Away is simply mesmerising. A film created by one man, Gints Zilbalodis. He directed, produced, wrote and created the animation for Away and it is a triumph of production in this modern era, that a film of this quality can be produced, not by a huge studio such as Disney or Dreamworks, but from the love and passion of one man.
In Away, a young man is stuck in a tree in his parachute. When a shadowy spirit approaches, he promptly escapes and tracks his way across the island with a little yellow bird for a companion to make his way to the town on the other side of the island, but as he travels across it on a motorcycle he discovers, beauty, magic and danger.
Gints Zilbalodis has created a minor masterpiece in Away. His crafting of the entire movie without any dialogue just simply music and sounds make the film even more clever as you craft the narrative yourself, in particular the relationship between the young man and the bird. However Away’s strongest feature may also brings it’s strongest obstacle. Some members of the audience may not be able to ostensibly maintain concentration, being as it pretty much amounts to a silent movie.
The animation gives you a modern app based game feel. It never once fails to keep you entertained or swept away in the story and for its tight run time it delivers a tremendous amount that will have you fully invested from the first few minutes. The imagery is nothing short of stunning and what Gints Zilbalodis has achieved here really should be rewarded come awards season. Anything less would be a crime. In summing up Away, it is best to paraphrase St. Francis of Assisi…
“Watch Away at all times, If necessary use words”.
AWAY is available now from Apple TV and iTunes. It can also be purchased from Sky Store, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Rakuten and Sony from January 18th 2021.
