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he film is set in a bleak future, where the population is hooked on an immersive virtual reality video game called Avalon. Despite its popularity the game can be deadly, leaving players' bodies catatonic in the real world. One player of the game, Ash (played by Polish actress Małgorzata Foremniak), hears of a secret level hidden within Avalon. The film follows her quest to find the level.

The film's colour palette is mainly sepia tones, helping to blur the line between the real world and that within the game itself.

The film is typically Mamoru Oshii styled in its pacing and editing. It is relatively slow paced, reinforcing the mundane nature of the world Ash lives in and highlighting the excitement of playing the game. The film also features a basset hound, a breed of dog common in Oshii's films, since he has one, named Gabriel (ガブリエル, gaburieru).

The films score is by regular Oshii collaborator, Kenji Kawai.

[edit] Reception

Even though the film was produced and directed by a Japanese crew, it is a half European-half Asian work since Avalon was co-produced by a Polish film company, starred Polish actors and was filmed mostly in Wrocław, Poland with Polish dialogue.

In Europe, Avalon was selected for the prestigious Cannes Film Festival and won awards in others European festivals. It was awarded the "Best Cinematography" at the "Catalonian International Film Festival 2001" in Spain.

In United Kingdom, it won the "Best Film" award at the London "Sci-Fi Film Festival 2002".

However, the film received only limited release in North America (with most of its fanbase created via the circulation of bootleg DVDs imported from Asia) until Miramax released it on DVD in late 2003. The North American version has added narration to make it easier for Americans to understand the plot; although the option to view the film without the English overdubbing is provided, the subtitles still display the added dialogue. The British region-free DVD has literal English subtitles which explain the King Arthur connection better and does not display added dialogue.

Such viewer help was not used in European countries, like France, where local editions only features optional subtitles about the Polish sung opera piece, in the Polish spoken original version only though.

[edit] Story

In a distant future there is a new form of video game. In a kind of virtual reality, players fight with modern, medieval and fantasy weapons in a world marked by war. Especially in higher levels the spirit of the player may stay inside the game, and the body stays vegetating in hospitals in the real world.

When Ash gets challenged by a better player, she makes up a team to get to a secret game level named "Special A".

[edit] The game
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Malgorzata Foremniak as Ash.
Malgorzata Foremniak as Ash.

Avalon is a forbidden online game set to virtual reality graphic level. Ingame earned credits can be used in real life as currency. Just like in modern FPS online tournaments seen in North America or in South Korea, semi-professional players get money prizes.

Oshii describes his game as a "military RPG" (ミリタリーロールプレー, miritarīrōrupurē). However, it mixes elements of Role Playing Game and First Person Shooter (FPS); it borrows from the Wizardry series Oshii played extensively during three years he was unemployed, in the 1980s.

From the RPG genre it borrows the character types such as Fighter, Thief or Bishop, and the level-up system based on experience points and featuring upgradable skills such as Dexterity, Luck or Strength. With the FPS genre it shares the real time fighting mode, including selectable firearms, such as semi-auto pistols (Walther PPK and Mauser C96), sniper rifle (Dragunov SVD) and rocket launcher (RPG-7). With these two genres, it shares the common principle of player hierarchy. In Avalon, players are ranked after three levels, Class C, Class B, Class A. Elite Class A players are rumored to be able to play a hidden extra mode featuring different rules and named Class SA (for "Special A").

Like in modern real life online games, players can join an informal team, called "party" and play the game as allies. Also, depending on the player's personality, some users would prefer to remain a standalone player, which enhances overall difficulty but, in other hand, preserves independence and a sufficient discretion required for sniping technique. Teammates can have a real time vocal communication through a microphone and share vital information only heard among the party.

To complete levels within the game, players must defeat powerful end-of-level bosses similar to those found in classic video games.

Players wear headsets which immerse their senses in the game world. The headset and chair installation are designed after the cult French SF short film, La Jetée, Oshii's fan.

As an interesting first, this movie features the appearance of lag, a gameplay error due to network transfer slowdown often encountered in online games.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Similar films

The film's concept of a virtual reality world is similar to those in The Matrix, eXistenZ, The Thirteenth Floor and .hack.

Similar lines of contemplation on where the "reality" truly is, appear in very subtle clues. A previous viewing of Ghost in the Shell and its sequel (also by Oshii) would probably give a greater depth to the understanding of this enigmatic film.

Visually, the film is close to titles like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Brazil and the Animatrix anthology's animated short A Detective Story, where somber colors are used and technologically-advanced equipment has anachronistically old-fashioned interfaces.

The sepia tones of the film, and much of the atmosphere and style are reminiscent of Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker.

The visually closest films to Avalon are probably Japanese. First one is Oshii's 1987 live-action film debut, The Red Spectacles, whom it shares the sepia tone, the dystopian ambiguous European style background (à la Dark City), Retro-fiction design and references to La Jetée. The second one is the 2005 short film, Images of the Last Battalion, by Kishita. This student work draws heavy visual special effects and editing influences from Avalon, while it is thematically based on the Kerberos saga, another work by Oshii, whom the young director paid a tribute.

The scene with Ash in the tramway is a live action recreation of a similar scene appearing in the 1999 anime feature film Jin-Roh, he did not directed but he wrote the original story and screenplay instead. This scene is based on Oshii's own teenage experience, when he used to spend entire days spinning in loop in the Yamanote line. [1]