gwozdziu

OK, maybe it's because I'm actually Polish, so I understand the language and have actually seen the places shown in the movie. But anyway, I can't really find anything to defend Avalon. Horrible, horrible, horrible acting kept distracting me all the time. It's a good thing they don't speak much in the movie, and I'm not even going to mention that Ash'es face looks exactly the same no matter what she's doing. Oh well, I just did. It's probably better for people who don't understand the language, maybe it sounds foreign and sophisticated, and people believe that it's the translation that makes dialogue sound shallow. Trust me, translation is actually helping most of the time.

Stunning visuals? I'm not so sure. For me the visuals were actually pretty artificial, with that annoying postcard-type sky. Also, having to watch the same scenes over and over again was pretty tiring as well. Would it hurt so much to shoot at some other locations as well? I liked the urban shots, but after some time I really, really wanted to see something new.

The story is pretty thin, almost to the point of non-existence. We don't find out anything about the "basic" reality, why exactly Ash wants to go to Special A, and so on. I think those who think this movie was sophisticated have simply created their own story, themselves. I mean, it's one thing if a movie makes you think, another if you have to write the story yourself to make any sense of what's happening on the screen. Avalon's story is so generic that you can give it pretty much any meaning, background and motivation you want. Maybe that's what people like in this movie. For me watching it was a rather painful experience at times (did I mention bad acting?). It's not your average Hollywood movie, but it doesn't make it a good one. An interesting experience, but still, I wouldn't necessarily want to repeat it.

A good movie, but not an outstanding one. I will not tell anything about the plot; once you know more or less what this film is about, you can basically determine what is going to happen and there is nothing in this movie that could surprise you. I'm not saying this is bad, since this movie was not meant to surprise by sudden action twists. What is really remarkable about this movie is the atmosphere of a small town, which is portrayed perfectly, good acting by both main characters and moments when you literally cannot stop laughing. For example, the group of people protesting in front of main character's house... but there are many others.

What I have to say against this movie is that basically it doesn't say anything new about intolerance. I expected something more than some well-known truths and behaviors and few (then again, maybe not so few) admittedly good laughs. If you like Jerzy Stuhr this is definitely worth watching for his acting alone, but if you don't... well, decide for yourself. For me - 7/10.