AVALON - accattatevillo !

[lanzo]

noleggiato oggi, appena visto

felice sorpresa! assolutamente da non perdere, può trattarsi di un titolo che ami o odi ma sicuramente é DA NON PERDERE!

per quanto mi riguarda mi ha fatto dimenticare matrix, all'inizio sembra un titolo appagante solo per i videogamer, in realtà si tratta solo di una scelta estetica, inquadrature alla "quake" si alternano a quelle isometriche dei videogame rpg, atmosfera angosciante, da non vedere con la famiglia!

audio in DTS con effetti molto realistici, ad un certo punto ho sentito bussare alla porta e stentavo a credere fosse il film (forse perché uno dei primi film che vedo con il pre rotel)

c'é poco da raccontare, é un film che va visto, per me una piccola chicca ed evitate i soliti "non é un capolavoro", troppo facile così

inoltre uscirà su 3 dischi con versione HD!

[lanzo]

intervista col regista:

Directly at the beginning of Avalon, we enter a world at war, an agressive world, but the ambiance is very smooth, very dreamlike. Was it a way for you to tell the audience : "you are about to see a movie that is not your typical action movie" ?

"Yes it is true that for the action scene at the beginning of the movie we did use a time streching technique, a digital effect, to make it a sort of dreamlike scene, so that the audience would know that this is a world that does not exist anywhere else, that it is a special world. Afterwards they get to understand that it is actually a game universe. But I did want to convey with the opening scene and with the technique I used that the audience was entering a special world."

While I was looking at the storyboard for Avalon, I have noticed that probably everything was already drawn and thought about before the actual shootings. Was the storyboard done after the location hunting or did you have already every single shoot in mind ?

"Well, we first wrote the script, then we went for location hunting. We brought back a lot of still photos which we used to make the storyboard. Of course this film was shot in Poland, so in advance I knew that communication problems might occur. I knew that it would be important to prepare everything very well in advance. That's why we had a very detailed storyboard. When I make animation film I also use storyboards but in this case in particular, I wanted to prepare everything as well as I could.
In the end, the shooting went very well, thanks to the fact that we had prepared this storyboard in great details. I really thought in advance : "OK, for this scene there has to be that many children, that many women in this other scene, etc... It was all prepared very meticulously. Thanks to that everything went perfectly."
How did you feel during the shooting ? Were you at ease or was it a completely new experience for you ?

"I must say I was very relaxed on the set in Poland... I though it was much easier than film sets in Japan where I'm always very nervous because everybody is fighting and there is always a very difficult atmosphere !
Of course it helped that we had plenty of crew in Poland, but still, I was pleased with the fact that everybody was very professional about what they had to do, everybody knew exactly what their task was. It was very clear-cut. I don't know if all European film sets are like that or if I was just lucky with this particular experience, as it's my first and until now only experience with a European film set. The experience was so good that I really became to dislike Japanese film sets, even more than before !"

The very specific aspect of the images, all the work done during post-production, was it a clear idea ? Did you see exactly what kind of colors and blur effects you wanted to use or was it an experimental process ?

"I had already in my mind the basic idea, before entering post-production. Mainly based on stills that we brought back from Poland before the shooting. But during the post-production a lot of things changed along the way. I tried different things and, for a very long time, I made many tests with digital effects. I actually locked myself in a dark room with a computer for about three months, repeating this and that, trying again and again... As a result I think I managed to insert many interesting ideas and I'm quite pleased with the results. It was the first time I did something like this and it was quite a good experience for me. I think that I would like to continue working that way..."

You seem to have a lot of artistic freedom... you use mostly a visual language instead of a narrative language. Using symbols and images to tell a story is quite an intimate way of making films. Is it easy for you, during production, to work in collaboration with others ?

"Well actually, when we had a meeting with the crew in Poland, there was a big problem because nobody seemed to understand e xactly what was going on. They were saying : "what kind of story is this going to be ? what do you really want to do ?". There is this one script girl who has been working with me on four films, and she told everyone : "Look. I've been working with this guy on four films already, and I still don't know what he really wants to do... so it's better just not to think about it !" and somehow they seemed to understand and get into that feeling that we don't have to really understand what is going on...
But, of course it is a pity, also for my animation works. In the way that this sort of premise that you normally have of mutual understanding, of common knowledge of the concept of the film, is often lacking in my case, it is not there. This makes me a lonely man on the set. The director's position on the set is already the most boring one, but in my case even more..."

The leading character of Avalon, Ash, lives in a world where the meaning drifts away : statues have no faces, books are filled with empty pages, people stay still,... Was it a way for you to describe the lack of meaning and sens in our society ?

"What we perceive as reality depends on ourselves. If you live in a world where you repeat the same action every day you m ay indeed be in a very empty and meaningless world. And that might be one of the aspect I wanted to depict with the images you mentioned in your question.
When Ash enters the game she makes a deal, there are rules and there is a concept. In that sense the necessity for books and faces on statues disappears. A lot of meaning, information and data get lost that way if you focus only on the deal of the game and the repeated action that you have to perform. But for me personnally this imaginary world in which Ash lives in is not really different from what I conceive as my real world. I don't make any clear distinction."

Moreover, she has no references to a concrete reality : either a family, an affective environment or a working, social environment. It seems that she constructs her identity only in the context of the game. Is it also a way to say that we should construct ourselves our perception of reality and our identity ?

"The name Ash is not her real name. When players use computer games they give themselves nicknames. But even when she returns to her room after playing at the game she can't really remember what her original name was... like you said, she has no memory, no relation with family or work. Actually, I talked about this with Malgorzata Foremniak when we were shooting the film. I told her "the only thing that you can remember, and be sure of, is that there was a woman called Ash. How do you intend to act it out ?" And of course there was a problem... but she seemed to understand and from there on it worked very well. She had the right expression on here face, the one I needed.
So, yes, what is her identity ? it is true that most people seem to relate to their family, the work they do or the name they have. But it would be a mistake to think that we can deduct our identity from the reality in wich we live in. I think we should decide for ourselves what the reality should be, because the identity is, obviously, already within us. It should be the other way around, from identity to reality. Our identity should allow us to create and decide for ourselves what we perceive as reality."

Was it difficult to find the actress who plays Ash ?

We had an audition in Poland... but actually I didn't see that many actresses, only about five. Of course I didn't know anything about polish actresses so I left it up to the polish production partner to gather possible candidates. Among the five that I saw, I didn't hesitate one second : the moment I met Malgorzata Foremniak I knew her face was the right one for what I had in mind. So in this sense, the audition went very smoothly, there were no hesitations. She has really strong eyes... that was very impressive..."

But you still had to transform them, didn't you ?

(laugh) "Actually before I left Japan, the crew made jokes : they all accused me of wanting to search for another Major Kusangi, the heroin of Ghost in the Shell !"

You seem to be very influenced and inspired by the European culture... You already used tales by the brother Grimm and Charles Perrault for the script Jin-Roh, and now for Avalon, the Arthurian legends. How did you get acquainted with these old European stories ?

"I'm often asked why I like these old European legends so much and it's not easy for me to give a clear answer to it. I did like them from very early on, from when I was young. Somehow, I can't really explain why, Japan as an environment to set my movie does not seem to fit my work. Ever since about 20 years ago, when I first became a film director, I didn't really fit in the Japanese film world. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am an animation artist, and that I spend a lot of time in imaginary worlds during the creative process. So I don't have great interest in the reality of what Japan is like these days, as a film subject at least. So that is how Europe always seems to come into the picture. But if you ask me why... I'm not sure that I can really explain. I do have a big interest for Europe in the Celtic age. For Avalon as well, the elements of the Arthurian legends represented something I really wanted to use.
I often talk about this with this other famous manga director, Hayao Miyasaki (director of Princess Mononoke). The European influence is psychologically very complexe, it is not just that we are simply infatuated by Europe, it is more that we really dislike certain aspects of the way things are in Japan these days. And of course in animation it is easy to situate everything in a different world which is not Japan. If you look at Japanese animation films these days, most of them won't have character with Japanese faces. It is not that they have any other nationality in particular, but they are definitely not Japanese. And also for Avalon, of course, I really liked the general impression I had of polish faces when we went looking for location.
Again it's not easy to explain why... but it isn't just me : there seem to be quite a lot of people who agree with the fact that they have a great disatisfaction with the reality of Japan these days. That's why we shift our focus towards Europe."

[ZIKY]

Non so se tu sia il rappresentante di dvd della casa distributrice e vuoi fare un po' di pubblicita'...... mi dispiace contraddirti ma e' il film + brutto e "angosciante" che mi e' passato tra le mani da molto ma molto tempo

il filone action -fantascienza mi piace e anche molto,ma questo film per me e' UNA VERA CIOFECA ATOMICA!!!!

L'unico film dalla notte dei tempi che a 3/4 ho tolto dal lettore e lo stavo spezzando in due... VERAMENTE INGUARDABILE

Dubito che tu abbia visto il mio stesso film.....

[stazzatleta]

Lanzo, faccio prima a noleggiarlo e vederlo piuttosto che a leggermi tutta quella pappardella in inglese

[sasadf]

stazzatleta ha scritto:
Lanzo, faccio prima a noleggiarlo e vederlo piuttosto che a leggermi tutta quella pappardella in inglese

in effetti pure in italiano sarebbe stato un mattone....


vediamo un pò se su ebay lo troviamo va....

walk on
sasadf

[lanzo]

Dubito che tu abbia visto il mio stesso film

ci sono molte zone a parma dove sono stati effettuati esperimenti di modificazione genetica, probabilmente fai parte di una di queste zone, mi spiace di essere io ad informarti ma qualcuno doveva pur farlo

stazzatleta

se ci sono riuscito io con la terza media ce la potete fare anche voi! certo che se lo noleggi é meglio

se non volete angosciarvi o non amate l' arte riguardatevi matrix

[sasadf]

lanzo ha scritto:
ci sono molte zone a parma dove sono stati effettuati esperimenti di modificazione genetica, probabilmente fai parte di una di queste zone, mi spiace di essere io ad informarti ma qualcuno doveva pur farlo

stazzatleta

se ci sono riuscito io con la terza media ce la potete fare anche voi! certo che se lo noleggi é meglio

se non volete angosciarvi o non amate l' arte riguardatevi matrix

su ebay ciccia.....
walk on
sasadf

[lanzo]

non c'é ancora in vendita, lo trovi solo a nolo

[stazzatleta]

mi avete incuriosito, stasera provo a vedere se è disponibile dal mio pusher.

[ZIKY]

prova,prova...... poi mi sai dire.....

[ZIKY]

lanzo ha scritto:
ci sono molte zone a parma dove sono stati effettuati esperimenti di modificazione genetica, probabilmente fai parte di una di queste zone, mi spiace di essere io ad informarti ma qualcuno doveva pur farlo

stazzatleta

se ci sono riuscito io con la terza media ce la potete fare anche voi! certo che se lo noleggi é meglio

se non volete angosciarvi o non amate l' arte riguardatevi matrix

lasciamo stare il matrix2,e il 3, ma se mi paragoni matrix ad avalon allora non sto' neanche a discutere.....

[lanzo]

ma no sicuramente, sono 2 cose completamente diverse, avalon é come un bel b-movie, visto dagli occhi di uno che ha passato quasi 2 anni a giocare online rasentando il limite della sanità poiché ho accusato anche qualche attacco di panico ed epilettico prima di tornare alla vita normale

diciamo che l'ho preso come un documentario azzeccato che poi si é rivelato un messaggio molto simile a quello di matrix sorprendendomi

probabilmente l'ho guardato con scetticismo e per questo motivo ne sono stato affascinato ancora di più

con questo non voglio ridimensionare le mie impressioni "a caldo", ma sono sicuro che il titolo sarà gradito da pochi veramente

dovrebbe comunque fare riflettere tutti noi su quello che stiamo vivendo e su quello che cerchiamo dal futuro, avremo bisogno di evadere dal caos odierno cercando regole in un mondo sintetico per sentirci vivi o avremo salve le nostre anime nel terreno dell'eden?

io nel dubbio mi sono comprato world of warcraft e adesso me lo installo

[ZIKY]

lanzo ha scritto:

dovrebbe comunque fare riflettere tutti noi su quello che stiamo vivendo e su quello che cerchiamo dal futuro, avremo bisogno di evadere dal caos odierno cercando regole in un mondo sintetico per sentirci vivi o avremo salve le nostre anime nel terreno dell'eden?

[/I]

ADCEPPAM


cmq per me pitch black e' un gran bel b-movie , avalon puo' essere un bel z-movie....

aspetto pareri di altri!!!

[stazzatleta]

no way

ho dovuto ripiegare su Hero e Io-Robot, di Avalon neanche la locandina. appena arriva, posto

[ZIKY]

sai e' il nuovo matrix ... va a ruba.....