Only lightweights who don’t know how to party would hold big events on a Sunday night. What kind of nonsense is that? Sunday is for recovery if you are doing it properly. So clearly, this is one reason (of many) why the Oscars are so lame. Throw in a decent Saturday night tear-up, followed by a trip to for a kebab at 3am with a possible punch-up, and you could see some real ratings. Still, they will be here on Sunday night, so this may well be the final Oscar Watcher from Outposter Mhatt. We salute him! This time – Memoir Of A Snail.
Memoir Of A Snail
Written and Directed by Adam Eliot. Starring: Jackie Weaver, Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Saxon Wright, and Eric Bana.
Memoir Of A Snail is a look at the early life of a melancholic introvert with an obsession with snails who gradually learns how to navigate the rough sides of life.
Grace Pudel (Snook) and her twin brother Gilbert (Smit-McPhee) are born into a depressing world. As they exit her womb, their mother enters her tomb, leaving them in the care of their crippled, gambler, alcoholic father, Bert (Wright) where they form a powerful and protective bond despite living in abject poverty.
Backlit by an affinity for animals, caring for a homeless former magistrate (Bana), and their parents’ unconventional love story, the kids aspire to be artists. Gilbert trains to be some sort of fire magician while Grace practices stop-motion animation and, for a little while, their meager lives are manageable.
Showing off its relentless endurance, bad luck finds the family yet again, resulting in the twins being separated and sent to opposite sides of Australia, where their desperate dream of eventual reunion helps them endure some pretty awkward stuff. Grace lands with an accountant couple, obsessed with self-help and sex parties, while Gilbert ends up with a hyper-religious family of apple farmers locked in an endless cycle of worship and work.
The only colour in either person’s life is the elderly and eccentric Pinky (Weaver), who comes into Grace’s life and provides her with companionship and inspiration through her dedication and determination to live life to its fullest.
Homes are made and gardens are tended, love is lost while hearts grow stronger, comforts become obsessions, and Grace and Gilbert discover the hardest lesson in life is learning how to hold on to what you love.
Overall, Memoir of a Snail is a bittersweet tale about two kids born into bad luck who learn to make it through. The story works on several levels due to the richly rendered stop-motion animation and being told through a series of extended flashbacks narrated to a beloved snail named Sylvia. Director/writer/co-star Eliot won an Oscar in 2003 for best animated short and uses his bigger platform effectively, filling the screen with rich details and low-key vibrancy that allow his characters’ sporadic moments of levity to shine through the bleakness.
The voice work is superb, the character designs are charming, and the dialogue is insightful and cleverly layered by playing in tandem with some subtle visual cues. The running length is just over ninety minutes, which keeps the narrative moving while maintaining a compassionate balance of humour and heartache.
Memoir of A Snail is a bit bleak and, for what is essentially a family film, is not really for kids but is deserving of all the recognition it has achieved so far with hopefully a bit more come this Sunday.
Why You Should Or Shouldn’t Watch
Nominated for Best Animated Feature (*my choice to win)
Only recommended viewing for stop-motion animation fans, proud Australians, and everyone who has ever dived a little too deeply into a hobby to carry them through dark and uncertain times.