Memoiren einer Schnecke (Memoir of a Snail) 
Australia
2024
Opening 24 Jul 2025
Directed by:
Adam Elliot
Writing credits:
Adam Elliot
Principal actors:
Jacki Weaver, Sarah Snook, Eric Bana, Saxon Wright, Dominique Pinon
With the knowledge of hindsight, the older half of the Pudel twins decides to write a memoir. In honor of Pinky (Jacki Weaver), Grace (Sarah Snook) explains while setting the snail free in her dear friend’s garden and expostulating about life’s unfairnesses. Emphasizing what is meaningful about being a twin and being loved for oneself, yet with a pensive demeanor, Grace’s storytelling traces her and Gilbert’s (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lives from past to the present.
Raised by their lively, full-hearted French father (Dominique Pinon) in Melbourne, Australia, after his wife’s untimely death, an accident’s result is his paraplegy that he self-medicates with alcohol. The twins are devoted to him, each other, and reading. Grace lauds Gilbert constantly protecting her from school bullies, admitting her weaknesses. Grace’s hobby is collecting snails; Gilbert’s is playing with matches. Then this idyllic chapter of their lives ends. Sent to foster homes in Canberra and Perth, they are separated by the expansive country. Grace’s new “parents,” Ian and Narelle (Paul Capsis), are swingers. Whereas Gilbert ends up on a fundamentalist family farm where daily prayers and mindless toil suck dry any color or liveliness from the Appleby’s daily routine. There is the dour Owen, the hypocritical preaching father (Bernie Clifford), and wife Ruth (Magda Szubanski), Gilbert’s nemesis, and their boneheaded bullying sons, except for youngster Ben (Davey Thompson). Gilbert and Ben become friends. Grace collects snails obsessively, meets Ken (Tony Armstrong), and is kind to others, e.g. the neighborhood bum, James (Eric Bana), and the eccentric, exciting older Pinky. Pinky mutually befriends Grace, breathing sparkle and fun, plus outlandish stories into Grace’s drab, dismal life. Consequently, following Pinky’s good guidance makes all the difference.
Australian writer-director Adam Elliott’s exquisitely executed, deliciously detailed, lovingly assembled, and richly realized animation, Memoir of a Snail, is a poignant, awe-inspiring tragicomedy. Claymation, a meticulous animation technique, uses movable clay figures and stop-motion recording that required Elliott spending eight years assembling Memoir. The semi-autobiographical parable-like film has layer upon layers of meaning woven into its fabric: sometimes metaphoric, e.g., snails live safe, snug in protective shells; sometimes allegorical, e.g., the politically/religiously dictatorial Appleby farm, also dark and funny. Loosely based associations are depicted between characters and real people, e.g., Pinky and fashion icon Iris Apfel; plus, notice the book titles the twins read throughout the film. Elena Kats-Chernin’s embracing music is delightful, containing leitmotivs marking a number of characters. Gerald Thompson’s fluid cinematography, Bill Murphy’s precise editing, Bob Shea’s art direction, set decorators Lucy Davidson, Ruby Davis, and Kerry Drumm, and production manager Braiden Asciak’s work ensure the film’s beauty will captivate its audiences. Strikingly, Memoir of a Snail’s nomination for the 2025 Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards marks the second R-rated animation (Anomalisa, 2015) to scale that high bar. (Marinell Haegelin)
