Adam Elliot or: Affirmation of Life Without the Kitsch

I watched my first Adam Elliot movie yesterday—Memoir of a Snail—and now I am enchanted by his life-affirming tales about lovable misfits. Many aspects surrounding his craft are unique and appealing to me: the hand-made claymation, the exceptional work of the voice actors, the Australian accents and cultural jokes, and the clinicalness of how misfortunes are introduced to the plot; the latter being one of the great strengths of the film.

The film constantly addresses death, trauma, loss, sadness, chain-smoking, alcohol abuse, loneliness, obesity, kleptomania, and being irritated by others and life itself. It does so just as life itself would serve these things to us: neutrally, clinically, almost passively. Because there is no inherent evil to them, they are merely side-effects of our existence. I am glad that Elliot avoids excessive emotionalism here: By not heightening the effects of the shit that happens to all of us while being alive, he allows small, mundane acts and events to contribute to the healing. Don’t get me wrong: The story touched me more and more by the minute and I definitely weeped bitterly, but not because the characters on the screen showed me to, but because the story told me to.

When the comedic parts of this tragicomedy take over, the film shines again. With its subtle and captivating humor and an offering—not a prescription—of tools and strategies to meet misery. By leaving out the kitsch, Elliot gifted me something way more precious than a corny ending: A story that treats life as seriously as I treat mine, but in the most playful manner possible.

Luckily, I had the chance to watch my second Adam Elliot film immediately after returning from the movies: filmfriend includes Elliot’s first feature film Mary and Max (2009) with both English and German audio tracks and subtitles! And if you are like me and can’t get enough, have a look at Adam Elliot’s Youtube channel with his short films Uncle (1996), Cousin (1999), Brother (2000), and Oscar-winning Harvie Krumpet (2003). On top of that, Cineville’s link collection of Elliot shorts also includes Human Behavioural Case Studies. Season One. (1996) and Ernie Biscuit (2015).