SPOILER ALERT:This interview contains details of the filmMemoir of a Snail.
But really what we should be doing is embracing them and also other people.
Empathy is a real key ingredient with my characters.
‘Memoir of a Snail’IFC Films
DEADLINE:Where were you on Oscars nomination day?
Normally announcements make me nervous, but I had a really bad feeling about this one.
But Id forgotten that really films arent made for the critics [laughs].
Grace (Sarah Snook) inMemoir of a SnailIFC Films
It was this huge sense of relief because it had taken eight years to make the film.
We took a lot of risks, not just with the story, but just how we made it.
Ours is the only film of the five thats not for children, so I was worried.
Your films have this cutesy look to them, but they have adult themes.
Do you still have people who arent aware of what you do?
ELLIOT:I fight it all the time, but it really depends on what country Im in.
But its certainly changing.
And so thats what I say now.
Its just a medium and a great vehicle to tell challenging stories with challenging subject matter.
DEADLINE:Right, then on top of that you have the religious family speaking in a garbled way.
I thought it was funny.
ELLIOT:Thats the Pentecostal Church.
We have a big group here in Australia who speak in tongues.
And my comment on religion was really about organized religion and cults particularly.
It was not against religion.
Its really against people who exploit other people via religion.
All the other students were really enthusiastic and keen to go down that pathway.
But something in me said, You know what, Adam?
I dont think youre going to enjoy sitting behind a computer screen all day.
Im a very hands-on, I like getting my hands dirty.
Im always using it.
Its very primeval and cathartic medium.
So I knew really early on that 2D animation and computer animation was not for me.
I mean, I loved drawing.
And it hasnt died.
Its alive and well.
Wes Anderson and Guillermo del Toro are doing stop-motion.
So its still around now even with the advent of AI.
I think handcrafted art forms have never been more appreciated because were drowning in CGI stuff.
DEADLINE:Talk about the inspiration behindMemoir of a Snail.
It was based on family members and friends?
ELLIOT:It all started about eight years ago.
He never threw anything out.
Instead, he just built another garage and filled it up.
I always say, my scripts start with a point of anger or frustration about something.
I remember feeling very annoyed with him about leaving behind this big mess that we had to clean up.
What makes that unique to the human species?
So I just started to read a lot and research, and I spoke to psychologists and psychiatrists.
It really stirred my imagination.
So thats where it all started.
Yet today, shes a fashion designer.
Shes very confident, shes an extrovert.
Shes actually a nudist [laughs].
At a party, shes first to take her clothes off.
So that really stirred my imagination as well.
So I just started writing.
And then the two ideas merged together.
DEADLINE:Throughout your filmography, there is a lot of emphasis on characters with disabilities.
I think its very unique.
Whats the reasoning behind that?
ELLIOT:Its just what triggers my interest.
I have a lot of very eclectic, eccentric friends.
Pinkys based on some older, wonderful women in my life.
One of my best friends has one leg.
A lot of my friends are on the spectrum.
So I never really set out to do that.
But really what we should be doing is embracing them and also other people.
Empathy is a real key ingredient with my characters.
Im really trying to get you to put yourself in the shoes of my characters.
Whats it like to be an 8-year-old girl born with a cleft palate?
So I think thats why [have] these characters.
DEADLINE:You really carved a cute niche out for yourself.
Perhaps inspiring is a better word.
ELLIOT:I love cute.
Grace was designed to be cute, but we put a lot of effort into making them look tragic.
But I love cute, and I also love killing cute.
Its somethings getting too cute, I tend to kill it off.
DEADLINE:Which character in your filmography do you relate to the most?
ELLIOT:I would probably sayBrother, because that film is about a perceived brother.
Its actually about myself.
So really, that film should have been calledMebecause I was an asthmatic.
I was considered unusual as a child.
So that was probably the most personal one.
But then Pinky (inMemoir of a Snail) is a character I want to be.
Pinkys what I aspire to be and who Grace aspires to be.
Shes got free will.
Shes that free spirit.
She doesnt care what people think.
And Id love to get to that point where youre just like, I dont care.
ELLIOT:Certainly the gay conversion sequence.
Also in trying to sell the film overseas, would it upset too many people?
But Ive always believed that youve got to take risks.
Youve got to push the boundaries.
Particularly with my films, because they are adult and challenging.
So I just had to trust my instincts.
But sometimes you get it wrong.
We wanted the music to be very powerful in that scene.
We said, You know what?
Lets make this as disturbing as possible.
Lets go for realism.
By the time we got to the end of the edit, I was like, You know what?
I think its going to work.
I think its going to be quite visceral and palpable and disturbing.
DEADLINE:Talk more about Gilberts character.
Im guessing the emphasis of the conversion therapy route was essential to his disappearance storyline.
So it had to be the next level up.
But Gilbert too was never going to come back.
In the first couple of drafts of the script, he was dead.
And that was how the film was going to end.
Because really, I wanted Grace to learn that she can stand on her own two feet.
She doesnt need Gilbert.
Grace is a survivor.
So I wanted her to be a complete person, and she does that.
So really, Gilbert coming back is the reward.
Hes not the missing link anymore, she is actually quite strong now without him.
But if he didnt come back, the audience would hate me, I think [laugh].
DEADLINE:It was so devastating when we thought he had died.
Im so glad you brought him back.
ELLIOT:Well, it was tricky to write.
We didnt want the audience to suspect.
Most people are surprised that he does resurrect from the ashes.
I get a lot of emails about poor old Ben, his partner, what happened to Ben?
What happened to Ben?
Im hoping he goes back to save him.
ELLIOT:I dont really like Ben.
Ive never really liked him as a character.
No, he can suffer [laughs].
You have her married to a feeding fetishist.
Sometimes you do come across those in the plus-sized community.
Why did you end up adding it here?
And one of the government investors said, I think Ken should be a feeder.
And I said, Whats a feeder?
And he said, Go Google.
And its usually men feeding women, plus those women who enjoy this to begin with.
But then the man is really about immobilizing the woman.
So it can go in a really horrible direction.
And I thought, well…
I mean, poor old Ken, hes damaged goods.
I didnt want to demonize him too much either because he knows that he has an issue.
I wanted that to be ambiguous.
ELLIOT:I was lucky that most of them live here.
Sarah lives down the road.
Kodi lives just in the country a little bit.
Jackis the only one who lives in LA now.
Im very lucky here in Australia, we can access these big names pretty easily.
Of course, our budget was the biggest problem, low budget.
We couldnt pay them what they would normally get.
But Sarah was always my first choice.
We have Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett and Margot Robbie, but Sarah has this beautiful shyness.
I didnt want her to put on a voice.
I just wanted her natural speaking voice.
Kodis a very philosophical, serious, young, brilliant actor, and he brought that broodiness I wanted.
You marry a voice with the animation, and sometimes it doesnt work despite how good the performance is.
He plays Pinkys husband.
What do you want them to consider about the film or to get out of Graces story?
He said, Youre just like me.
Youve got to make the audience laugh and youre going to make them cry.
So thats always been my aspiration.
I really get upset when people say my films are depressing.
I want them to be uplifting, full of hope.
I want them to be life-affirming.
And that seems to be happening.
People are re-watching the film too.
I was a bit shocked that people would re-watch it.
I thought itd be likeSchindlers Listand it would be too traumatic to watch again.
So thats been really gratifying.
Again, I use that word relief a lot because we took a lot of risks with this film.
So individual voices are getting quashed.
Its really important that films like mine get made to just hear voices from people who are marginalized.
And thats the other important thing Ive tried to do with this film.
So its great that the films been embraced.
