Though it is not as widely discussed asSundanceorCannes,The Annecy Animated Film Festivalshowcases a host of animated features from around the world outside the big studios that don’t get the love and attention they deserve.Winning the Cristal Award, Annecy’s Palme d’Or, was the 2024 filmMemoir of a Snail, which will open the Melbourne International Film Festival in August.The story of a lonely woman with a cleft lip and an obsession with collecting snailsis directed byAdam Elliot, with this being his second Cristal winner and his second feature release. He has been one of Australia’s most celebrated animators, with his 2003 short filmHarvie Krumpetwinning the Academy Award for best animated short. Every frame of his “clayographies” is sculpted with love, andall of them are the stories of eccentric outcasts, sharing themes of loss, loneliness, and the trials that sprout from living with disability and mental illness.
So far, the greatest example of this is the first animated feature film,Mary and Max.Released in 2009, it is still considered one of the best Australian animated films. It is a darkly comedic yet deeply heartfelt story of two lonely souls who strike up a years-long friendship from across the globe. Mary (Bethany Whitmore/Toni Collette) starts the film as a lonely eight-year-old living in a dreary Australian suburb. She has a birthmark on her head that isolates her from other children, a fraught relationship with her parents, and a well-meaning but naive perspective on the world. Seeking to end her isolation, she randomly writes a letter to Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an equally lonely, depressed, and overweight man living in the heart of New York City. We watch the friends grow up and grow old as they write back and forth, as Mary deals with love and loss when blossoming into adulthood, and Max grapples with his mental health and a diagnosis of what back then was referred to as Asperger Syndrome.While the term for his diagnosis might be dated, the feelings and thoughts exhibited in the film never went out of date, as even today this is the most accurate representation of life on the spectrum.
Mary and Max
Mary, a lonely Australian girl, becomes pen pals with Max, a middle-aged man with Asperger’s syndrome in New York. Through their letters, they form an unlikely but profound friendship, sharing their struggles and joys over decades in this heartwarming and bittersweet claymation film.
How Adam Elliot Paints An Authentic Picture Of Autism
While Elliot rightly never lets the truth get in the way of a good story,there is certainly an autobiographical element to his work. His first short films were based on members of his family, but this is shown most clearly inMary and Max.Adam Elliot did have a pen-pal for many years, one who was an autistic Jewish atheist living in New York, with Mary being a fictional stand-in for Elliot himself. But it goes beyond the straightforward.Elliot himself was born with a physiological tremor.In short, he gets the shakes more often and more severely than most. Yet he has dedicated his career toan art style that requires an intricate and steady hand. This is something that naturally influences his art style.It has that Aardman-esque charm of visible fingerprints, but there’s also a lack of straight lines in it as well. There’s a messiness to his work that makes it authentic, and though he doesn’t allow his disability to hold him back from achieving great success in the field of animation, it is also deeply ingrained into his work.
Max is one of the best examples of autism representation in cinema to this day, and from the first time I saw this film, I felt incredibly seen by Elliot in the writing of the character. Max also doesn’t let his psychological issues completely debilitate him. While he has a support system of professionals, he lives fairly independently, alone in fact. He’s not a genius like many less accurate autistic characters, though he has things that he’s quite skilled at. While people misunderstand his mind, he’s also not an idiot by any means. His inner voice is very observant and eloquent, even if he doesn’t say much of it out loud.
It’s also one of the first pieces of media I saw that presented autism through the lens of the anxiety it can cause. Max finds the world around him to be chaotic and overwhelming, resulting in attacks he needs to calm himself down from. He has his little shell which he’s quite comfortable in, and while people may find it depressing, he’s rather happy with his life and who he is.He doesn’t want to be “fixed” or “cured,” he takes great offense at the idea that he should be.It was comforting to watch when I was a teenager, how you don’t have to be some brilliant person to justify your existence. That the autistic experience is, like everyone else’s,just about getting by, not being miserable, and finding some peace with who you are.
Mary and Max Is About Finding Joy In The Little Things
Self-acceptance is a significant part of this story, especially in Mary’s story. While she is not mentally or physically disabled, she struggles with severe mental health issues later in life. Even as a small child, was ostracized by others. She had no one in her life who cared to understand her for many years, and like many who have been an outcast, she had to seek that community out for herself. But even as Mary struggles with how she looks, or her belief that she will never find someone to love,she still finds joy in her life. She finds joy in her favorite cartoon, sweetened condensed milk, and, most of all, her friendship with Max. And sometimes, that’s enough to keep you going.
Elliot’s entire oeuvre of work is about the strange joy people can find in ordinary things and the glory and tragedy of banal lives. Despite animation being the best medium for grand and expansive adventures, he uses it to further refine the inner worlds of those people usually ignore.His incredible attention to detail has a way of resonating with anyone. The suburb where Mary grew up isn’t far from my hometown, and both the dreariness and strange charm in every frame are accurate to a lived experience. His work allows forincredible disability representation through the lens of someone who understands, and that is a rare and brilliant thing.
Mary and Max is available to stream on AMC+
WATCH ON AMC+
