FNC 2024: Memoir of a Snail Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s edition of Montreal’s ‘Festival du Nouveau Cinéma,’ to keep up with our latest coverage, click here

Adam Elliot returns, fifteen years after his first feature film, with Memoir of a Snail, his most visually ambitious melancholic tale to the screen. With his sophomore film, Elliot is given the opportunity to expand upon his visually minimalist short films and the brilliantly tragic storytelling of Mary and Max to bring his greatest potential to the screen yet. While not quite as compelling as his first feature, it takes a cautious approach in utilizing his quirky, absurdist humor to highlight the misfortunes of Grace (Snook) and Gilbert Pudel (Smit-McPhee) in a grim-looking Australian setting.

Elliot’s most visually detailed project to date, it adds a new layer in bringing this tragicomedy to life through countless visual gags, whether it be in the foreground or the background, complemented by Snook’s graceful narration. Audiences who are familiar with Elliot’s work will recognize some of these absurdist and tragic bits in his short films. To his advantage, the 94-minute runtime gives him the preparation to flesh out these plot points beyond simple bits that drive the story forward through well-orchestrated jokes and the depths in Grace’s progress as a character. The comfort of a longer runtime allows audiences to get attached to Grace’s attempt to persevere and shed a tear when things inevitably do not go their way through bleak situations such as a paraplegic father, separation from her brother, an elder friend plagued with Alzheimer’s, and a love interest with ulterior motives. Regardless of her struggles, she moves forward as her fascination with snails is what keeps her going through the excellent parallel that Elliot draws in which snails never go over their tracks and can only continue ahead through thick and thin.

While still rough around the edges across some of its animation, these imperfections bring to life the chaos of Australia through the decrepit buildings and feverish landscapes that heighten the adversity faced by the Pudels. As Elliot cements himself as an auteur in this specific form of visual storytelling termed as clayography, this entry in his portfolio heavily brings his name into discussion with some prominent players in the art form, such as Aardman and Laika. Though it is unfortunate that audiences will likely have to face a long hiatus before his next project.

Memoir of a Snail, a film eight years in the making, reinforces Elliot’s brilliance in tragic storytelling and elevates his animation potential by showcasing a melancholic and visually beautiful journey through the misfortunes of the Pudels. His incorporation of absurdist visual gags will leave audiences chuckling at every turn, while his meticulous emotional build-up to each inevitable tragedy will equally leave audiences in tears as a nice companion piece to Mary and Max. As he aims to round out his unofficial trilogies, we will be patiently awaiting his “final” feature film as a potential magnum opus.

still courtesy of Mongrel Media

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Costa Christoulas

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