Release Date (UK) – 22nd October 2010
Certificate – 12A
Country – Australia
Director – Adam Elliot
Runtime – 80 mins
Starring – Toni Collette, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana
Mary and Max is a heartwarming animation about two people’s pen pal friendship, and every-one’s desire to be accepted and loved. It follows the lives of two people of completely different ages, on different sides of the world, connecting in a strength of friendship most of us wish we could have. Mary (Toni Collette) is an 8 year old girl from a small suburban town in Australia with eyes the colour of muddy puddles and a birthmark and colour of poo, while Max (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is a 44 year old Jewish man with Asperger’s Syndrome living in New York City. One day in the post office Mary picks at random someone to write to in New York, so she can find out where babies come from in America, and a few days later, Max receives her letter.
On paper they couldn’t be more different. But once a corraspondance between the two begins, mutual experiences of feeling ostracised, outcast, unwanted and unloved bring strength and heart to a relationship that has been brought together simply by paper. Mary and Max explores almost every emotion on the human scale from loneliness, love, death, life, friendship, sadness and self worth and covers issues including agoraphobia, obesity, depression, alcoholism, taxidermy, sexuality, mental illness and religion, and does it all with humour, honesty and perfection.
Mary doesn’t really have any friends, but she does have a pet rooster. Her dad recently retired and now spends his days as a taxidermist, stuffing birds out in his shed, while her mum enjoys taste testing special tea for grownups (cooking sherry), smoking, watching cricket, and having naps. Mary’s favourite thing to do is curl up on the sofa and watch The Noblets with a can of sweetened condensed milk, or gaze out of the window at her neighbour Damian Popodopolous (Eric Bana). Damian is Mary’s long time crush, but she dreams of one day living in a castle in Scotland and marrying someone named Earl Grey.
Max doesn’t really have any friends either. Unless you count Mr Ravioli. But Doctor Hazelhoff said it wasn’t healthy to have imaginary friends, so nowadays Mr Ravioli just sits in the corner reading self-help books, but he’s still good company. Max also has a cat named Hal (short for Halitosis), a parrot named Mr Biscuit, and a goldfish, so he’s not really that alone, but he dreams of one day having a real friend. Max doesn’t understand people; they confuzzle him and most of the time they don’t make any sense to him. He doesn’t understand why people think he’s the odd one for being honest and following the rules. He tries to go outside in the world, but it scares him. What’s the point of having bus timetables if they never run on time, and why does Marjorie Butterworth from his Overeaters Annonymous meeting keep kissing him without his permission? Max enjoys watching The National Lottery and also loves The Noblets, but his favourite food is chocolate hotdogs – it’s his own recipe. Doctor Hazelhoff says it’s good to have goals in life and Max’s are to win the lottery, to have all the chocolate in the world, and to have a real friend.
What makes this film unique is that there simply is nothing else like it. It is writer, director and designer Adam Elliot’s fourth clayography film which took the crew 57 weeks to make, each crew member managing to create 4 seconds of footage a day. Max’s world is full of greys and blacks, conveying not only his unhappiness but also the urban and confusing world of New York which is full of violence and crime, while Mary’s world is a mixture of different browns whether it be her eyes, her birthmark, or the colour of her bedroom, and shows the audience just how focused Mary is on her birthmark being the cause for all her unhappiness, she obsesses that if only she didn’t have it she would be happy.
Elliot describes how he wanted to make a film with universal themes that could translate to anyone, no matter their age, gender, race, religion, or even what continent they are on. And that’s exactly what he has done. For a film to portray the message ‘love yourself first’ without sounding incredibly cheesy is almost impossible, but Mary and Max manages to convey this meaning with heart and sincerity, and what helps complete this film is it’s beautiful soundtrack , which constantly supports the films themes and tones throughout.
Mary and Max is the most beautiful and powerful story about friendship I have ever viewed. It has humour, sadness, anticipation, friendship, and love. At any moment I felt like anything could happen and I don’t believe anyone could have predicted how the film turned out, which is exactly how life should be. Our want, our desire for acceptance and love is ongoing and never ending and it doesn’t matter who you are, you will find this film engaging, heart warming, and exceptional.
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