AVALON (OSHII) (2001)

Cast

Plot

A hybrid science fiction movie from Manga Man, Mamoru Oshii. Set in a dystopian future, the young inhabitants of an anonymous Eastern European state (well, it might be Poland...) have become dangerously addicted to a virtual reality game called Avalon. Ash, a lone player who lives a solitary existence begins to get drawn deeper and deeper into the game and before long it becomes unclear as to whether she can ever find her way back, or whether she wants to for that matter. Using tinted monochrome images (only close-ups of food and the deceptive environment of Class Real are in full colour), elements of Arthurian myth, memories of Eastern Bloc war movies and CG effects of staggering sophistication, this plays like The Matrix re-imagined by Jan Svankmajer.