Memoir of a Snail (M)
Directed by: Adam Elliot
Starring: Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Eric Bana
Review by: Julian Wright
Prepare for an emotional roller-coaster ride all played out in eye popping stop-motion animation.
“Plain Jane” Grace (Sarah Snook), a young woman from Australia in the 1970s, narrates the highs and (mostly) lows of her turbulent youth.
Her gentle voice guides us through her fascination with snails borne out of her mother’s death, home life with her twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and widowed, alcoholic father Percy (Dominique Pinon), his death, the twins’ separation and living with different families on opposite sides of the country.
Grace finally finds an ally in Pinky (Jacki Weaver), an elderly free-spirit with a few quirks of her own.
Memoir of a Snail is at times almost unbearably tragic, and others, hilarious to the point of side-splitting.
As dark and hopeless as Grace’s experiences get, there is a sweet innocence and nonchalance about her, making her experience and her reactions to them even more astounding.
As jaw dropping as the artistry is, the unpolished look of the stop-motion material adds to the melancholic atmosphere.
Writer/director Adam Elliot’s beautiful film is so richly detailed, from the script (story, characters, emotions, dialogue) to the visual (production design), that it demands a second viewing.
Not a single inch of frame is left unfilled with handmade furniture, props, background visual gags and more, and yet, it never feels cluttered or the tone shifts ever jarring.
Elliot’s masterful achievement is kooky and quirky in the best way – its slightly unhinged take makes for one of the freshest and most endearing films you will see this year.
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