In the pop-culture realm, gastropods seem to be en vogue. First, Junji Ito transformed ordinary humans into strange snail-like creatures through a wicked curse in Uzumaki and now, an IFC Films release is receiving a lot of publicity as word-of-mouth regarding Adam Elliot’s recent animated feature spreads and Memoir of a Snail slithers toward what feels like a lucrative awards season for the animator. Could this film represent his next Oscar?
Elliot’s tragicomic Harvie Krumpet won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2004 and this Snail could very well bring home multiple trophies in the near future for the filmmaker.
Memoir focuses on Grace Pudel who’s currently all alone, but she wasn’t always flying solo. As Grace tells her life story to her favorite pet snail, a long flashback begins.
Grace and Gilbert are twins. As described, the children have two souls but one heart, and their mother dies after childbirth. Their father’s a French street performer/animator, who later becomes an alcoholic paraplegic with sleep apnea. That’s definitely a lot of drama for a pair of young children to deal with.
Once the father dies, the kids are sent to separate foster homes on the polar opposite ends of Australia. She’s sent to a childless couple who are swingers, and he lives with an uber religious family on an apple farm — quite the contrast. Both are living separate lives trapped within a cage they can’t escape, but their only hope remains in the letters they write each other.
“Childhood was like being drunk… everyone remembers what you did, except you.”
Grace meets the elderly Pinky while volunteering at a library. The two unlikely friends become quite close, while Gilbert remains all alone. This friendship eases Grace’s sadness and loneliness, and her obsessive snail shrine fills the emptiness left by her family.
Boredom, hoarding and eventually stealing random items fills her life, while being broke and living like a hermit. Her pathetic life has truly gotten out of control when she randomly meets a microwave repairman, and it is love at first sight.
But just when you think her luck is finally turning itself around, a new predicament develops.
“Life isn’t about looking backwards… it’s about living forwards.”
In this day and age of digital media, stop-motion animation simply doesn’t get enough love. As a Child of the ’80s, the technique was more prevalent back then, and I’ve always been a fan. Watching this serious story with such funky animation, it’s enough to make you jump whenever the random raunchiness appears. These scenes provoke hearty chuckles out loud that definitely catch you off guard, which are just as quickly followed by the oncoming streams of tears that will form as the tragic storyline unfolds.
You may have heard of the Claymation technique, but when you combine Claymation plus a biographical storyline, you get Clayography, which is a very good summary of Elliot’s preferred writing and visual style. The animation looks great. There’s a lot of heart going into the story and it clearly feels like it’s based on the auteur’s life. Maybe that’s why it’s so effective.
After all the pain and suffering that’s happened to these characters, it’s not a stretch to want them both to eventually live happily ever after. And in order for that to happen, they’ve got to deal with unresolved grief, loneliness and being imprisoned in uncomfortable places. The emotional connection you, as the viewer, make with these misfits is strong.
Because of this, I’ve got high hopes for the film during awards season.
The Wild Robot has already wowed critics and is making a lasting impression worldwide with its $300 million box office. Earlier this year, Inside Out 2 became the highest grossing animated movie of all time, so there’s definitely going to be a strong competition in the upcoming Best Animated Film category, but why limit the film’s possibilities?
Provoking multiple rotations of hysterical laughter and being an absolute tearjerker, there’s no doubt Snail could and should compete with this year’s best live-action films in the best screenplay category. And because the movie also tackles difficult topics successfully, I have no qualms with Snail also competing in the much-coveted Best Film category, as well. It’s that good.
“Losing a twin is like losing an eye… you’ll never see the world quite the same way again.”
You may not recognize Adam Elliot’s name or his visual style, because his films generally don’t receive wide releases, here, in the U.S., but The Academy knows the filmmaker well. For his previous projects, he’s used the film-festival circuit to gather up a strong word of mouth presence for this film, and I’ve got a feeling its recognition will be successfully building as the awards season progresses.
Memoir of a Snail is a magical movie that is both beautiful to see, and hear, as it is filled with a variety of very strong voice actors, including Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver, Eric Bana and Nick Cave(!). When these characters’ fears and hardships reveal themselves, hope and inspiration is equally in abundance. Collecting snails is a common theme within this family, as they try to manage their emotions.
And because it’s accomplished with such grace, I really do believe Memoir will be a major contender at the next Academy Awards show.
“Life can only be understood backwards… but we can only live it forwards.”