MOVIES AT LA PLAZA: MEMOIR OF A SNAIL—A metaphor for a girl's life

Movie Review by Sergio Martínez

This animated film, directed by Adam Elliot, is undoubtedly something very special. For one thing, it deals with a subject that requires a certain degree of maturity, so despite having a girl as the main character, it is not a film for a child audience.

The film is made using the animation technique known as stop motion, that is, a process by which objects made of flexible material (plasticine in this case) are physically manipulated in small increments each time they are captured by the camera-undoubtedly quite arduous and time-consuming work-that once filmed and projected on the screen gives the illusion of movement. Unlike traditional cartoons, because they are real objects, they also provide a certain three-dimensional effect like that of a live-action film.

After the death of their mother, Grace Purdel and her twin brother Gilbert live with their father, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. The siblings' life is spent between reading and, in Grace's case, her hobby of collecting snails. The life of the two siblings, however, will be disrupted when their father dies, and the kids are sent to live with adoptive families. Grace will have a somewhat unexpected life with her new family, but it will not change her habits, although she will not have a good time at school. Her brother, on the other hand, is adopted by a family of fanatical evangelicals who have an apple orchard business and who will eventually drive him to desperate action.

Grace also has, at one point, the support of Pinky, an eccentric octogenarian who, in her youth, had a very hectic life but who now becomes a close confidant and advisor to the young girl.

The snail, a collector's item for Grace, can be said to be a metaphor for her own life. She is, in a way, the snail. Her memories record those quiet times when she read with her brother in her father's house, the anguish of being separated from her brother, and the time shared with Pinky.

We recommend this film for the deep tenderness of its main characters, the nostalgic vision of small-town life, the sarcastic criticism of fundamentalist religious fanaticism, and the simplicity and expressive richness of its images, which result in great creative work.

Running time 94 min.