#actually the best part of that interview is phil saying 'oh my GD my kids are NEVER watching boogie nights no WAY'

[philhoffman]

This week’s Monday Philm is PSH’s only animated feature, the Australian claymation Mary and Max (2009), dir. Adam Elliot. Big year for animated!Phil—his episode of Arthur came out just a few months later!

I think this is only the second or third time I’ve watched Mary and Max, but I always need a bit of an adjustment period to get used to the style. I enjoy animated films and I especially appreciate the time and effort that goes into creating these lengthy stop-motion pieces (especially after watching the little “making of” doc with director Adam Elliot), but I don’t mesh at all with Elliot’s self-described “chunky-wonky” style. Visually one of the more challenging films for me to watch (probably because I am a bit like Max!).

A very good story, though. Ugly and beautiful, I said last time. Both Mary and Max’s stories dig around uncomfortably deep in my own head and childhood and memories. A lot of themes I connect with but don’t really feel like elaborating on right now. I’m listening to the late, great Daniel Johnston as I write this and Max reminds me of him, lol.

I was going through some old interviews this morning and found one where Phil said he recorded basically everything for Max in a single day, from a recording booth in London while Skyping with the director and crew in Australia. I’ve been thinking about that all day—he put in a few hours of work one day in 2008 and 15 years later it’s still having a deep, visceral impact on so many. I’ve read a lot of reviews from people who really cherish this film and honor it as the underrated gem it is. It’s not my favorite movie but it does represent autism and anxiety and loneliness and depression in a surprisingly real way, which I suppose is one of the advantages of animation. Maybe it’s easier to be truthful with complicated themes when you can literally shape them frame-by-frame with your bare hands.

“He had the most beautiful voice of any modern American actor. (Really, listen to it—it's amazing),” Tom Carson wrote about Philip in 2014. Whether it’s Lester Bangs’ vocal fry or Allen Mellencamp audibly caving in on himself or Lancaster Dodd’s commanding speeches or Phil’s own real voice—sort of slow, low, mumbling, gears turning in his head, until he catches the thought and it practically bursts out of him, chasing after it, voice raised, often booming, easy to laugh, a slight New York accent, such a unique inflection you can hear his tongue punctuate certain words and sounds so clearly—it’s one of his most outstanding trademarks. That’s what really makes Mary and Max special to me, is hearing PSH use that deep, lovely voice to explore a new medium. It’s almost easy to forget it’s him and I totally understand how people watch it without realizing he’s in it. Tbh I might love what he does in Arthur even more—it’s so camp—but he’s got such a rich voice, so good for any kind of voice acting, and it’s neat he got a taste of it doing this film. 

Always thinking about that Esquire interview when Phil said, “I don't think I've made anything my kids can watch until they're like 40... It's funny, because I did a voice in an animated movie called Mary and Max. And a guy, like, kills himself in it. The one animated movie I make is for adults.”