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Away (2019 film)

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Away
Directed byGints Zilbalodis
Written byGints Zilbalodis
Music byGints Zilbalodis
Production
company
Bilababa
Release date
Running time
75 minutes
CountryLatvia

Away (Latvian: Projām) is a 2019 animated silent film, written and animated by Gints Zilbalodis, a Latvian film-maker, who also wrote the screenplay and recorded the score.[2] It is animated using the computer program Maya.[2][3]

Summary

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The film follows a boy who parachutes onto land, where he finds a motorbike and an injured bird. With these, he sets off to reach an initially unknown goal, pursued by a shadowy giant monster, which drains life from every living being that crosses its path. The film is divided into different chapters, each individually named.[4]

Release

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It was presented at the 2019 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, winning the Contrechamp Award.[5][6] It was also presented at the Tokyo Film Festival,[4] and the London International Animation Festival.[7]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "A haunting and refreshing odyssey, Away's vision will whisk audiences away to its stunning oasis."[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[9] Variety praised the visual and soundtrack aspects of the movie but highlighted weaknesses in the story-telling.[4] Some reviewers talked about the surreal nature of the work and the minimalist soundtrack.[2][4][5][10] Several reviewers focused on the effort required for a single person to create an entire animated film,[2][4][5] and the opportunities modern animation software offers to independent film-makers.[3][4]

Awards

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The film was nominated for the Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production at the 47th Annie Awards.[11] Away won Best Animated Film at the 2019 Lielais Kristaps, the largest Latvian film awards.[12] The Lielais Kristaps award jury (which included Lolita Ritmanis, Boriss Frumins [lv], Larisa Gūtmane, Dāvis Sīmanis [lv], Zane Balčus and Arvīds Krievs [lv]) also remarked upon the achievement of one person making an entire film, stating "When awarding the prize, the jury wants to emphasize the film's unique visual and audio fantasy world, which the author has convincingly created alone."

References

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  1. ^ "Animafest.hr".
  2. ^ a b c d "Away review – silent, surreal and entrancing animation". The Guardian. 2020-08-27. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  3. ^ a b "Away review: a lone animator on the open road". BFI. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Debruge, Peter (2019-12-01). "Film Review: 'Away'". Variety. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  5. ^ a b c "'Away': Film Review | Annecy 2019 | Hollywood Reporter". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  6. ^ "'I Lost My Body,' 'Mémorable' and 'Daughter' Win Cristal Awards at Annecy 2019". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  7. ^ "LIAF 2019: Away FEATURE (15) – London International Animation Festival". Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  8. ^ "Away (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  9. ^ "Away Reviews". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  10. ^ Solomon, Charles (27 November 2019). "Review: The minimalist, nearly silent animated film 'Away' points to a talent to watch". LA Times. Archived from the original on 2019-11-27. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  11. ^ "47th Annie Awards" (PDF). annieawards.org. 25 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-05-01. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Paziņoti Lielā Kristapa 2019 laureāti - Nacionālā Kino balva - Lielais Kristaps". www.lielaiskristaps.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2021-01-09.
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