Harvie Krumpet (2003)

This is a 22-minute short film, set in the 20th century, written and directed by Adam Elliot, who made the critically applauded "Mary and Max" a couple years later, but sadly has not worked on a new film since 2009. With "Harvie Krumpet" he won an Academy Award in the animated short film category against a Pixar entry and some other strong competition. The big strength of this short film is its emotion. There does not pass a minute without something significant happening to Harvie and there are constantly new impacts on his life, positive and negative ones. A whole lot about the movie is about illness, disease, disability and death, so it may not appeal to everybody, but the ending is actually one that will put a smile on your lips. Krumpet is easily one of the most interesting animated characters of the new millennium and I would love to watch a full feature on him. This is probably difficult though as there is constant narration here (with the characters not talking) and it might become a bit annoying if it goes on for 80 or more minutes. This is, of course, not a criticism against Geoffrey Rush who I adore as an actor and who is as brilliant here as with everything else he does. He has a huge share of this Academy Award. Anyway, I totally enjoyed watching this film. The animation is not the most modern, but it fits the storytelling and main character perfectly, better than any glorious animated special effects would. Would I call it uplifting or depressing? Well, I guess uplifting, but realistic is a more fitting terms and it includes the delights and tragedies of a lifetime in this film and I also loved the film's humor. Very well-done. Highly recommended and certainly a worthy Academy Award winner.

This is a strange little short film and the oddness and pointlessness of it all didn't come as a surprise to me since I'd already seen three other claymation shorts by the same man responsible for this film (Adam Elliot). In his previous shorts, which were shorter but very similar, he explored various people from his life (a cousin, uncle and brother) and I have no idea if these were real people or not--but I do know that the shorts were funny and strange yet quite touching.In HARVIE KRUMPET, you have pretty much the same thing except the overall message seems to be that life is pretty meaningless but you should live it with gusto. Now I know that this sounds very depressing, and at times it is, but with all the weird animation and jokes, it still made me smile--even when it seem a bit creepy now and again. However, I am sure that this short is NOT for everyone--it's just so odd and seemingly pointless that many will be inclined to just give up and stop watching. However, please keep viewing the short--it is infectious--the more you watch, the more you want to see.Decent animation, good narration (how the creator was able to get Geoffrey Rush to narrate is beyond me) and an odd and twisted style of story telling make this a fascinating video. If you like this, please try his others. They can all be found at Atoms Films' website as well as on the Sundance Channel.By the way, I have seen a couple of the films that KRUMPET beat out in the Oscar race. BOUNDIN' is a well-made but rather bland Pixar short about a bouncing sheep and GONE NUTTY is a very pleasant short from Fox that stars that primordial mouse who chases the acorn in ICE AGE. While I really liked GONE NUTTY, it lacked innovation so of the three films KRUMPET does seem to be the best. I want to see DESTINOS, but since it's a Disney product, I doubt if I'll find it on the internet for free (Disney give away something free?!?! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!) and I don't know if it's on DVD.

To be quite frank, I expected Destino to win the Oscar and was surprised and a bit disappointed on hearing that another short had won instead. Until I finally saw Harvie Krumpet the other day. Here there be mild Spoilers.Harvie Krumpet is both funny and frightening, sometimes at the same time. A modern-day version of Job (Job would probably look at Harvie's life and shudder), Harvie goes through a life that is tedious and tragic, all the while collecting "fakts" that are interspersed as graphics throughout the short.There are sight gags aplenty here. You'll never look at a pair of false teeth in quite the same way after you watch this. Given that this is set from the 1920s through the 1980s, some of the references are topical and somewhat dated and I'm sure there are in-jokes and references that anyone more familiar with Australia would get that I missed, but I found this extremely engaging and well worth my time. Though there are a couple of nominees I haven't seen yet, I think that this one probably won the Oscar walking away, deserved to and certainly is no disgrace to the Academy in having done so. Happily it is currently in print. Most highly recommended.

I actually went to the same school as the creator Adam Elliot, about ten years below him though but still noticed the interesting Aussie subtleties of this film, i.e. the bus stations. I loved Harvie Krumpet, like I loved his other films, plus I got meet first hand the people who influenced his life, I meet him when he did a speech at my school. He was a true gentlemen and another interesting fact, he went to school with Jamie Blanks, Director of Urban Legend. I definitely recommend HK, even if you're not Aussie, and it was deserving of the Oscar, lets cut though the American crap for once.Best Wishes Brett~R.I.P~Ben Bourke