Story:
Set in the mid 1970s, Mary and Max tells a story of a lonely, plain looking, 8 year old girl from the suburb of Melbourne's and her 40-something male, overweight, mentally unstable pen pal, Max, from New York City.
Mary's mother is an alcoholic, and her dad prefers to spend his time with dead birds than with her. She got lonely and decided to write a letter to someone in New York. So she did, and so he replied.
Her first letter, along with a Cherry Ripe bar, was the beginning of 20 years long of friendship between the two strangers. 20 years long of strange naive questions, adorable advices, anxiety attacks, self-changing experiences, life-changing experiences, anger, deaths, depression, and tons of adorableness.
I say:
Yes, it is a clay-animated film. And yes, an 8 year old girl is the main character. But it is not your typical feel-good, kid-friendly animation film. It is so much more complex than that.
The two main characters, Mary and Max, are two souls trying to deal with live, and the load of shit it brings. These two have so much baggage and confusions about live that you can't help but fall in love with those two odd balls.
The film deals with serious stuff such as death and mental illness in a such a perfect dark-comedic way, you will cry and smile at the same time. You feel sad for these two people, but also, you'll find them very endearing.
Max is a character that is so hard to love, or even understand. He is overweight, he lives alone, he's brutally honest, he does not understand love, he doesn't know how to smile, he doesn't even have a good grasp on what emotion is. But the way he pictured, the way his mind and thoughts explained and untangled in his letters, help the audience understand why he is who he is, and why what he is, is alright.
Mary on the other hand, is a very sweet, naive, plain looking, quiet, and shy 8 year old girl. All you want to do is to be her friend and tell her that everything is going to be honky dory.Their relationship, despite the age different, is just beautiful. Two souls, separated by thousand of miles of sea, decades of age difference, find a best friend in each other.
This is a story about loneliness. About friendship. This is a film you really really have to see.
And it is like a breath of fresh air for me to see a clay-animated film nowadays instead of crazy real 3d animation. I just feel like an 8 year old again.
Straight into scrapbook:
Mary's way of understanding Max's explanation about where babies come from. It is just the most adorable thing. And the many way of how the fishes meet their deaths.
Straight into crapbook:
nothing. Nothing that I can think of.
Verdict:
9.5 out of 10.
Because unlike Pitchfork, I do not give out 10. :D
The two main characters, Mary and Max, are two souls trying to deal with live, and the load of shit it brings. These two have so much baggage and confusions about live that you can't help but fall in love with those two odd balls.
The film deals with serious stuff such as death and mental illness in a such a perfect dark-comedic way, you will cry and smile at the same time. You feel sad for these two people, but also, you'll find them very endearing.
Max is a character that is so hard to love, or even understand. He is overweight, he lives alone, he's brutally honest, he does not understand love, he doesn't know how to smile, he doesn't even have a good grasp on what emotion is. But the way he pictured, the way his mind and thoughts explained and untangled in his letters, help the audience understand why he is who he is, and why what he is, is alright.
Mary on the other hand, is a very sweet, naive, plain looking, quiet, and shy 8 year old girl. All you want to do is to be her friend and tell her that everything is going to be honky dory.Their relationship, despite the age different, is just beautiful. Two souls, separated by thousand of miles of sea, decades of age difference, find a best friend in each other.
This is a story about loneliness. About friendship. This is a film you really really have to see.
And it is like a breath of fresh air for me to see a clay-animated film nowadays instead of crazy real 3d animation. I just feel like an 8 year old again.
Straight into scrapbook:
Mary's way of understanding Max's explanation about where babies come from. It is just the most adorable thing. And the many way of how the fishes meet their deaths.
Straight into crapbook:
nothing. Nothing that I can think of.
Verdict:
9.5 out of 10.
Because unlike Pitchfork, I do not give out 10. :D
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