Mary and Max

{Mary and Max} is unique. A claymation animation by Academy Award–winning filmmaker Adam Elliot (Harvie Krumpet), it tells the simple story of a 20-year pen-pal friendship between two very different people: Mary Dinkle, a chubby, lonely 8-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max Horowitz, a 44-year-old Jewish man, who is severely obese, suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, and lives an isolated life in New York City. It is very much a triumph of emotion, insight, and eccentricity—a complete delight.Animation's ability to capture the intricate complexity of life has never been on display in as absorbing fashion as with the storytelling of this Australian filmmaker, who truly makes you forget what you are watching. The originality of the voices in this ever-spinning kaleidoscope of innocence and idiosyncrasy comes straight from an incredibly rich imagination and complete artistic vision. This desire for acceptance and love amid the pain of existence is masterfully narrated by Barry Humphries and fleshed out by the voices of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette.This film that explores friendship, autism, taxidermy, psychiatry, alcoholism, where babies come from, obesity, kleptomania, trust, copulating dogs, sexual and religious differences, agoraphobia, and more, and is rooted in a very personal relationship, is proof of why we go to the movies and a truly exceptional portrait of compassion and love.
CAST
Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Humphries, Eric Bana

Adam Elliot - Academy Award–winning writer/director Adam Elliot is a celebrated independent animator. His films—Uncle, Cousin, Brother and Harvie Krumpet—have participated in more than 500 film festivals and won more than 100 awards, including the Academy Award for best animated short film in 2004 for Harvie Krumpet. The film also won a FIPRESCI Prize and an honorable mention at Sundance, where it screened in 2004. All four films have won the Australian Film Institute's award for the best short animated film of their year. Mary and Max is Elliot's first feature film.

Screenings:

Thu. Jan 15 6:00 p.m. - MARYA15CE Eccles Theatre, Park City
Thu. Jan 15 9:30 p.m. - MARYA15CN Eccles Theatre, Park City
Fri. Jan 16 9:15 a.m. - MARYA16CM Eccles Theatre, Park City
Fri. Jan 16 6:30 p.m. - MARYA16OA Peery's Egyptian Theater, Ogden
Sat. Jan 17 6:30 p.m. - MARYA17GE Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, SLC
Sat. Jan 24 6:15 p.m. - MARYA24CE Eccles Theatre, Park City