Viewing #1: no commentary
The narrator has some Aspie traits - listing everyone by their first, middle and last names (details)
Autistic spectrum as default? Or maybe just childlike innocence?
Many shots [especially in Mary's scenes] use the "flat storybook world" look of Wes Anderson's films [further suggesting that childlike innocence]
Max (through the narrator) uses academic language from his first appearance - avoiding infantilization
Narrator dryly lists symptoms of Asperger's before it's revealed
"Hm" - Philip Seymour Hoffman's voice communicates a lot
Max's letters lack understanding of his target audience
"Do you have a pet kangaroo? My mother shot herself when I was 6. Do you like chocolate hotdogs?"
He goes on a lot of tangents - noodle kugels --> Judaism and religion in general
Casually mentions being a mental patient at one point - never elaborated on, as if it's a given
"You appear very happy" - more insightful than he gives himself credit for
The reason this film works perfectly for stop-motion is that no neurotypical actor could hold an expression for that long
"Mary drank his words like a bowl of alphabet soup" - she doesn't care that he doesn't understand she's a kid
She seems to imitate his writing style [asking questions with no lead-in]: "do you get The Noblets in America?"
Max was a victim of anti-semetic bullying - intersectionality
"And now, I am drinking it right now" - redundancy
"I think I will write a letter to the mayor and suggest this. He will be very impressed" - assumptions about others
Max's psychiatrist calls his goals stupid - discrimination by his closest ally*
The cinematography on Max's second anxiety attack really helps sell it
Narrator glosses over Max's stay in a mental institution - the unpleasantness of the situation, or different priorities [on Max's part]?
Winning the lottery - emotion through music and camera movements, not character acting
[Max] gives some of his lottery winnings to Ivy - empathy (more so than the cat shelter owner)
Max's imaginary friend reads self-help books - he doesn't
*Dr. Hazelhof still helps Max reach out to Mary - not black and white
Asperger's is "a new thing" - context (this would be a different film if it were set in the 21st century)
"I will now list some of the traits of an Aspie"
Max explicitly states he likes being an Aspie despite its problems - "it would be like trying to change the colour of my eyes"
Mary doesn't care about Max's Asperger's, except from the standpoint of helping with the problems associated with it (until she enters university)
Uses both real and fictional textbooks
Max reading her note - camera moves and expressions/tone of voice suddenly combine
References a scene the audience may have forgotten about, and which Mary did, but an Aspie never forgets
Mary's depression uses the same visual language of Max's early scenes - mailbox shot!
Mary's suicide attempt is darkly beautiful but we're not focusing on that right now
Max's final letter sums up his character growth - "You are my best friend. You are my only friend" with his usual blank face
Interestingly, Mary is the character who learns and changes more [over the course of the last act] - Max was right all along about not needing a "cure"
The ending deserves its own notebook! But most importantly: Max lived a worthwhile life despite never really being "normal"
Official + unofficial bonus materials
"Everything is tactile, everything is tangible" - Adam Elliot in the Making Of - Max never exhibits an affinity for textures like many Aspies, but that still might explain the choice of medium
"Animation is like a pencil or paintbrush: it's just a tool for telling a story; why is it geared to kids?" - Adam Elliot in his Skwigly Podcast interview
"I've always tried to write very funny films; unfortunately I end up being quite tragic"
"Everybody's life is full of both light and dark" (Caravaggio-esque lighting! [as mentioned in the film's DVD commentary])
"I love the sense that [the narrator] is guiding you through the film"
"I've had a desire to do a story about my pen friend [whom Max was based on] for a long time... there's so much there"
"He's a chameleon" - Elliot on Philip Seymour Hoffman
"I'm like a painter more than a filmmaker; I have to do everything my way" (Aspie traits!)
"When [Elliot's pen friend] saw the film, he listed the things he thought could be better" [...] "He's confounded about why we'd wanna make a film about him and our letters"
The scene of Max getting Mary's book was written as a worst-case scenario of his reaction
Viewing #2: with director's commentary
"I had to tell the audience about Asperger's without being too educational or preachy" (but describing it from an Aspie's point of view is easy - infodumping)
"All the news that's fit to print" = "Obese retarded man craned out"
Deliberately "wonky" sets (no straight lines) - congruent with Max's world view ("endlessly illogical")
Max has a literal lightbulb moment - the animation conveys his emotions where his face cannot (same for his heartbreat when he gets Mary's book)
The scene of Max's false smile is followed by his only genuine smile in the film ("he felt complete")
"It felt right to end the film with Max dying... to me it's a very hopeful ending... Mary feels her life has come full circle"
Max has started wearing his "faces" book regularly by the time of his death - he accepts that it's not his responsibility to change, but is willing to do so
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