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form y separately published work icon Mary and Max single work   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 2009... 2009 Mary and Max
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'A story spanning twenty years and two continents, Mary and Max tells of a pen-friendship between two very different people. Mary Dinkle, a chubby and lonely eight year old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne decides on a whim to to pick a person at random from the New York phone book and sends off a letter asking about life on the other side of the world. It is received by Max Horovitz, an obese 44 year old Jewish man with Asperger's Syndrome living in the chaos of New York. A friendship is born as the pair exchange letters over the next 20 years. Offering each other support, advice and the chance to see life through another set of eyes.

'Mary and Max's friendship survives much more than the average diet of life's ups and downs. As with Adam Elliot's previous feature film, the Academy Award-winning Harvey Krumpet(2003), Mary and Max is innocent but not naive, as it takes us on a journey that explores friendship, autism, taxidermy, psychiatry, alcoholism, where babies come from, obesity, kleptomania, sexual difference, trust, copulating dogs, religious difference, agrophobia and much much more.'

Source: Mary and Max website, http://www.maryandmax.com/
Sighted: 30/03/2009

Affiliation Notes

  • Writing Disability in Australia

    Type of disability Asperger's syndrome.
    Type of character Primary.
    Point of view Third person.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 2009

Works about this Work

Mental Illness on Screen Cara Nash , Pete Rogers , Annette Basile , Erin Free , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 19 March 2019;
The Laughter and the Tears : Comedy, Melodrama and the Shift Towards Empathy for Mental Illness on Screen Fincina Hopgood , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Screen in the 2000s 2018; (p. 165-189)
Analyses five Australian films (both textual analysis and production history) with a focus on their empathetic presentation of mental illness and their deployment of melodrama and comedy.
The 100 Best Australian Films of the New Millenium Erin Free , Dov Kornits , Travis Johnson , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 22 September 2016;
Mary and Max : Rewatching Classic Australian Films Luke Buckmaster , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 30 May 2014;

— Review of Mary and Max Adam Elliot , 2009 single work film/TV
Interview with Adam Elliott Janelle Moran (interviewer), 2010 single work interview
— Appears in: Etchings , no. 9 2010; (p. 57-71)
Film of the Week Tom Ryan , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 5 April 2009; (p. 26)

— Review of Mary and Max Adam Elliot , 2009 single work film/TV
With Love Stephanie Bunbury , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3 April 2009; (p. 7)

— Review of Mary and Max Adam Elliot , 2009 single work film/TV
Poetry in Stop-Motion Paul Byrnes , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-12 April 2009; (p. 14)

— Review of Mary and Max Adam Elliot , 2009 single work film/TV
Breaking the Mould Rob Lowing , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 12 April 2009; (p. 16)

— Review of Mary and Max Adam Elliot , 2009 single work film/TV
Mary, Max and a Little Bloke Called Oscar Cris Kennedy , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 April 2009; (p. 27)

— Review of Mary and Max Adam Elliot , 2009 single work film/TV
Reel Time Michael Bodey , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 18 February 2009; (p. 8)
Feats of Clay Dani Valent , 2009 single work biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 28-29 March 2009; (p. 12-13, 15)
A Knife in the Heart Michael Bodey , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4-5 April 2009; (p. 18-19)
Bringing it Home Tom Ryan , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 17 May 2009; (p. 29)
[Review] Samson and Delilah Michael Bodey , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 16 September 2009; (p. 17)
Last amended 13 Mar 2019 10:57:42
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