‘Memoir of a Snail’ movie review: a life-affirming film about extraordinarily ordinary people
A visit to the cinema in this day and age will present you with many options: to watch fantastical stories about superheroes and vampires or allegedly extraordinary tales about beloved historical figures like Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley. However, if you are looking for everyday stories that showcase the lives of people that audiences can actually relate to, the choices are few and far between. While many people retreat to the cinema for escapism, some seek comfort through the quiet acknowledgement that they are not alone in their everyday joys and pains, something that is the sole focus of Adam Elliott’s work and his love for the extraordinary ordinary, which is beautifully encapsulated in the wonky-imperfection of his stop-motion stories.
Memoir of a Snail is the definition of an emotional roller-coaster, weaving between dark and light as we travel through the little ups and colossal downs of a girl called Grace and her twin brother Gilbert. After experiencing a number of unexpected tragedies in early childhood, both twins are separated from each other and find themselves living on polar opposite sides of Australia, forced to start a new life with unkind strangers and people who are dazzlingly unempathetic to their recent traumas. The film then charts their experiences of growing up and Grace’s way of coping with this darkness, which manifests in the form of a snail collection that slowly becomes a hoard.
Each character in the film is formed through a blob of clay, often remaining static, while the wonderfully elastic and expressive voices of Sarah Snook and Jacki Weaver narrate their relentless misfortunes. The level of devastation that pervades their lives becomes almost comical, with Elliott expertly toeing the line between misery and joy as he takes on an odyssey of everyday miracles and catastrophes.
Every detail in the film feels lived-in and authentic due to the way Elliott writes his movies, drawing on the experiences from his own life and from his loved ones as he fleshed out these vibrant tapestries that capture the sometimes-unbelievable twists and turns of an ordinary life. While his characters are unremarkable in the sense that they are average people with average jobs and houses, they showcase the hidden power and wild, true stories that exist all around us. Each person we pass on the street or morning commute has a life consisting of the same complexities that define Grace’s life, perhaps on differing lives, but stories that deserve to be shared as much as anyone else’s.
Elliott takes you on a heart-warming and life-affirming journey through Grace’s life, initially letting herself become defined and drowned out by her tragedies before realising that she hasn’t been truly living. After meeting a neighbour who experienced similar tragedies in her life, Grace realises that she cannot succumb to her sadness and there is still so much joy to be found.
Her neighbour, Pinky, managed to reinvent herself and live a full and colourful life, creating a laid-back and free-spirited life philosophy because when the worst thing has already happened, each new experience just becomes another story to tell.
Memoir of a Snail reminds us to find joy in everyday life and not become permanently bogged down by our emotional aches and pains. After being inundated with a catastrophic level of grief, the easiest thing to do is retreat into your shell and hide from the world.
But Elliott shows how rock bottom can sometimes be the best place to be; allowing us to find meaning in every moment of unexpected happiness and truly live to the fullest.
