The Wonderful films of Adam Elliott
All of Adam Elliott’s animated shorts possess a simple but beautiful aesthetic formula: well written and beautifully spoken voice-over that gives fragmented scenes a sense of wholeness, the focus is less on story and more on character. And like all characters, Elliott’s shorts combine sadness with beauty, there is a constant sense of melancholy and wonder. Much like Dostoevsky’s The Idiot or even Forrest Gump, Elliott’s film celebrate the idea that stupid is sublime.
The Oscar Winning short, Harvie Krumpet, is Eliott’s darkest and the most ambitious. The story follows the tumultuous life of Harvey Krumpet. The early parts of the film, from childhood to middle age, might remind you of other animated shorts that are packed with quirky and the bizarre scenes. However, the latter parts of the film, where it focuses on Krumpet’s life in a senior citizen home, is dark and almost morbid. This weight of the sadness is unique to animation which I actually found refreshing. I would love to see Krumpet’s book of “fakts” be published.
Cousin is part of series of shorts focused on family members that include Brothers and Uncle. The Cousin is a boy inflicted with Cerebral Palsy who has an uncontrollable left hand to go with his magically strong right hand. The pace is so right, no joke is left behind.
Brothers seems like a precursor to Harvie Krumpet. The Brother is a boy with asthma that can never seem to shake off trouble, much like Krumpet.
Uncle is not available online. All shorts are embedded below.
Atom doesn’t really embed, it just takes you to the site (aargh!).
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We love you! My husband and I just watched Harvie Krumpet. We’re a couple of old birds who will be in Auntie Belva’s Happy Acres soon enough. Why can’t all films be like this.
I saw Cousin last weekend on our local community college station. It came on right after a documentary about the electrification of Soviet Georgia. Both were really great.
Thank you, Adam E. We’ll be looking for your stuff at our local video store and may have to subscribe to Netflix to find out if we can get your other films there.