Product Description

Harvie Krumpet is the biography of an ordinary man seemingly cursed with perpetual bad luck. From being born with Tourette’s Syndrome, to getting struck by lightning; from having his testicle removed to developing Alzheimer’s disease; Harvie’s troubles seem unending! Yet, Harvie learns many lessons in life and enjoys its many fruits. He finds love, freedom, nudity and ultimately the true meaning of what it is to be human.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30439 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-11-09
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 23 minutes

Customer Reviews

Understated and touching
I wasn't sure what to expect from this DVD, but only knew it was Australian and had recieved some good reviews here. I was pleasently surprised to experience a series of claymation stories which were truly unique. Mr. Elliot is a talented artist with a fresh perspective on storytelling. Most of the material included here is (or appears to be) based on Elliot's actual family and experiences growning up in Melbourne. The stories are often subtle in their humour and message, but evoke strong laughs and somber contemplation. These stories are quirky yet very human. My only complaint is that I was left wanting more. The price seems a bit steep for the amount of content.

living life forward
In one of Adam Elliot's shorts accompanying Harvie, a character says that life can only be understood looking backward but has to be lived forward. Harvie Krumpet is a film that lives forward and is quiet, funny, heartbreaking, exhilarating and all from minimal movement and maximum writing. Elliot is a writer who poetically puts stories together that are so close to the bone but so eccentric that one really doesn;t know what to feel while watching it. The end is always something that makes you want to sit and think for a while before speaking. His characters evoke Beckett in the 21st century with a wit and wryness that is Australia. Wonderful stuff that will stay with you for a long long time.

Clever, tender, and darkly humorous
This film deservedly won the Academy Award in 2004 for Best Animated Short. It's a claymation tale of Mr. Harvie Krumpet (nee Harvek Milos Krumpetzki) who emigrates from his native Poland after Hitler's invasion and heads down under to Australia. Harvie has many unfortunate mishaps (as do his family members) but these are often darkly humorous and even touching at times. He gains insights into life and through his perseverance manages to find happiness here and there. Is he a modern Job, refusing to let life's cruelty get him down? Or is he a claymation Ziggy, who allows us to laugh at life's misfortunes? Either way this film is a genuinely creative, funny and even moving film. Buy the DVD and you also get Adam Eliot's other 3 claymation shorts "Brother," "Cousin," and "Uncle."