''Avalon'' is a 1990 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ' ...

and starring

Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role i ...

Aidan Quinn Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an American actor who made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), ''Stakeout'' (1987), ''Aval ...

Elizabeth Perkins Elizabeth Ann Perkins (born November 18, 1960) is an American actress. Her film roles have included '' About Last Night'' (1986), ''Big'' (1988), ''Avalon'' (1990), and '' He Said, She Said'' (1991), ''The Flintstones'' (1994), ''Miracle on 34th ...

Joan Plowright Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, (née Plowright; born 28 October 1929), professionally known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English retired actress whose career has spanned over seven decades. She has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Ton ...

, and

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Wood ...

. It is the third in Levinson's

semi-autobiographical An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...

tetralogy of "Baltimore films" set in his hometown during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s: ''

Diner A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a com ...

'' (1982), ''

Tin Men ''Tin Men'' is a 1987 American comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Mark Johnson, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, and Barbara Hershey. It is the second of Levinson's tetralogy "Baltimore Films", set in h ...

'' (1987), and ''

Liberty Heights ''Liberty Heights'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. The film is a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s. Portrayed are the racial injustices experienced bot ...

'' (1999). The film explores the themes of

Jewish assimilation Jewish assimilation ( he, התבוללות, ''hitbolelut'') refers either to the gradual cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture or to an ideological program in the age of emancipation promoting conform ...

into American life, through several generations of a Polish immigrant family from the 1910s through the 1950s. The film was released to critical acclaim, and was nominated for four

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and three

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

Plot

It is the late 1940s and early 1950s, and much has happened to the family of

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Sam Krichinsky since he first arrived in America in 1914 and eventually settled in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Television is new. Neighborhoods are changing, with more and more families moving to the suburbs. Wallpaper has been Sam's profession, but his son Jules wants to try his hand at opening a large discount-appliance store with his cousin, Izzy, maybe even do their own commercials on TV. Jules and his wife, Ann, still live with his parents, but Ann is quietly enduring the way that her opinionated mother-in-law Eva dominates the household. Ann is a modern woman who even learns to drive a car, although Eva refuses to ride with her and takes a streetcar instead. The family contributes to a fund to bring more relatives to America. Slights, real or imagined, concern the family, as when Jules and Ann finally move to the suburbs, a long way for their relatives to travel. After arriving late and finding a Thanksgiving turkey has been carved without him, Uncle Gabriel is offended and storms out, beginning a feud with Sam. Sam also cannot understand the methods his grandson Michael's teachers use in school, or why Jules and Izzy have changed their surnames to Kaye and Kirk as they launch their business careers. But when various crises develop, including an armed holdup and a devastating fire, the family gets through the problems together.

Cast

as Sam Krichinsky ** Michael Krauss as young Sam *

as Jules Kaye ** Kevin Blum as young Jules *

as Ann Kaye *

as Eva Krichinsky ** Dawne Hindle as young Eva *

Leo Fuchs Leo Fuchs (May 15, 1911 – December 31, 1994) was a Polish-born American actor.Mendelovitch, Bernard (January 18, 1995).Leo Fuchs (obituary). ''The Independent''. independent.co.uk. Retrieved November 10, 2018. According to YIVO, he was born ...

as Hymie Krichinsky ** Bernard Hiller as young Bernard *

Lou Jacobi Lou Jacobi (born Louis Harold Jacobovitch; December 28, 1913October 23, 2009) was a Canadian character actor. Life and early career Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Canada, to Joseph and Fay Jacobovitch. Jacobi began acting ...

as Gabriel Krichinsky ** Michael Edelstein as young Gabriel *

Eve Gordon } Eve Gordon (also known as Eve Bennett-Gordon) is an American actress. Her television roles include playing Marilyn Monroe in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries ''A Woman Named Jackie'', Congressional aide Jordan Miller in the short-lived sit ...

as Dottie Kirk *

Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 80 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's legal film ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in '' Grump ...

as Izzy Kirk * Israel Rubinek as Nathan Krichinsky ** Brian Shait as young Nathan *

as Michael Kaye ** Tom Wood as Michael Kaye as adult * Grant Gelt as Teddy Kirk * Mindy Loren Isenstein as Mindy Kirk * Curtis Carnathan as Alexander Kaye *

Shifra Lerer Shifra Lerer (August 30, 1915 – March 12, 2011) was an Argentine-born American Yiddish theater actress based in New York City. Lerer appeared opposite every major Yiddish theater actor during her career, which lasted 90 years. She was also ...

as Nellie Krichinsky ** Christine Mosere as young Nellie *

Mina Bern Mina Bern (May 5, 1911 – January 10, 2010) was a Polish and American actress. She was a star of the Yiddish theater. Biography Mina Bernholtz was born in Bielsk Podlaski in Poland. Her theatrical debut was in Bialystok under the director Y ...

as Alice Krichinsky **

Anna Bergman Anna Bergman (born 5 May 1948) is a Swedish former actress. She is the daughter of film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman and choreographer-director Ellen Lundström, sister to Eva, Jan, and Mats Bergman (twin); and half-sister to Daniel Be ...

as young Alice * Frania Rubinek as Faye Krichinsky ** Mary Lechter as young Faye *

Ronald Guttman Ronald Guttman (born 12 August 1952) is a Belgian actor, theatrical producer and film producer. Career Guttman was born in Uccle. He started appearing in French language productions in Europe in 1975, appearing in his first English-language film ...

as Simka *

Herb Levinson Herbert S. Levinson (October 10, 1929 – November 19, 2012) was an American television and movie actor. Levinson played a variety of character roles, often set in Baltimore, Maryland. Most notably, he played the character Dr. Lausanne in the NBC ...

as Rabbi Krauss

Relationship with other "Baltimore films"

Levinson frequently places links between his films that are set in Baltimore. For example, there is an image of a diner under construction. A Hudson automobile purchased in ''Avalon'' was used in ''

''. The house that the Krichinsky family leaves to move to the suburbs was used as a residence in ''

''.

Reception

''Avalon'' holds a rating of 86% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10.

Accolades

Soundtrack

* ''

Avalon (soundtrack) Avalon is the original soundtrack of the 1990 in film, 1990 film ''Avalon (1990 film), Avalon'' starring Armin Mueller-Stahl, Elizabeth Perkins, Kevin Pollak and Elijah Wood. The original Film score, score was composed by Randy Newman. The score ...

Home Media

''Avalon'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in 2001.

References

External links

* * *
JUF : Tweens : Movies : Avalon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avalon (1990 Film) 1990 films 1990 drama films 1990s English-language films American drama films Columbia Pictures films Films about families Films about immigration to the United States Films about Jews and Judaism Films directed by Barry Levinson Films scored by Randy Newman Films set in Baltimore Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Films shot in Baltimore Independence Day (United States) films Jews and Judaism in Baltimore Polish-American culture in Baltimore Thanksgiving in films TriStar Pictures films Yiddish culture in Maryland 1990s American films