Avalon (1990)
A Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.
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Surprisingly incoherent and boring
Just what I expected
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
It was like watching 30 Woody Allens frantically talking at the same time. At some moments a bit overwhelming but, all in all a good movie, also reminds me on Woody Allen's "Radio days". America, when the american dream was still a thing people believed in.
As quite a few people have pointed out, this will especially appeal to people who migrated to other countries. It doesn't have to be the USA, it could be the people who came to Germany after the second world war or other countries. With Armin M. Stahl you have a heavyweight actor, but you also get Elijah Wood as a kid. Who knows if someone thought he'd become famous like that, back then? The title of course is a clue in itself, but the movie is nicely paced drama. I only watched it this year (at the Berlin International Festival) but I think the impact the movie has, still works. It didn't lose anything over the years. Hopefully you are in the right state of mind, while watching it
I have shown this movie in entry-level college geography classes, as it is first of all a fine film, but second because it so clearly illustrates concepts of acculturation, assimilation and the American "melting pot." The story certainly could be told, and re-told, from a number of other perspectives (i.e., another city, another ethnicity, even a different starting decade), but despite its length, Avalon captures so much of a way of life in our country that has eroded throughout time. College freshmen, on the whole, seem to really enjoy this film, and papers that I ask them to write on it have been thoughtful and provocative.The story is multi-generational, and centers on an immigrant arriving in Baltimore, MD in the early 1900s. It then traces his life forward through the generations, all the while noting how the impact of being in a new country changes him and his descendants. The cast does a fine job, Levinson's direction is superb, but pay attention to subtle nuances! This is one of those films that I can pick up something different every time I watch it.Highly recommended.
The family members in this film could have been my own. This gentle look at the struggles and successes of an immigrant family could not have been more realistic or more beautifully filmed. Mr. Levinson deserves praise for his humor, pathos and eye for detail.The family members who bicker with each other about the little things, still share love and tradition. When success and the modern world move them apart from one another, some traditions get trampled, but the bonds of family remain.The scene at the end when the grandson brings his son to visit the grandfather, was perfect in its bittersweet closure to the saga. The Americanization of the family is complete with this 4th generation child who asks why the grandfather talks funny. The young boy is told by his father that the (great-)grandfather came from a different place to this country and found it to be beautiful.I highly recommend it; especially to those who do not remember THEIR immigrant ancestors.Thank you, Mr. Levinson.