Satirical, sad and bitingly funny, Adam Elliot’s Mary & Max is quite the cinematic revelation. Not only is it claymation – that impossibly intricate filmmaking method where mere seconds are the result of a day’s labour – but it is a not so childish fairytale that deals with the trappings of alcoholism, mental illness and loneliness.
It’s Australia, 1976 and 8-year-old Mary Daisy Dinkle (voiced by Bethany Whitmore and later Toni Collette) is the awkward progeny of an odd couple. Ignored by her taxidermy-hobbyist father and watered down by her sherry-swilling, kleptomaniac mother, Mary becomes penfriends with a random New Yorker: Max Horovitz (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). A 44 year old, overeater afflicted with Asperger’s, Max isn’t exactly the easiest audience for the inquisitive Mary. And yet, despite her letters frequently causing him conniptions, their shared solitude forms the foundation of a lasting – if fractious – friendship.
Crossing over a wealth of topics, the pair’s rapid-fire letter writing is littered with non-sequiturs. Jumping from where babies come from to the specifics of atheism and the virtues of chocolate hotdogs, Mary and Max try to make sense of their clay universe while Barry Humphries’ knowing narration wryly comments on their fragile existence.
As a follow-up to Elliot’s Academy Award winning short, Harvie Krumpet, Mary & Max succeeds in confirming his mastery of claymation and indeed black comedy. The DVD extras emphasise this, with deleted scenes, fascinating time-lapse photography and some fun behind-the-scenes moments including an hilarious interview with Eric Bana and a shot of Elliot scurrying around on a Segway, clutching his Oscar.
4 Stars
Available to rent or purchase on DVD: 21 October 2009
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