Review of Harvie Krumpet

Introduction

Ah, one of the little ones, those Oscars that we rarely remember, but on occasion make a bigger splash than normal. We usually take notice of best director, or actor, ignore completely the technical awards. However on Oscar night the little ones briefly impinge on our consciousness, as those creative filmmakers whose works rarely reach a wide audience are honoured. We`re talking Best Documentaries, Best Shorts, and Best Animation Shorts. But on occasion, some winners make bigger splashes than others, and I`m not just talking Michael Moore. Nick Park`s wins for Wallace & Gromit led to the Chicken Run movie and the forthcoming Wallace & Gromit feature, and have made him a household name. Like Aardman`s films, the Winner of 2003`s Oscar for Best Animated Short Film is a claymation production, but the creator Adam Elliot brings a distinctly antipodean feel to the humour in Harvie Krumpet, a darker feel that warrants the warning from the BBFC, "Contains mild references to sex and death, and natural nudity" Narrated by Geoffrey Rush, Harvie Krumpet is the tale of an unremarkable life told in 22 minutes.

Video

Contrary to what is stated on the Amaray case, Harvie Krumpet gets a 1.85:1 letterbox transfer, and the subtitles are zoom unfriendly to say the least. The picture is adequate, the colours are strong and the image sharp, although the letterbox resolution is a disappointment. The animation is pretty traditional; it doesn`t break any new ground in the field but serves the story well. There is some flicker in some scenes, but it doesn`t get annoying.

Audio

You have a choice of DD 2.0 and DD 5.1 English soundtracks. The surround is unremarkable, but the narration is clear throughout. There are subtitles in English and French.

Features

22 minutes of animation is pretty thin content even for a single layer disc. Fortunately there are extras that more than complement the main feature.

Prominently, there are 4 other animations from Adam Elliot that show the evolution and genesis of Harvie Krumpet.

Human Behavioural Case Studies lasts a minute and is presented in 4:3, while the other animations are longer and are presented in letterbox format.


Uncle lasts 6 minutes, and is the story of a man told from the perspective of his nephew.
Cousin lasts 4 minutes, and is pretty much the same thing.
Brother lasts 8 minutes, and I`ll let you guess what it`s about.

These four animations show Adam Elliot`s fascination with flawed characters and you can see the genesis of Harvie Krumpet in them.

There are commentaries for the main feature, Uncle, Cousin and Brother. I found the commentary for Harvie Krumpet disappointing, as it was one of those, "This is how we made the fag ends, this is what we used for mucus" commentaries that dwells on the minutiae and forgets to discuss the heart of the story. Fortunately in the commentaries for the other films, we get an idea of how Elliot was inspired and what his influences were.

There is a storyboard featurette (6 minutes) that is pretty much your standard comparison featurette. Annoyingly, only this and the menus are presented anamorphically.

Finally there is a gallery of Character Model Shots for 4 of the characters from Harvie Krumpet, as well as a jacket picture that displays when the disc isn`t spinning.

Conclusion

Harvie Krumpet, a tale of a man with perpetually bad luck, from ill-starred birth to senescence. It`s an interesting story, and entertaining enough, but I`m afraid that I was left cold for the most part by Harvie Krumpet. The blurb on the case makes comparison with Nick Park`s animations, but I never felt as if the animation ever approached the quality or ingenuity of Aardman`s efforts. The story is humorous, but never laugh out loud funny. I was also somewhat disappointed by the narration, not that I in anyway think ill of Geoffrey Rush`s voice, but this felt less like a film than it did a storyteller at work, and on occasion the animation even felt secondary to the voiceover.

I think the biggest problem was that I didn`t latch on to the sense of humour; it was a dark, dry and languid feel that was understated for the most part, almost apologetic for cracking a joke. It`s something that runs through the animations on this disc, and I must admit I got tired of seeing the same jokes recycled again and again.

This disc is a nice little package for those who are interested in the 2003 Oscar Winner. The main animation is supported well by earlier works from Adam Elliot and commentaries from the same. It`s just a shame about the aspect ratio. Personally, it`s just not my cup of tea (and Krumpet).