Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

One of the wrost movies I have ever seen

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There's this new young Australian director I m rapidly developing a liking to.His works brought the very basic question to my mind once again after the works of Wes Anderson and Tati and Kubrick - What makes a great artist?? Perhaps its their unique vision of the world...seeing things in their own unique way, in a way people do not care to see. Doesn't this very thing make an auteur??The way he sees, the way he thinks, the way he turns out the most painful of things into the most joyful ones, the way he has defined LIFE just made me sit n look at the blank screen for minutes after the films were over. I got something new all over again.This is one of the darkest stop motion animations i saw...yet having the most liveliest sense of life...If not anything else, u ll do one thing. U ll think...about the film, yes...but more so about life and how you have lived it this long....about the world and how you have seen it this long. Harvie knew facts, saw facts, thought out facts...and so ll u. But then u ll have to think if u ll laugh or smile or cry or just think.Tell me in what genre would u put it in.

Three words to describe Adam Elliot's (master of clay animation) 22 min and 7 sec film Harvie Krumpet: sardonic and poignant. This Academy Award winning short film follows the title character, a naïve but optimistic Polish who ends up in Australia, and his unlucky life. That is an understatement; he gets struck by lightning, has his testicle removed, is plagued by Tourette's Syndrome, just to name a few. But one single phrase (Carpe diem) causes him to embrace life despite his unfortunate circumstances (hooray for nudist colonies and chickens!). Crafted in both a humorous and distressing manner – you will laugh one moment then sink back into depression out of sympathy for Harvie – and superbly narrated by Geoffrey Rush, this film will make you smile and want to lead a better life. After all, if Harvie Krumpet can do it, you can too.

This is a simple tale but it feels very manipulative. It lacks pathos for it does not leave a room for imagination or a personal thought or time for reflection.The animation is well done but I feel like it is too presentational. I would have preferred more images from behind, more space in the background and maybe then this would not feel so kitsch to me.But for a Hollywood style film it works OK but it is very derivative of Aardman films and this is bothering to me. Perhaps a longer film will test if this maker can do without the voice-over.I think the voice over is too glib.

I rented the DVD out last week to watch the film that made Australia proud by winning that shiny gold Oscar. This movie was short, it was only twenty minutes, but in that twenty minutes you become part of the little soul that is Harvie Krumpet, the animation was done by stop motion/claymation (which is tedious, trust me I study animation). The story is funny and sad at the same time and I promise you, once you watch it they'll be only 'one song' you'll be singing!And you feel engaged in the film thanks to the great narration done by Geoffrey Rush, he has one of those powerful voices.I rate this movie 10/10 and recommend it to everyone and anyone studying animation.Thank you.