If the news of this Wednesday, January 15 promises to revolve mainly around Wolf Man et BabygirlFrench spectators would be wrong to neglect Memoirs of a snail. A few weeks after the winning return of Wallace et Gromit on Netflix, Adam Elliott’s offering reminds us that stop-motion is one of the most vibrant and gripping cinematic mediums. Memoirs of a snail is our favorite of the week at the cinema!
“Childhood is the best season”
After Mary and Max In 2009, Adam Elliot returned to directing a feature film for the cinema. With Memoirs of a snailthe director traces the life of a young woman steeped in complexes and trauma. But to imagine a brighter future, everyone must sometimes look to the past. From his early childhood to his rebirth, the film is a long story that multiplies beautiful ideas. When her father dies, the happy life of outsider Grace Pudel is turned upside down. She is taken from her twin brother Gilbert and sent to a foster family who ignores her. She sinks into despair when her path crosses that of Pinky, an eccentric old lady who will offer her a second chance to be happy.
Narrated by Sarah Snook in the original version, Memoirs of a snail unfolds his story as beautiful stories are told. The film constantly oscillates between comedy and tragedy to better immortalize these pieces of life which shape the protagonists. The cruelty of certain protagonists is constantly counterbalanced by the sincerity of others, like a chiaroscuro canvas that the filmmaker strives to create alongside his heroine. Without shadow, no light, Memoirs of a snail is a pure melancholy tale from which we do not emerge unscathed. The idea is beautiful, it’s about telling what it takes so that sickly shy personalities (like our gastropod worshiper) can finally come out of their shell.
A beautiful shell
Stop-motion is an art that is becoming rare… far too rare for our taste. With Memoirs of a snailwe fall once again under the spell of this process which brings to life palpable, rich and deliciously playful worlds. Adam Elliot’s proposal is more than ever a love letter to this craft, since it does not call for any computer-generated images, it relies entirely on the talent of the animators and clay shapers to achieve success.
Wires, clay and a few pieces of fabric, the director’s world may well be made of odds and ends, but it is incredibly rich. Whether in the dark corners of a suburban home or the bustling aisles of a fairground, Memoirs of a snail is a constant amazement. The director likes to cultivate the bizarreness of his world, as much as that of his characters with their unrealistic, but clever, morphology. This feeling of ode to the strange is reinforced by very careful treatment of colors. We will end with the music of Elena Kats-Chernin which encapsulates all the nuances of this bittersweet tale. The themes of the Australian musician oscillate between sweet ballads and melodramatic motifs to complete the picture of a film which already did not need that to convince us.
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