28 Oct 2004: Added some more thoughts from Kathy to the Thoughts page
26 Oct 2004: Thanks to Paul Wilson for passing this link along: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/04/oshii.html
19 Oct 2004: Added some new items to the Thoughts page following an exchange of emails with Gordon Clason
18 Oct 2004: Added details for the UK Region 2 DVD to the DVD page. The short version is – much as rumoured/reported below. I also have some new material for the thoughts page which I’ll put up later this week – this is a “stop press” update to get the DVD details out
08 Oct 2004: Added some thoughts from Ollie McDaniel
02 Oct 2004: I’ve found a few more sites that confirm a two disc release (so maybe I’m going to be proved wrong about the content of the release. That said, I still can’t find any more about what is going to be on the disc. More info welcomed!
02 Oct 2004: dvdtimes.co.uk reports that the UK release will be a two disc set, but doesn’t have any more information on extras beyond what’s noted below. The catalogue number is BLD24 for DVD (and BL24 for VHS).
29 Sep 2004: play.com has a bit more about the R2 UK Avalon DVD now, but it’s not particularly good news. Polish language with English subtitles (ie not the R1 English dub of the US disc). There’s a faint chance of these being new English subtitles, but I have my doubts judging by the rest of this information. No mention of sound formats, so don’t expect the Polish DTS soundtrack. The extras are spartan too – Making Of and Avalon SFX with no mention of whether they’ve been subtitled in English. Compared with some of the other Canal+ group releases (BlueLight, the UK distributor, is part of the group and I think Cineart are too) this is very much a poor cousin (compare the French releases for instance). Release date is 18 Oct and running time is 102 minutes (ie no cuts, which is expected after it got a 12 certificate from the BBFC for cinema exhibition). I have the disc on pre-order and will update the DVD page once I’ve got the disc. At the moment the best disc remains the Korean one, providing you have a multi-region DVD player. The US R1 disc also merits a mention for its English dub and additional dialogue.
27 Sep 2004: IMPORTANT… Please note that the Bluelight site below (see entry on Sep 6) is seriously out of date. When it talks about a first UK showing it’s referring to a couple of years ago! Although Avalon tends to show periodically in film festivals and the like there’s not much chance of seeing it in a cinema now… but it’s not long until the UK DVD edition comes out. I have it on pre-order so I’ll update the DVD page as soon as I get my hands on the disc.
14 Sep 2004: At long long last a UK DVD release of Avalon is coming. It is currently listed on play.com with no information about extras and listed as Polish language, English subtitles. The release is mid-October – extra information welcomed!
6 Sep 2004: Two more Avalon sites to visit. The first, http://www.avalonthemovie.com/, is Bluelight’s site for the UK first showing of Avalon a couple of years ago. The second which I thought I’d already mentioned here in past news is Cineart’s which was launched to co-incide with the DVD release in Belgium. The site is at http://www.avalon-movie.com.
6 Sep 2004: That coming-soon item mentioned before hasn’t come through yet, but what I do have today is information from Marcel Smetsers on two Dutch editions of Avalon. This reminds me – if anyone’s got news/rumours about a UK release – please share them.
10 Jul 2004: Look out soon for a new item on the thoughts page. In the meantime Kathy has found a site that discussess themes running through Oshii’s films – see what you think! The page is http://www.evilnet.net/~jhfong/amv/rain/
28 Jun 2004: Added a couple more thoughts from Kathy, this time thinking about the relevance of the dog(s) and Ash’s gradual acquisition of clothing and accoutrements as she leaves the terminal in Class Real
26 Jun 2004: Added a new item to the thoughts page from Kathy – continuity error, or something deliberate – what do you think?
6 Jun 2004: Added links to two essays by Gérard Kraus from the Two articles from Gérard Kraus page
4 Jun 2004: Gérard Kraus reports that Avalon will have a showing on German TV next week – 13 June at 20:15 on the German Sci-Fi channel. Interestingly the film is titled “Avalon – play for your life”
31 May 2004: Added some thoughts contributed by Paul Beentjes
05 May 2004: Apologies for the lack of updates for a while – I’ve been moving home. Two items that came in whilst I was between houses have now been added to the thoughts page.
27 Feb 2004: Added some more thoughts from a correspondent who prefers to be anonymous, but sees parallels beyond the Arthurian theme into the entire realm of chivalrous (or otherwise) behaviour. Also added a passing observation from one of my friends that bears some further thought.
07 Feb 2004: Not one but two treats today! Lucas Worwag has contributed a new original translation from the Polish spoken dialogue and James Byrne has performed an exhaustive translation effort working from the various Japanese sources (spoken, subtitles, and materials in the Memorial Box set). You can find the results on their efforts on the script translation page.