear of the immersive qualities of cyberspace). Not wild-crazy about Arthurian mythology (I was young once and actually read Mists of Avalon - yeugh) and the opera piece about that misty isle really did get on my tits. Only at one point was I bored – just as she entered Class Real but before it all went Wizard of Oz colourful. But then it kicked onto another level and I was fully back in it. Whereas eXistenZ pressed the point of which reality was real, Avalon left it much more subtle by never actually taking us out of the game. I also loved the way the pace left you lots of time to think through what was going on, even as it pushed you along the wrong garden-paths, but the journeys were worth it even if the final destination is confused. Ultimately, flaws and all, I think I may be in love with Avalon.

Shinji

Hmmm.... I have to admit that I thought the whole thing was very stylish but utterly confused and ultimately soulless. Just like everything else Mamoru Oshii has directed, then; this is the man who managed to strip Patlabor and Ghost in the Shell of every element of humour, character or soul and replace them with special effects and clever cinematography.

It works on some levels, but it ultimately makes for very bleak, uninteresting movies, IMO. I'm a little distressed that after the colourful, warm and intelligent Ghost In The Shell TV series (Stand Alone Complex), they're letting Oshii back at the helm for the second cinematic movie.

Nevyn

Where is it on ?

spooky donkey

Is this an animated jap anime film then! On in the cinema?
If so never heard of it.

I liked that stand alone complex very nice animation for a series.

Hm sounds intresting.

Seraphina

its on in the ifc in temple bar
i saw it today, parts of it were kinda confusing, i reminded me of eraserhead i dont know why, the whole black and white very little speaking/atmosphere in general i think, but thats just me
i liked it

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah, i thought it looked beautiful. i didn't get alot of the storyline it just confused me, but the way it was captured on film and the effects were spectacular

i'd watch it again for sure,if only to try and figure out what exactly was going on

hrm, i can't find the soundtrack to the film anywhere did a search for kenji kawai on cdnow and allmusic, but only got his previous works..

adnans

yeah, its on the IFC from january 10th to 23rd only. its on my list for the january/february programme. that, and Irreversible

adnans

Lex_Diamonds

Pervert

adnans

Originally posted by Lex_Diamonds
Pervert

i know i am but what are you. damn that doesnt sound right.

saw the movie over the weekend and all i could say is "OMFG NOTHING REGISTERS " i meant that about the movie and about those soldiers that were trying to shoot Ash. althought graphically pleasing, dirty camera work and foreign dialogue makes it look convincing in some ways in the near future, my mind was confused as hell, and all i could think of was what the hell happened to that dog?

roll on the pervert movie!!

adnans

davej

I really enjoyed it I have to say. I thought the theme tune was amazing.

what the hell happened to that dog?

Well it's more a question of which was the real world? The world Ash was "living" in with the dog was just another level of the game. Spoiler:



At the end when she is on so called "level real" (our world) there is a message for the audience; suggesting that a higher awareness is out there for us too (i.e. when Ash sees the ghostly girl at the end) . Or at least that's what i made of it.

davej

yellum

2nd attempt at replying:

davej: learn how to use real spoilers

Visually brilliant film. Storyline was amateur I guess and unsure of where it wanted to go. I think they added in confusing bits too cos intelligent films confuse people ... I'm sure that logic is what was used.

The end part of the film was stupid I thought too. Not impressed at all. Soundtrack wasn't bad but did they have to give us an encore of the avalon song. They could have japped it up maybe and turned it into a Karaoke version. That would have given this film a bit of a soul anyway.

Overall twas a bland movie and could have been so much more. Still this arthouse piece was better than all the tripe thats called mainstream nowadays.