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Why You’ve Never Heard of Avalon
In terms of anime excellence that has defined the genre, it is hard not to look at 1995’s Ghost in the Shell as one of the movies that brought the genre to the forefront of the West. While coming out several years after Akira, both films rose to prominence in the ’90s and won over many fans as online made it more viable to check out and learn about international animation and films. It has made its creator, Mamoru Oshii, revered among anime and sci-fi fans, with subsequent projects by the director finding equal fanfare.
Yet, there is one project of Mamoru Oshii’s that often goes overlooked, the 2001 live-action sci-fi thriller Avalon. We will look at why this movie has stayed relatively obscure, and whether it is worth checking out for yourself.
Avalon Plot and Cast
Set in a bleak, dystopian landscape where people are addicted to an illegal virtual reality game called Avalon. The military-themed shooter game allows top players to earn fame and fortune, but it can come at a cost with some players left in a catatonic state after losing. Avalon follows one player, Ash (Małgorzata Foremniak) who, once part of a team, plays solo and has earned a name for herself. After someone beats her record, Ash begins to dig deeper into the game, including finding a ‘secret level’ and the real reason why players are going comatose.
“What do you think is the best, a game you think you can finish, but never do, or a game that seems impossible to win, but isn’t?”
Avalon stars Małgorzata Foremniak as pro-gamer, Ash. Foremniak is a Polish actor, best known for her role in Avalon, though she has over 50 acting credits in Polish film and TV. The supporting cast includes other Polish staples with little recognition beyond their native country, including Wladyslaw Kowalski, Jerzy Gudejko, Dariusz Biskupski, and Bartlomiej Swidersk.
Avalon was directed by Mamoru Oshii, who is best known for his work on the Ghost in the Shell series but has been involved in many successful anime series, including Blood the Last Vampire and Patlabor. The movie was written by Kazunori Itô, a longtime collaborator with Oshii. He has also worked as a writer on notable projects like the .hack//G.U. animated works and video games, and the classic anime seriesUrusei yatsura.
Why You’ve Never Heard of Avalon
Despite having the name power behind it that should have appealed to sci-fi anime fans, Avalon has stayed relatively obscure when looking at Mamoru Oshii’s oeuvre. The likely culprit here is that the movie was a Polish/Japanese co-production with all the actors and dialogue in Polish. While Poland is no slouch when it comes to inventive cinema, the international viability of a movie in the early 2000s is far from where we are in the current landscape of online streaming and broad online discourse about cinema. Avalon did get a limited theatrical release, but it only grossed $449,275 at the box office off an $8 million budget. Mind you, this was at a time when sales could be made up in DVD sales, so this only indicates it was not a box office success.
Even though it screened out of competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and won awards for “Best Cinematography” at the Catalan International Film Festival and “Best Film” at Sci-Fi-London, the movie was largely overlooked by an international audience. This has been attributed to a potential lack of marketing, niche appeal at the time of focusing on VR as the main theme, and mixed reviews. Looking at Rotten Tomatoes, the number of reviews reflects this lack of interest, with the movie currently holding an 83% fresh critic score and 73% audience, but with only 6 critics and just over 5,000 fan reviews logged.
Despite the lukewarm reception and relative obscurity on release, Avalon has since developed a bit of a cult following, particularly for its ties to director Mamoru Oshii. This has caused many to re-evaluate the work, especially because of its dystopian themes where the lines between a virtual world and reality becoming blurred are more relevant today than in the early 2000s.
Should You Watch Avalon?
Make no mistake, Avalon is not Mamoru Oshii’s best work, and it lacks the same cohesive themes and stunning sci-fi action that made Ghost in The Shell such a resounding success. Critics of the film pointed to it falling short on both action and the themes it attempted to explore, and they were not entirely wrong in their assessment. Avalon can be slow-paced, and it is a sci-fi movie that demands a lot of its audience to immerse themselves in the story. Still, this is not to say that the movie has not found fans for good reason.
Where some saw missed opportunities to explore themes around virtual reality, others felt it did an adequate job for the time period; where some saw underdeveloped elements, others saw an openness for a broader conversation about our relationship with video games and online worlds. Avalon boasts a unique visual approach with attention to detail, a phenomenal performance from Małgorzata Foremniak as Ash, and a standout score from the prolific Kenji Kawai. Avalon may not land with every viewer, and elements of it are patience-testing, but for those looking for innovation in the genre from one of the best to tackle sci-fi, you should consider checking it out for yourself.
You can rent Avalon on Apple TV, Prime Video, or YouTube.