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Avalon (1990 film)

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Avalon
Avalon theatrical release poster
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBarry Levinson
Written byBarry Levinson
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAllen Daviau
Edited byStu Linder
Music byRandy Newman
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Baltimore Pictures
Distributed byTri-Star Pictures
Release date
  • October 5, 1990 (1990-10-05) (United States)
Running time
126 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Yiddish
Budget$20 million[1]
Box office$15.7 million[2]

Avalon is a 1990 American drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson and starring Armin Mueller-Stahl, Elizabeth Perkins, Joan Plowright and Aidan Quinn. It is the third in Levinson's semi-autobiographical tetralogy of "Baltimore films" set in his hometown during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s: Diner (1982), Tin Men (1987), and Liberty Heights (1999).[3] The film explores the themes of Jewish assimilation into American life, through several generations of a Polish immigrant family from the 1910s through the 1950s.

The film was released to critical acclaim, and was nominated for four Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

Plot

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It is the late 1940s and early 1950s, and much has happened to the family of Polish Jewish immigrant Sam Krichinsky since he first arrived in America in 1914 and eventually settled in Baltimore.

Television is new. Neighborhoods are changing, with more and more families moving to the suburbs. Wallpaper has been Sam's profession, but his son Jules wants to try his hand at opening a large discount-appliance store with his cousin, Izzy, maybe even do their own commercials on TV.

Jules and his wife, Ann, still live with his parents, but Ann is quietly enduring the way that her opinionated mother-in-law Eva dominates the household. Ann is a modern woman who even learns to drive a car, although Eva refuses to ride with her and takes a streetcar instead.

The family contributes to a fund to bring more relatives to America. Slights, real or imagined, concern the family, as when Jules and Ann finally move to the suburbs, a long way for their relatives to travel. After arriving late and finding a Thanksgiving turkey has been carved without him, Uncle Gabriel is offended and storms out, beginning a feud with Sam.

Sam also cannot understand the methods his grandson Michael's teachers use in school, or why Jules and Izzy have changed their surnames to Kaye and Kirk as they launch their business careers. But when various crises develop, including an armed holdup and a devastating fire, the family gets through the problems together.

Cast

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Relationship with other "Baltimore films"

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Levinson frequently places links between his films that are set in Baltimore. For example, there is an image of a diner under construction, recalling the director's Diner, which also featured a Hudson automobile whose purchase figures in Avalon's plot.[4] The house that the Krichinsky family leaves to move to the suburbs was used as a residence in Tin Men.[4]

Release and reception

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Tri-Star Pictures released Avalon on October 5, 1990, initially in six theaters before expanding the following week to 600. Levinson criticized how the studio underpromoted the film and expanded its release too soon, while studio president Michael Medavoy would later defend himself stating "Avalon wasn’t a wide-market movie, and we spent a lot of money to prove we could do it well. Putting it in a lot of theaters maximized the chance of making back our investment. Maybe we guessed wrong, but I don’t think anyone in the business could have squeezed another nickel out of it--or Bugsy, for that matter".[5]

Avalon holds a rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes from 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10.[6]

Accolades

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Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen Barry Levinson Nominated [7]
Best Cinematography Allen Daviau Nominated
Best Costume Design Gloria Gresham Nominated
Best Original Score Randy Newman Nominated
American Society of Cinematographers Awards Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases Allen Daviau Nominated
Artios Awards Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Drama Ellen Chenoweth Nominated [8]
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Best Film Nominated
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Barry Levinson Nominated [9]
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated [10]
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture Barry Levinson Nominated
Best Original Score – Motion Picture Randy Newman Nominated
Grammy Awards Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television Avalon – Randy Newman Nominated [11]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Music Score Randy Newman Runner-up [12]
National Board of Review Awards Top Ten Films 9th Place [13]
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Supporting Actress Joan Plowright Runner-up [14]
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen Barry Levinson Won [15]
Young Artist Awards Most Entertaining Family Youth Motion Picture – Drama Nominated [16]
Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture Elijah Wood Nominated
Best Young Actor Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Grant Gelt Nominated
Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Mindy Loren Isenstein Nominated

Soundtrack

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Home Media

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Avalon was released on DVD in 2001.

References

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  1. ^ "AFI|Catalog".
  2. ^ "Avalon (1990)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  3. ^ Levinson, Barry (November 14, 1999). "Barry Levinson: Baltimore, My Baltimore". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b Levinson, Barry; Kornbluth, Jesse (1991). Avalon; Tin men; Diner: Three Screenplays. Atlantic Monthly Press. p. xx. ISBN 0-87113-435-7.
  5. ^ Dutka, Elaine (December 13, 1992). "The Toys in His Attic : Barry Levinson intended 'Toys' to be his first directorial outing, but somehow : 'Diner,' 'Good Morning, Vietnam,' 'Rain Man' and 'Bugsy' got in the way". The Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ Avalon (1990), retrieved 2022-11-17
  7. ^ "The 63rd Academy Awards (1991) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  8. ^ "Nominees/Winners". Casting Society of America. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  9. ^ "43rd Annual DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  10. ^ "Avalon". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  11. ^ "34th Annual GRAMMY Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  12. ^ "The 16th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "1990 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "1990 New York Film Critics Circle Awards". New York Film Critics Circle. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  15. ^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  16. ^ "12th Annual Youth in Film Awards". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
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