I always sort of feel sorry for a film like Adam Elliott's Memoir of a Snail that finds itself in the crosshairs of a conflicted Heartland International Film Festival audience. Rest assured that this year-topping animated feature is most appropriate for Heartland, however, Heartland does possess a number of old-fashioned Heartland purists for whom anything outside the realm of something like feel-good Air Buddies flicks or faith-based drivel is a step too far in the cinematic journey.
Fortunately, things they are a changing and more and more of the Heartland filmography is filled up with adventurous, risk-taking films like this masterfully melancholy endeavor about a lonely girl and her embrace of snails. Elliott, for those unaware, picked up the 2004 Academy Award for Best Animated Short for Harvie Krumpet and has become beloved for his remarkable visual style and attention to character development.
What I would be most careful of is to not confuse this decidedly adult animated feature for the much more family friendly Marcel the Shell with Shoes On from 2021. This feature, while just as soulful and meaningful, possesses an R-rating and absolutely earns with with an abundance of sexual referencs, claymation boobs, narrative darkness, and pitch black subject matter.
I loved the film. You may not.
Australian cinema has always been a bit edgier and willing to take chances. Elliott is not one of those filmmakers prone to making a film a year. Memoir of a Snail is said to have been eight years in the making. It was worth the wait to live the story of Grace Pudel (voiced by Succession's Sarah Snook), whose life as it unfolds is one of heartache yet hopefulness with a whisper of optimism in her vocals despite nary a reason to express it. Grace's mother died giving birth to "Gracie" and her twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Left to be raised by her paraplegic/alcoholic father Percy (Dominique Pinon), Gracie's life becomes more tragic when he too passes away. Destined for separate homes, it would seem that Gilbert got the worst of it being raised by religious cultists. However, neither of them is living a life unscathed.
Gracie, who unsurprisingly retreats into her own shell, ends up in a most abusive marriage in a life somewhat salvaged by her growing friendship with the much older Pinky (Jacki Weaver).
Some will lament that despite the film's relentlessly bleak goings on that Elliott ultimately ends this enchanting tale with a whiff of optimism and hopefulness. I'm not sure it's completely earned narratively, however, having taken this journey with Gracie I was still grateful for it. Everything here is beautiful to behold. Memoir of a Snail is easily the most beautifully animated film I've seen this year and narratively the most risk-taking tale that manages to both entertain and deeply move. Again, the film earns its R-rating with nudity, sex, and various other exaggerated references that are giggle-inducing and kind of gross.
Yes, I loved them.
The voice work is strong across the board, Snook and Weaver particularly shining with Eric Bana and Nick Cave also here for good measure. Memoir of a Snail is probably closer to Henry Selick than Marcel, though comparing it to any other film seems unjust as this is a rather magnificent animated feature all its own possessing everything we've come to know and love from Adam Elliott.
Picked up by indie distributor IFC Films, Memoir of a Snail is currently on a limited arthouse release and should most assuredly be remembered come awards season.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
