Beautiful
but forbidding, this island exists somewhere between the natural world and your
subconscious. To survive, a young boy must survive the elements and an
archetypal monster that could be real or a product of his own unconscious fears—or
both. It is only seventy-five minutes, but animator-director-screenwriter-producer-editor-composer
Gints Zilbalodis’s Away will likely be one of the most memorable (and
possibly divisive) films that has premiered at the 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival.
The
boy wakes hanging from a tree, dangling by his parachute, when suddenly he
comes face to face with the monster. He extricates himself in the nick of time,
but the monster follows and follows. Despite his best efforts, he cannot shake
the silent hulk, even with the help of the timely warnings provided by the
yellow canary, who becomes his traveling companion. At least the scenery is
beautiful to behold.
Whether
you love it or hate it, give Zilbalodis credit for crafting a remarkably
distinctive piece of animated cinema. There is no question, some people will
not love it, given its complete lack of dialogue and heavy symbolic
weightiness. We never really get to know the boy as a character, but that
hardly matters. It is all about the journey and the spectacle (the sight of the
giant is especially haunting). Many of have already compared Away to
Michael Dudok de Wit’s The Red Turtle, which is apt, but try to imagine
a teaspoon of A Monster Calls thrown into the mix.
If
you buy into Away, it becomes a hypnotic cinematic experience. Visually,
it is a true stunner. The details of the island’s environment look as if they
could be of our Earth, yet somehow the way they are put together feels alien
and exotic. Even if you can only engage with Away on a surface level, you
should still appreciate Zilbalodis’s artistry.
Away
looks
awesome, but it also sounds quite striking, thanks to Zilbalodis’s minimalist soundtrack,
which could pass for the work of Philip Glass. It is an amazing work of
auteurist animation in the truest sense, given how many roles Zilbalodis
played. Away really is its own cinematic island. Very highly
recommended, Away should be on GKIDS radar following its North American
premiere at this year’s Fantasia.
