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Avalon
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by Sony Pictures
Sales Rank: 16575
Price: $9.95
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Writer-director Barry Levinson is at his best when exploring his native Baltimore during his formative years: the 1950s and 1960s. This film, drawing upon family stories, tells a compelling, amusing tale about an extended group that came to America one by one, each earning enough to bring the next sibling. The new, American-born generation--represented by Aidan Quinn and Kevin Pollak--see a future in that mysterious machine known as the television, even as the older generation, led by Armin Mueller-Stahl, finds its traditions shattering or being put aside. Funny, tragic, and telling, it's a terrific, multifaceted film that ultimately details the breakdown of the oral tradition in the wake of television's burgeoning popularity. <I>--Marshall Fine</I>
Viewer Reviews
`Avalon' is a beautifully complete look at family life and how it becomes so easy for us to lose our focus on the important things in life the further we get from our roots. Barry Levinson, the writer and director of this beautiful piece of cinema, drew from personal experiences (members of his family even appear in the film) in order to create a very real and emotionally connected film that anyone can enjoy and relate to. At its heart it is a film about family, regardless of class distinction or nationality, and we all come from a family.
`Avalon' tells the story of the Krichinsky family, a Polish-Jewish family that moves to New England, one family member at a time, at the dawn of the 20th century. The younger generation wants to take advantage of their new land and make a success of themselves, while the older generation struggles to keep relationships as strong as they once were in a land that forsakes culture for convenience. As the film progresses through the lives of the family we get to see each and everyone within the film flourish and grow. The contrasting states of the elder Sam and the younger Jules and the even younger Michael are seen in a beautiful array of emotional resonance.
What I genuinely appreciated about `Avalon' is that it never pressed sentimentality for an overtly dramatic effect. Case in point; within a few minutes of the films running time Jules is stabbed during an altercation with a robber. Instead of milking this for all its worth and creating an overly sentimental issue out of the stabbing, the film quickly moves on. This is a wonderful way for the film to create a very natural setting, allowing it to infuse its script with scenes of drama and weight without appearing to be `trying to hard'.
Each scene feels natural and relatable.
As Jules and his cousin Izzy attempt to create a name for themselves with their department store, Jules father Sam tries to keep his family together, and Jules son Michael tries to wrap his head around everything that is happening all at once. These three men (two men and a boy) prove to be the focus of the film and the film is truly told through their perspectives. Thanks to some wonderful acting, these men come to life before our very eyes.
Armin Mueller-Stahl creates a truly beautiful parental performance, warming and touching to the core. As he struggles to keep his family together we can see his dismay as they move further and further away from that close nit relationship they once experienced. Sam laments about the fact that the further they get from Avalon (the place which they lived upon their initial arrival to the States) the further they get from each other. Aidan Quinn is also wonderfully genuine as Jules. He creates a man who we can understand and rally behind as he attempts to bring his family into the 20th century. Elijah Wood though is the star here. His portrayal of young Michael is beautiful, truly grasping the child's wonderment and intrigue in his surroundings.
The supporting cast is also fantastic, from Elizabeth Perkins to Joan Plowright to Kevin Pollack, all of whom add many layers to the Krichinsky family.
There are many films about families from abroad who make their ways to the American shore (another wholly effective one would be the more recent `In America') and this is truly one of the better ones. It is emotionally connective, tremendously moving and in the end wonderfully entertaining. It is a film that everyone can enjoy, a film that the whole family can relate to and one that all can grow to love.
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Avalon
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