Avalon is an Arthurian gothic cyberpunk movie shot in Poland by a Japanese director! I already loved Mamoru Oshii’s animations Ghost in the Shell and Jin-Roh (he directed the former and wrote the later), but an old European tale remixed with American cyberpunk by an Asian, now that’s something.
I have a lot of respect for the unique talent Japanese directors have for slow and fascinating movies, when silence becomes more meaningful than words. By that standard, Takeshi Kitano‘s Sonatine and Hana-bi rank very high, while his "American movie" Brother is too talkative, as if he wanted to make sure the public "got it." For those who don’t know him, Kitano directs and writes movies, and is also an actor (whom I should see soon in Battle Royale, with a bit of luck my download should be over by tomorrow). I’m always wondering how hard it must be to direct yourself (when you play in a movie you also direct).
