Mary and Max (2009) - an animation review

http://viooz.co/movies/228-mary-and-max-2009.html

Mary and Max is definitely not a movie for the everyday american. Why? because it is so different, animated or otherwise, that any american studio would ever think to make. The movie is bleak, depressing, and filled with more realism than anything I have ever seen. And is phenomenal. I do not often get to review works with such caliber due to most american movies of my genres not fitting well with the more high-brow works. The closest I have gotten is with Sam Reimi's Spider-man, and that movie is still very campy and silly and could hardly ever be considered "high-brow".

This movie was made in australia, which makes me glad to know that this blog will be getting some more culture and a peek into another world's work. It uses a similar claymation animation style as England uses and I am quite fond of the unique art quality one can get from it. I'm not exactly sure what they use to animate water yet, but it appears to be something like clear glue.

Now, do not consider that because this movie is animated it will entertain your children. The art is very grey with almost no color at all when the setting is in New York City and there are many animations that will make parents complain about censorship (such as nipples getting hard when cold and birds pooping on people in non-comedic fashion). The humor is labeled as Black Humor and it fits. It isn't dark or surreal, but more depressing with some humor being found in the tight cracks.

When I talk about animation outside of this blog, I often discuss how we, as americans, will never be able to create great works of cinematic art like Citizen Kane or the Godfather so long as we consider cartoons and animation only for children and immature humor. And Australia has shown us just what animation is capable of in terms of make a mature movie about life using animation.

You'll notice that I haven't gotten to the characters or writing yet and that is because the movie is not about some great chase or adventure. The movie is about the life and friendship of these two people, Mary, a young australian girl, and Max, an atheist with Asperger's syndrome living in New York City. The two are both very depressed due to having no friends and their respective baggage and problems. I will not discuss much of either of their characters since the movie itself is all about exploring their problems.

I can say that as someone with Asperger's Syndrome, this movie is a great way to show the world about how mental health is often viewed by other people and the many problems that people try to "cure". This is an oscar worthy film and deserves to be shown in all art schools.

Please, for all that is good in animation, don't make this movie slip through the cracks and become the exception to the rule, this is an amazing movie