Review: Mary and Max (2009, Elliot)
February 12th 2010 01:06
Mary and Max (2009, Elliot)
Australia’s Mary and Max is the best animated film of 2009. That’s no easy feat since this is the same year that brought us Up. Like Pixar’s films, Adam Elliot’s Mary and Max shows us that animation can have just as much, if not more, relevance and depth as live-action cinema. Mary and Max is a stop motion claymation film about an 8 year old girl in Australia who becomes penpals with a 42 year old man in New York with Aspergers Syndrome. It is inspired by the director’s own relationship.
I’ve had dealings with someone affected by Aspergers Syndrome. It is perhaps one of the most paralyzing mental illnesses as it completely interferes with the ability to form stable relationships. When you have Aspergers Syndrome, it’s as if your brain is missing a filter. The filter that tells you not to say what you’re really thinking about someone or something. Aspergers patients are rude, abrupt, Aspergers, angry, abrasive, and most of all, difficult. Max suffers from all of the above symptoms and Elliot really has a grasp on the disease. Consider this piece of dialogue:
“He was 44 and liked The Noblets because they lived in a delineated and articulated social structure with constant adherent conformity.”
That about sums up the mentality of Aspergers Syndrome. Max Jerry Horowitz is voiced by an unrecognizable Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman’s natural voice disappears and becomes something completely different; he’s brilliant. Max embraces his disease. It’s something he’s lived with for years. His illness is a way of explaining why he can’t cope with certain situations. When faced with one of these instances, Max stands on a chair and rocks back and forth, panic stricken. For Max, his disease is almost a device for escapism. When Max begins exchanging letters with Mary Daisy Dinkle (voiced sweetly by Bethany Whitmore as a child and Toni Collette as an adult) she conjures up memories of childhood and adulthood alike that he’d rather put behind him. Mary unwittingly forces Max to face his fears, thus causing Max to shutdown.
For Mary, she just wants answers and a friend. She wants someone to listen to her, to answer where ‘babies come from in America’; she wants to find someone else who loves The Noblets as much as she does. Mary also wants help in dealing with bullies. The structure of these scenes, highlighted by brilliant narration by Barry Humphries, is perfection. The film perfectly blends witty humor with serious subject matter. The narration and voice-over work is simultaneously smile-inducing and tear-producing. Consider the fact that Mary has a birth mark shaped as poo, has a male rooster named Ethel and a mother who drinks Sherry (Mary thinks it’s tea for grown-ups) and puts groceries up her pants. There’s a montage in Up which is possibly the greatest portrayal of the lives of two people from childhood to old age. Picture 90 minutes of this and you have Mary and Max.
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Comment by Journeywoman
Great Hair Style Tips
The Mama Sutra
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Fashion Peach
As great as Mary & Max was, I think I like Harvey Krumpet even better - it's about a guy with Tourette's; it's really sweet and funny. Elliott got the Oscar for that one.
Comment by Cinema is truth
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Cinema is Truth
Comment by Journeywoman
Great Hair Style Tips
The Mama Sutra
I Dream of Hollywood
Fashion Peach