Film Review | Mary and Max

Mary and Max (2009) is an Australian film written and directed by Adam Elliot. The film follows the story of a girl named Mary and a man named Max. The film was created using claymation and explores themes of loneliness as well as mental health. 

Fig 1, Movie Poster

The film first introduces the audience to Mary, a lonely girl whose parents ignore her for the most part and who is bullied at school. She lives in Australia and wants a friend so to achieve that ends up sending a letter to a random name in the phone book, thus Max is introduced. Max is a 44 year old man living in New York, he also is lonely and lacks friends and so when he receives Mary's letter he replies. This begins an odd friendship between the two.

The use of claymation allowed for a distinct line to be drawn in the colours used throughout the film. New York, and by extension Max, is depicted in black and white while Australia and Mary are seen in browns. The only exception to this is the colour red which can be seen in both places, primarily through the gifts and letters the characters send to each other. This allowed the use of 'red as a device to make all those little objects that Mary and Max send each other more potent, more significant.' (Buckmaster, 2009). Examples of this can be seen in Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 shows Max and his red pompom while figure 3 shows Mary and her red hair clip and ring.

Fig. 2, Max

Fig. 3, Mary.

The film discusses themes such as loneliness and mental illness. This is through a few different ways. One way is that there is a focus on Mary not having friends and thus being lonely, this is furthered when the audience is aware of her father remaining in his garage without talking to her when he isn't working and her mother being an alcoholic. This leaves Mary lonely as she has nobody she can talk to both at home and at school. Loneliness is also shown through Max as shown through his lack of friends and his having an imaginary friend. Another theme explored through the film is mental illness. This is seen in various ways throughout the film such as Max's Asperger's and Mary's later depression. Throughout the film it's shown that 'Everyone in the film is damaged; a few are suicidal and don't make it, so there's a sense of life's traumas.' (Byrnes, 2009). This allows for the audience to see characters that aren't perfect and haven't got perfect lives, they're more mundane and have troubles that anyone could face.


Bibliography:

- Buckmaster, L (2009), Interview with Adam Elliot, writer/director/designer of Mary and Max [Online] https://blogs.crikey.com.au/cinetology/2009/04/10/q-a-with-mary-and-max-writerdirectordesigner-adam-elliot/ (Accessed: 02/02/18)

- Byrnes, P, (2009), Review - Mary And Max, http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/film-reviews/mary-and-max/2009/04/09/1239222976896.html (Accessed on: 03/02/18)

Illustration List:

- Figure 1, Movie Poster, http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/review-mary-and-max.html

- Figure 2, Max, https://nwfilm.org/films/mary-and-max/

- Figure 3, Mary, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/mediaviewer/rm1527398144