Fifteen years after his acclaimed feature debut Mary & Max, Australian stop-motion maestro Adam Elliot is back with his sophomore effort Memoir of a Snail, which claimed the top honor in Annecy (much like the previous film had) and is set on a path of glory on the festival circuit, including San Sebastián and Zurich. Animation fans have already shown their appreciation, while casual viewers may be harder to win over given the movie’s dark subject matter, despite its attention-grabbing cast.
The story is told through the eyes of Grace (voiced by Succession’s Sarah Snook), a young girl living in Australia in the 1970s. After losing her mother, she began collecting snails, while also taking care of her father (French actor Dominique Pinon), a former juggler who became paraplegic and developed a drinking problem after an accident. Assisting her in the daily tasks was her twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee), until the day their father passed away.
Sent to foster homes on opposite ends of the country, the twins try to stay in contact via letters, and the film charts the growth of Grace, who has to learn to fend for herself without Gilbert (who habitually shielded her from bullies at school). As the years pass, the girl endures numerous hardships, but manages to maintain a cheery disposition thanks to her friendship with Pearl (a scene-stealing Jacki Weaver), a former table dancer.
Like all of Elliot’s work, Memoir of a Snail was entirely handcrafted, without CGI enhancements, and some cleverness was required due to budgetary constraints: as the director pointed out at the Annecy premiere, the cheapest way to simulate tears in claymation is to use lubricant. Yes, that kind of lubricant. It’s a detail that is quite fitting in the context of the film itself (one subplot involves a pair of swingers), and somewhat reflected in an aesthetic that is a bit dirty, on the fringes, far removed from the established canon of visual beauty in animation.
And yet, there is a warmth to the whole endeavor, not least in the vocal performances, which ground the heightened reality in an emotional sincerity that shines through from the very first frame. Even guest stars like Eric Bana (who was also in Mary & Max) and musician Nick Cave add something to proceedings, as opposed to merely injecting celebrity allure into the picture. Most affecting of all, of course, is Snook, who gets to reconnect with her roots in a significant manner after having spent a few years playing one of the Roy children on HBO.
The outlook on the world presented in the film may be on the bleaker side at times (occasionally even more so than in the director’s other works), which makes Elliot’s universe a bit of an acquired taste, but the willingness to go beyond the usual trappings of a stereotypically child-friendly medium to openly and frankly address concerns such as mental health and alcoholism is commendable. And just when one might have had enough of it, there is a choice visual gag – albeit a dark one – to shake things up. And while the title may refer to Grace, it can also allude to Elliot, who draws from episodes of his own life for his art and, much like snail, proceeds at a slow pace. But when he finally arrives, it was well worth the wait.
Director & Screenwriter: Adam Elliot
Cast: Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Eric Bana, Magda Szubanski, Dominique Pinon, Tony Armstrong, Paul Capsis, Bernie Clifford, Davey Thompson, Charlotte Belsey, Mason Litsos, Nick Cave, Jacki Weaver
Producers: Liz Kearney, Adam Elliot
Cinematography: Gerald Thompson
Production design: Adam Elliot
Music: Elena Kats-Chernin
Sound: Yvonne Stenberg, Gisle Tveito
Production companies: Screen Australia, Arenamedia
World sales: Charades
Venue: San Sebastián (Perlak)
In English
94 minutes