Synopsis
This is an animation masterpiece, every frame handcrafted by Oscar-winning director, Adam Elliot; eight years in the making and very much one man’s vision. Eliot’s own inventive and quirky creation of a surreal world where he blends tragedy, humour and pathos into a unique experience. From the sombre colour palette alone, you recognise that this is not conventional stop-motion cartoon light entertainment. Its messages of learning how to heal the soul and the importance of love are very much for adults and are told entirely through the personal history of one character, Grace Pudel, who, despite the film’s title, is not a snail.
Grace loves snails and, sitting on her garden bench, she tells her life-story to her favourite, Sylvia. In 1970’s Australia, close knit twins Grace and Gilbert are separated to the opposite ends of the continent while still children. Grace faces every imaginable setback in her life, becoming overwhelmed with sadness and withdrawing from life into her ‘shell’. She finds safety living in a pretend world and comfort in collecting and hoarding books and snail-related tat. Her life begins to change when she receives wise advice from colourful pensioner, Pinky. Beautifully voiced by Sarah Snook as Grace and a fantastic Jacki Weaver as her eccentric friend Pinky, it deals frankly with a number of difficult subjects with maturity and honesty.
Truly original, the whole is striking and strange but full of feeling. Although Grace’s life is beset by ill-fortune and sadness, there is room for lots of visual gags, albeit very Aussie ‘dark’ humour. With its eccentric characters and philosophical storytelling, this is a poignant, bittersweet fable of survival and overcoming.
Language:English
Additional Info
Why Watch?
“It’s a rich, deeply moving narrative, albeit one told to a snail named after Sylvia Plath, with the filmmaker’s writing on a par with the skill and care behind Memoir Of A Snail’s craftsmanship.” (Empire)
“Elliot is a master of the art of gallows humour, and this appealing ‘clayography’ is as hilarious as it is heart-wrenching – frequently within the same scene.” (Screen Daily)
Director’s Comments - Adam Elliot
Living Forward: Adam Elliot on “Memoir of a Snail”, RogerEbert.com, November 6, 2024
“My films are all very similar in that they’re all comedy tragedies. In each draft, I’m trying to balance those two emotions, the light and the dark, as much as possible. I’m trying to make sure the film isn’t too bleak but also that it’s not too vacuous and full of gags. I’m always trying to get that lovely balance.”
“For me, it’s always the story first, animation second. The audience will always forgive bad lighting, bad animating, bad acting, but they’ll never forgive a bad story.”
Location
Cheltenham Film Society, Bacon Theatre, Hatherley Rd, Cheltenham, GL51 6EP
