Harvie Krumpet
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Harvie Krumpet is a 2003 Australian clay animation psychological comedy-drama short film written, directed and animated by Adam Elliot, and narrated by Geoffrey Rush. It tells the life story of Harvie Krumpet, a Polish-Australian man whose life is plagued by bad luck but who nevertheless remains optimistic.
The film was funded by SBS Independent, the Australian Film Commission and Film Victoria, and it was filmed and animated by Adam Elliot and two assistants over 15 months in 2001–2003, using models made of plasticine and other materials. The production was completed in May 2003 and Harvie Krumpet premiered a month later at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, followed by over 100 subsequent film festival screenings. It won many accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2004.
Plot
Harvek Milos Krumpetzki is born "upside down and back to front" in Poland in 1922. As a child, his mother helps him collect pieces of information called "fakts" that are written in a notebook hung around his neck, which are presented throughout the film. At the outbreak of World War II, shortly after his home is burned down and his parents freeze to death, Harvek migrates to Australia as a refugee, settles in Spotswood, Victoria, and changes his name to Harvie Krumpet.
Despite a life filled with bad luck, including being diagnosed with Tourette syndrome; having part of his skull replaced with a steel plate that becomes magnetised after being struck by lightning; developing asthma due to heavy smoking; and losing one of his testicles to cancer, Harvie remains optimistic, living out his own eccentric way of life. In one of the pivotal episodes of his life, Harvie sits in the park next to a statue of Horace while he hears the instructional Carpe diem, which inspires him to make many changes in his life, such as embracing nudism and vegetarianism, and embarking on daring rescue missions for animal rights. He marries Val, a nurse he meets in hospital, and they adopt a daughter, Ruby, who has deformed limbs due to the effects of thalidomide.
After Ruby moves to America to pursue a career as a lawyer and Val dies of a stroke, Harvie develops Alzheimer's disease and is placed in a nursing home. Although he briefly considers suicide, he decides to continue living the remainder of his life to the fullest. The final "fakt" presented reads: "Life is like a cigarette. Smoke it to the butt."
