Slow walk through sadness, hope that hits home Daily Press [Video]

Let’s say, without saying more, that your week hasn’t gone as you’d hoped and that you wouldn’t describe yourself as feeling incredibly optimistic at the moment.

You may find a kindred spirit in Grace Pudel.

The snail-collecting and snail hat-wearing woman is the lead character in “Memoir of a Snail,” the largely enjoyable latest work from Australian writer-director Adam Elliot, who, through the time-consuming art form of stop-motion animation, traffics in tales for adults in which comedy and tragedy intersect.

Getting a wide theatrical release this week, “Memoir of a Snail” recently won the top prize in the official competition at BFI London Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize at the Animation Is Film Festival in Hollywood.

When you understand the amount of work that goes into them, stop-motion films almost always astound visually. “Memoir of a Snail,” boasting a rich palette and creatively designed characters, is no exception.

Some fun facts courtesy of the film’s production notes:

— a team of artists spent almost a year making the roughly 7,000 …