Avalon (1990) 1990 / A family moves to America in this bittersweet, semi-autobiographical drama

For the longest time, family was everything. Traditions were maintained, opportunities were made and created for it, and the community helped each other, especially for immigrant families, who only had each other. Avalon holds plenty of the nostalgia of early 1900s America, but it’s mostly bittersweet with the way the American Dream slowly eroded the extended immigrant family, with the ever-changing times shifting each nuclear unit’s priorities, circumstances, and connection to the clan. Like seafarers seeking the titular utopic island, Avalon ponders on the way the family worked to reach for an abundance that they didn’t get to share as a whole.