Rarely has a film intentionally silent film been ab keto capture the imagination without uttering a single word like Away does. There are animated films such as WALL-E where half the film is without a large amount of dialogue but incorporates different sounds and eventually robotic voices and noises before introducing characters that talk. Away shows us a world that looks like something we’ve seen somewhere and lands us immediately into a story that could be interpreted in a myriad of ways, which is, apart from the beautiful simplistic style of animation, is its key charm.
A young boy finds himself in a strange island after waking up suspended in a parachute. After narrowly escaping a strange entity, the boy ends up on a journey across the island. Along with a little bird as his companion, meeting other animals and encountering beautiful landscapes, they try to reach civilisation and out run the ominous entity that pursues them.
Director Gints Zilbalodis creatively constructs a world, its rules and brings us along for the ride through the boy in the story. By choosing no dialogue, there is no point of the film where you feel as if you’ve been removed from the world created. There are moments of pure bliss and freedom followed by those of ever closing despair that are all portrayed by creatures that show little emotion yet these immense feelings are manifested. At first glance is seems as if the film is not yet completed but the simplistic style of the animation strips back what is needed to enjoy the story being told. The scenes details, the landscapes are beautiful, in particular the mirror lakes. As the film doesn’t try to manipulate the audience into thinking how and why the boy ended up on the island, one interpretation is that it feels like a video game. As the boy collects items along the way, following a road that is mapped out with giant rings that signify a change in terrain, he also encounters different creatures, all the while checking where he is going according the postcard map, he finds with the backpack and motorbike he finds at the start of his journey. It’s as if he must complete levels at each chapter of the story.
It is indeed a beautifully formed film that feel unconventional and a style that needs to be used more in feature films. A journey story that is unlike any other, whether it is real, a dream or a game that one has to play, Away is the ultimate escapism that we all need right now.
Now available on Curzon Home Cinema and available to buy on all digital platforms