Borderline Cinema

[Figal-sensei]

In the last part of the interview with Oshii that we watched in class, he describes something he calls “borderline cinema.” How does Avalon fit that description as an example of borderline cinema?

[alappah]

I figured since no one else wanted to, I might as well give this a shot. If I remember correctly, wasn’t borderline cinema the type of cinema that kind of walks the border between realities? Oshii stated how he isn’t one to confine himself to one reality or think about things so simply as that (I think…) so this borderline cinema allows an outlet to explore what it’s like to have various simulated realities along with what we commonly would consider the “true” reality. Avalon does a great job as this type of film because there are multiple nested simulations underneath what we are shown to be “real” life. It also raises the interesting question of whether one would choose a different reality than their own in order to gain something like a better life. This is the question that confronts Ash, and one that Oshii seems to ask all of us. If the borderlines between realities were really that fluid, would we choose to come back to this one?

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