YEAR: 2009
GENRE: Animation/Drama
I wonder if any of you have heard of this movie before called "Mary & Max". If I recall correctly, I don't remember ever seeing this film in local cinemas, nor have I heard about it until I spotted it sitting untouched in a friend's external hard drive. He told me that he'd never seen it yet, but I copied it into my own, out of curiosity.
The film managed to take me by surprise, as I didn't have high expectations for it. If you know me well, very few animated films have managed to impress me, and I am very proud to say that this one has!
Based on a true story, our little tale unfolds in 1976, in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, where an estranged 8-year-old girl named Mary Daisy Dinkle, who lived with her emotionally absent father and alcoholic mother with a tendency for shoplifting. Being friendless and completely naive, she decided to randomly pick out a name from the New York phone book and write to the address. Scrolling through the long list of names in the directory, she decided to write to "M. Horowitz". M. Horowitz, or Max, as she learns later on, was an equally estranged man, with Asperger's Syndrome, a condition that renders him unable to physically express his own emotions, as well as perceive emotional facial ques of others. Thus begins a unique correspondence of letters between the two, but not without interruption by several incidences and misunderstandings along the way.
The juxtaposition of monotonous dialogues and narration, as well as the monochromatic colour scheme throughout the whole movie, with a vast array of emotions and symbiotically colourful personality of the characters combined (ironically) truly makes the film an immensely enjoyable one for the literature and art fans alike. And the fact that a monotonous and monochromatic film which features lifeless works of clay is able to stir emotions of the viewers (well, me at least) in such a manner makes the film a true work of art.
The movie will take you through the life of both Mary and Max as two unique individuals, from Mary's naive and querulous thoughts as a child through her ups and downs as she matures into a woman, to Max's monotonous expressions of his experience in life as a social outcast, and his rigid mundane daily endeavours. A truly insightful watch for the viewer seeking artistic and mental stimulation. But be warned, that the movie is not made for every random movie buff. No, this movie is for but the faint of heart, not because of the graphic explicitness (which it has none, if you discount the one scene where Max visualizes himself naked on a desert island; hey, it's just clay anyway), but because of the monotonous 'emo' theme throughout the movie may come as a huge bore to the common movie goer. Yup, you heard me, the movie is "very the emo," and the director, Adam Eliot beautifully brings the viewers into the climax of emo-ness when (SPOILER ALERT!) someone tries to kill him/herself. Truly, the makers of this movies should be crowned geniuses together with the likes of the Wall-E people for successfully drawing out raw human emotions from lifeless patches of clay.
Final words, I would so recommend this movie to all lovers of literature, theatre, fine arts, and art in general. Definitely earns a spot in the list of movies I deem worth watching over and over again.
RATINGS:
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% on the Tomatometer
My Rating: 8.5/10
Don't let the trailer fool you. Take my word for it, it's super emo, unlike what the trailer portrays.
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