STACK #243 January 2025

MOVIE FEATURE

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whatever sport was inflicted upon me in the afternoon and you’d have footy franks dipped in tomato sauce. Or, as my mum called them, little boys,” he adds with a cheeky grin. ”I love Australian foods and in Mary and Max I had Cherry Ripes and sweetened condensed milk. It’s all the things I ate in the ’70s, which is all sugar”. But does he ever wonder if all of these quintessentially Aussie things will cut through to the wider global audience? ”I’m always questioning whether certain Australian icons or foods or characters are too Australian. I think Australians have a certain tolerance level for stuff that gets too Aussie. I try to get that balance of pleasing an Australian audience and showing our Australian-ness to an international audience. ”The French particularly see us as more exotic, and the more kangaroos bouncing down the street the better,” he laughs. ”Luckily I have very astute producers and a wonderful editor who knows when I’m going too far or something’s getting too sickly.”

Melbourne-based filmmaker Adam Elliot became a national pride when he won an Oscar for his 2003 clay-animation film Harvie Krumpet . He followed this success with Mary and Max in 2009, and now he returns with his best work, Memoir of a Snail . Words Glenn Cochrane

A s charming, delightful, and quirky as the new film is, be warned that it’s certainly not a children’s film. ”Yeah, the orgy scene sort of spoils it for kids,” joked Elliot when he sat down with STACK recently. He’s being facetious, of course, although any parents who are contemplating taking their kids to see this wonderful animated movie should note that it contains very mature themes, such as sex, masturbation, and key parties, as well as occasional coarse language and nudity. ”Yeah, look, I think the investors are always slightly nervous,” he adds. ”The only thing I really had to tone down was that Pinky (Jacki Weaver) swore a lot more, and I’m glad I did because I didn’t want it to be too over the top. The story follows Gracie (Sarah Snook), who narrates her life from childhood to middle age. After the death of their mother, Gracie and her

Joining Sarah Snook and the aforementioned players are Eric Bana, Magda Szubanski, and Nick Cave, all providing perfectly calibrated and subtle nuance to their characters. ”Sarah brought so many other dimensions to Grace that I had never thought of. And she brought a quietness. Sarah is actually quite shy and different to the characters she plays. She has that vulnerability and ticked every box. ”We were very lucky because we got all of the actors we wanted. It’s a very eclectic cast, we’ve got Nick Cave as well, and wonderful people like Paul Capsis”. When watching the film, we couldn’t get enough of Nick Cave as Pinky’s second husband, postman Bill, who showers her with love letters and poetry. ”Oh, I wish I’d written a longer poem. When I wrote that, I never in a million years would have guessed Nick Cave was going to voice it. When we recorded him, he said, ’What sort

Adam Elliot

juggler turned alcoholic. However, they’re separated after their father’s death, with Gracie living in Canberra and Gilbert in Perth. As the years pass, Gracie and her brother’s lives take different paths, and Gracie struggles to find her place in the world. She forms a close bond with an elderly woman named Pinky, who lives life to the fullest and helps her navigate various hardships. Gracie also finds comfort in her pet snails. It’s a beautifully touching story. It also captures a very unique

brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) become caregivers to their disabled father (Dominique Pinon), a former

of voice do you want me to do’ and I said ’No, no, I just want you to be Nick Cave’. And he was like, ’How Nick Cave do you want me to be?’, so I said, ’Just amp it up a bit. A bit more Nick Cave than Nick Cave’. He was great”.

and somewhat lost aspect of Australian culture, which Elliot laments. ”I’ve always had an affinity with Chiko Rolls,” he says, when recalling some of his favourite Aussie things. ”But also equally, footy franks. I remember getting home from

• Memoir of a Snail is out Jan 8

• The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is also available

22 JANUARY 2025

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