(https://i.imgur.com/Ixi0ufV.png)
Studio: IFC Films
Release Date: 3/25/2025
Rating: R
Film Grade: C
The Story: Prompted by the death of a dear old friend, Grace tells her own life story to one of her pet snails, Sylvia, while releasing all of them to the freedom of her departed friend’s garden.
My Take: This Australian production was a nominee for Best Animated Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards, ultimately losing out to Flow. But don’t let the category fool you, this is not a title meant for children, it’s strictly aimed at adults. Themes of death, dementia, sexual peculiarities, nudism, alcoholism, and religious fanaticism abound. If the little ones aren’t repelled by the subject matter, they’ll be bored. There are some broad, genuine, laugh-out-loud moments that might entertain them, but not enough to keep them engaged.
The snail in the title is metaphorical, as Grace identifies closely with those shell-protected gastropods. She recounts her existence from womb to adulthood. It’s a life filled by depressing event after depressing event, as we see the various stages she, and her twin brother Gilbert, have to deal with as life shifts around them. Along the way, we meet a variety of other eccentric characters, each with distinct tales of their own. The largest of all is Pinky, a vibrant elderly woman with unrestrained and unconventional views about anything and everything, with a soft spot for the lonely and alone.
The script consists of eclectic vignettes, that feel cobbled together rather than part of a cohesive whole. This is partially explained by the director in the extras when he talks about collecting interesting stories as ingredients for his films. While those individual stories can be compelling, they don’t always seem to fit, similar to constructing a picture puzzle out of corn flakes, as one of the characters attempts. Add in the unrelenting cloudy fate that covers Grace and Gilbert, and you end up with a predominately dour experience.
The one thing it has going for it is the stop motion animation. Once thought to be a dying art form, it’s finding a minor resurgence. One has to admire the dedication and patience required to create a movie like this. The characters are all unique in style, not looking like either the enduring Rankin Bass creations from the 60s and 70s, nor like the charming characters from Aardman. The team behind this film have given it a distinctive style that isn’t exactly glamorous. The facial designs range from average to homely to mildly repulsive. These aren’t smooth, plasticky looking models. Instead faces are typically weathered and craggy, often marked with deep lines and wrinkles.
Along with that is a rich abundance of background detail that practically begs the viewer to freeze frame it just to absorb it all. This is especially evident in the opening title sequence, as the camera glides over a collection of seemingly random objects. Fans of British comedies may get a kick out of seeing an animated version of The Two Ronnies on the family's telly. But packing such scenes with content has its disadvantages. It can be distracting, but it can also call attention to things not meant to be noticed. This reveals itself as Grace erases obscene graffiti from a reference book. The pages consist of the same paragraph repeated over and over. Books play a large part in the movie, and titles are also repeated, occasionally in the same scene. Both are an indication of either being rushed or sloppy, which isn’t a good look.
The voice acting is a mixed bag, and I’m going to put that on the shoulders of the director, Adam Elliot. Sarah Snook narrates the tale with a low-key, almost monotonous tone that has a numbing effect. Think of a female version of Steven Wright’s deadpan style, but without the jokes. In contrast, Jacki Weaver is touching and affecting as the elderly Pinky, who has a much more interesting life than Grace. The rest of the cast is adequate.
I’ll add another bothersome part. Something happens in the movie’s epilog that we were specifically told wouldn’t happen. In the Director’s Commentary, Elliot says he’s surprised that it puzzles some audience members, which seems disingenuous considering Grace’s statement in the beginning of the film. There’s a possible out here, since the earlier quote is about a year before the narration that accompanies the ending event, but that’s just a cheat. The writer/director has complete control over all of that.
Visuals: The color palette perfectly matches the tone of the movie. Browns, grays, beiges, and rust dominate, giving the film an overall dismal look. There are some occasional bright colors to break things up, but they’re rare. Picture quality is sharp and provides good contrast.
Audio: The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix has some good panning effects. The soundtrack doesn’t feature a lot of music, but the score offers a low-key mix of strings and piano that fits the tone of the film. The dialog track occasionally follows the old Peanuts cartoon conventions by garbling adult voices when they’re talking to children. Other than that, characters are easy to understand, even with the Australian accents.
Special Features: This is one of the highlights of the disc, as the making-of featurettes show how the movie was conceived and shot, and an interview with director Adam Elliot offers some insight on how Pinky and the rest of the cast were created and directed. I’ll have to say that the interviewer for the Q&A was surprisingly good for one of these events.
- Director’s Commentary with Adam Elliot
- Q&A with Adam Elliot and Jacki Weaver
- Magic of Stop Motion
- Interview with Sarah Snook
- Making of Memoir of a Snail
- Behind the Scenes of Memoir of a Snail
Final Verdict: I agree with the director about animated films not automatically being for children. It’s an art form that can be used for any age, despite the public’s overall perceptions. I’ll reiterate here that this is not a movie for kids. The material isn’t suited for them in any way.
While it’s well crafted, the audio and video features don’t make up for a scattered script, further hindered by the sluggish voicing of the main character. Unrelentingly bleak, some may find the ending inspirational in some kind of pity-provoking, life-affirming way. I found it trite and unsatisfying, and was left feeling nothing but drained by the end.
I can only recommend this for devotees of stop motion animation as an art form. My grade reflects that perspective. The story alone would be a C-.
https://youtu.be/Ehc8cc7g31I
Bizarre Fact: One of the film’s seven animaters cut off the tip of her finger. In the rush to medical attention, they forgot about it. When they found it a few days later, it had dried and shriveled up. What else could they do, but to put it in a small glass jar and put it in the opening segment, where it can be spotted for a second?
My Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Oppo BDP-93
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup