Avalon is a feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 directed by Barry Levinson

Barry Levinson

Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...

. It is a mostly autobiographical

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

 story of a family of Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

-Jewish immigrants

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

 to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 who settle in Baltimore, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, at the beginning of the 20th century. The movie follows the family as they grow, become more prosperous, and eventually own a large home appliance store. Avalon explores the themes of assimilation

Jewish assimilation

Jewish assimilation refers to the cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture. Assimilation became legally possible in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment.-Background:Judaism forbids the worship of other gods...

 and how modernity

Modernity

Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...

 has changed American family life.

Cast

• Leo Fuchs
  Leo Fuchs
  Leo Fuchs was a Polish-born Jewish American actor. According to YIVO, born Avrum Leib Fuchs in Warsaw; according to Schechter, born in Lemberg, Galicia, then Poland, now Lviv, Ukraine)....
  
   — Hymie Krichinsky
• Eve Gordon — Dottie Kirk
• Lou Jacobi
  Lou Jacobi
  Louis Harold "Lou" Jacobi was a Canadian character actor.-Life and career:Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Ontario to Joseph and Fay Jacobivitch...
  
   — Gabriel Krichinsky
• Armin Mueller-Stahl
  Armin Mueller-Stahl
  Armin Mueller-Stahl is a German film actor, painter, writer and musician.-Early life:Mueller-Stahl was born in Tilsit, East Prussia...
  
   — Sam Krichinsky
• Elizabeth Perkins
  Elizabeth Perkins
  Elizabeth Ann Perkins is an American actress. Her film roles have included Big, The Flintstones, Miracle on 34th Street, About Last Night..., and Avalon...
  
   — Ann Kaye
• Joan Plowright
  Joan Plowright
  Joan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
  
   — Eva Krichinsky
• Kevin Pollak
  Kevin Pollak
  Kevin Elliot Pollak is an American actor, impressionist, game show host, and comedian. He started performing stand-up comedy at the age of 10 and touring professionally at the age of 20...
  
   — Izzy Kirk
• Aidan Quinn
  Aidan Quinn
  -Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...
  
   — Jules Kaye
• Israel Rubinek — Nathan Krichinsky
• Elijah Wood
  Elijah Wood
  Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
  
   — Michael Kaye

Relationship with other Levinson films

Levinson likes to place links between his films that are set in Baltimore. A Hudson automobile purchased in Avalon is later purchased and used in Diner

Diner (film)

Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:...

. The house that the Krichinsky family leaves to move to the suburbs is later used as a residence in Tin Men

Tin Men

Tin Men is a 1987 comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Mark Johnson and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito and Barbara Hershey. It is part of Levinson's series of "Baltimore Films", set in his hometown during the 1940s through the 1960s...

.

Awards

Avalon received Academy Award nominations for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Music, Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design. Levinson's script won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay

The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America Award....

.

External links

• JUF : Tweens : Movies : Avalon