Harvie Krumpet

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.

Harvie Krumpet is a strange little man and life has never been on his side. This film tells his story and takes you on the journey.

The story is very well written and it mix drama and comedy very good. It is very funny, but still serious. The story is unique and original for a short film and it turns out quite good on the screen. The characters are charming and good. You really have sympathy for them and you get to know them. Especially Harvie. The animation is very good. It's stop motion clay animation in the best Nick Park style. It's very impressive. The narration by Geoffrey Rush is very good. I was skeptical when I saw that this film lasted for 20 minutes, but 20 minutes later I wondered where the time went. The film thrilled me and got me hooked and I was never bored. It turned and twisted and kept the audience interested.

All together a very good and very charming little short film about the outsiders in society. A movie well worth to watch.

This little Australian claymation production was an unlikely winner for best animated short at the Oscar ceremony for 2003, beating a pixar production and other anime-bigwigs. Which is ironic, because Adam Elliot's twenty minute short is about an underdog. Elliot has appealed to a popular Australian myth, that of the Aussie battler, and the underdog (who we Australians inevitably root for), as a way to make an Australian audience sympathise with a migrant from poland, and recognise a similarity between themselves an him. What makes this short clever is that it uses the form of a children's story, a fairy tale, to communicate a moving story of hardships and not seem to bash the audience over the head with them. It has the appeal of the wonderful Aussie film The Castle, where great profundity can be found through a story told very simply, about simple people, whose outlook on life is so admirable. The story Harvie Crumpet tells, and the character of Harvey, are, of course, very different. Harvie suffers so much, and so many terrible things happen to him, that you have to wonder what is the redeeming thing about this story that makes it worth watching (leaving to the side its marvellous presentation in the guise of a children's fairy tale, or claymation television program perhaps, which creates, as mentioned, a juxtaposition with its content which is effective in lending it a genuine feel, making the audience want to be touched by Harvie). And, of course, the thing that makes Harvie remarkable is that he survives. He doubts himself, like all of us, and at times wants to give up the game, but at the end of the day, he seizes what precious moments he has.

Geoffery Rush as narrator rivals Anthony Hopkins for his fairy tale narration in The Grinch. Reveals what a wonderful, Australian storytelling voice he has. He should do more work in this vein, not to undermine his appearances onscreen, which are also marvellous (particularly Shakespeare in Love and Shine, but like Cate Blanchett, and unlike every other actor in the Hollywood past and present, he is just fantastic in every role).

In just twenty three minutes we are told, with the help of Rush, the life story of Harvie Krumpet - and at the end, even though he's only made of clay, we really feel like we know him. And he's a little fella that stays with you.

When I saw this short animation on the Monday night in question, I was surprised to see how such a sad story about a 'retarded migrant' could be so humorous. His story from a lumberjack's son to an animal- liberationist to an alzheimers patient is a well written and an entertaining one. I won't give away too much, but you will be pleased at just how entertaining this film is.

It definitely deserved the Oscar. I was quite surprised that it won, but then I saw the film and understood why.

If you every get a chance to watch it, take advantage of it.

I especially enjoyed the minor story about Harvie's doctor. Very clever.

I saw this when it was coming out. I remember it stroke me as incredibly fresh and imaginative. Part of this might be because i was at quite a different stage in my life through films. But now, 7 years later, this still retains a lot of its appeal. It's not been so long, but this still works on all its purposes, humor and visuals.

The skill in the making of this is top notch in every respect, of course. The characters, and such a film is absolutely all about characters are great in how the specificities of clay are used to convey absolutely every emotional nuance.

The story is a good piece of writing, using the always powerful combination of tragedy and comedy, something Chaplin understood so well. I think we cry deeper when we feel we shouldn't be laughing. It's the contrast that creates the power. By taking you to extremes of fun, enabling you to laugh, and suddenly pulling the rug out of your feet, writers leave you in a state of inner shame, which we interpret with uneasiness. Or it's the simple overlapping of comedy bits over a tragic environment. But i go with the first possibility.

Geoffrey Rush is great as an actor, and he brings that subtlety to his voice over.

But what probably caught my mind and makes this last is the clever framing they use. The "Fakts" as they're spelled in the film. Harvie spends his live registering unusual bizarre views of the world, in little sentences he calls (taught by his mother) fakts. These thoughts mirror what goes on happening to him throughout his life, filtered through Harvie's crippled yet beautiful mind. The fun is in how each fakt never reproduces correctly what really happens, and so it becomes a kind of a comment on the story itself. Born from it, but exterior to it, a separate element, clearly represented by the book Harvie carries strapped around his neck always, even when he's naked. Great stuff.

My opinion: 4/5

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