Cousin (1999) User Reviews

Cousinly and not brotherly

[Polaris_DiB · 6/10 · 24 October 2006]

I don't like this one as much as "Brother", but it's simply a matter of preference and not anything objective in that assertion. It's the same style of animation and photography with the same meaning in the grays. It's the same simple memory-based style of story.

It just doesn't seem as personal to me, even though it was made before "Brother." I think it's just about as detached from the situation as cousins are from brothers.

However, it's still a really sweet and caring tribute to a colorful character that has filled someone's life, and I'm really impressed with Elliot's ability to bring these characters back to life. I honestly hope more people get to see this (so far) family trilogy to experience something really caring in a style so often used for cheap entertainment.

--PolarisDiB

sad, beautiful, and funny short from Adam Elliot

[framptonhollis · 8/10 · 20 September 2018]

The second installment in animator Adam Elliot's autobiographical trilogy, 'Cousin' just about matches the mastery of the film preceding it. In only four minutes, Elliot tells a story infused with humour, absurdity, sadness, and beauty. The animation is strongly stylized, but fitting; the short itself is highly realistic, and yet also contains visuals of an almost surreal nature. Something feels off about the whole thing, but that's okay, because that's how it should be. Something SHOULD be feeling off.

Improvement visible

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 29 July 2016]

"Cousin" is a 1999 short film from Australia and it soon has its 20th anniversary. It runs for 4.5 minutes only and it is an animated work by filmmaker Adam Elliot. This was fairly early in his career when he made a trilogy of films about male family members. Apart from "Cousin", these included "Brother" and "Uncle". I am not sure if there is any autobiographical reference in these films from Elliot, but I think that this one here is superior to "Uncle" and improvement is visible as we are moving closer in time to his Oscar winner "Harvie Krumpet". Oh year, "Cousin" is in black-and-white too. I think it is an effective little movie and works very well at a runtime of under 5 minutes. I don't feel as if I have just watched something really great or outstanding, but it was a very pleasant little film and I give it a thumbs. Go see it if you can.

One of a wonderful set of three claymation shorts

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 5 January 2008]

This is one of three odd little films made by Adam Benjamin Elliot. The trilogy consists of UNCLE, COUSIN and BROTHER. All three are very similar in style--all with similar claymation, all in black and white and all with very deadpan narration. All three films also are quite funny and very poignant.

COUSIN is a strange story about the narrator's cousin. This young boy had cerebral palsy and was a very odd person, but also more complex and cool than many might assume he'd be due to the disability. The remembrances range from very funny, to just plain weird to very poignant and touching.

Now the claymation quality is just okay, but because the film captivates the viewer so quickly and I found after I saw one I was strongly compelled to seek out the others, then this was a very effective film. One well worth seeing--particularly for lovers of shorts and animation.

If you want to see this or the other two videos, go to http://www.atomfilms.com/ .

Wonderful Storytelling In Claymation Form

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 25 August 2008]

Like Adam Elliot's "Brother," this is a short story of one of the narrator's family, in this case an unnamed older cousin. The kid looked a lot like his brother, except without one of lenses being blacked out on his glasses. Otherwise, he had the exact same nerdy face.

What was different was that this "cousin" had a serious illness but could still do some amazing things, especially with his one good arm. All the anecdotes about this boy are really fascinating and told with the kind of narration that gets 100 percent of your attention.

This is short, but great storytelling. Elliot does an outstanding job of combing humor and tragedy. The claymation is real hoot to view, too! I like the fact the filmmaker did this series in black-and-white, too. It makes the claymation figures all the more dramatic, yet at the same time keeping us focused on the narration.

In the style of Wallace and Gromit, with a deeper meaning.

[hunthelp · 10/10 · 19 March 2001]

I recently viewed the up-and-comer Adam Elliot's three short animated films "Cousin, Brother, Uncle" at the Durango Film Festival and was in awe. Adam Elliot has combined the light-hearted animation that made "Wallace and Gromit" famous into a film that in only ten minutes moves the viewer deeply. Elliot takes on such issues as death, suicide, disease, alcoholism, and family problems by showing us his memories of his cousin with multiple sclerosis, his lonely uncle whose wife committed suicide, and his experiences with his brother who died at a young age. Each short is designed to move the audience, but present these serious issues in a sort of light-hearted pill for the audience to take in. I look forward to seeing more of Adam Elliot's work in the future.

The middle film of a trio of films about the director's family

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 9 July 2014]

This is Adam Elliot's first professional film (Uncle was a project done while he was a student). There will be spoilers ahead:

As the title indicates, this short is essentially reminiscences about Elliot's relationship with his cousin, who has Cerebral Palsy (which I too have).

It's a funny, poignant, sometimes painful look at childhood, family, relationships and differences. The narration is rather dry and deadpan, which makes relating some of the stories rather fascinating, such as when it refers to his cousin's palsied arm having a mind of its own and sometimes being pinned to his side by his mother.

Occasionally, the story, like most lives, veers into tragedy, as when the cousin's parents are killed and he's farmed out. The narrator relates having had virtually no contact with his cousin for years, only to think he saw him one day, but chose not to go over.

The Claymation is very spare, as limited as it can be and still get the point across. Elliot's direction is very good. This short is available on both the Harvie Crumpet DVD and as part of The Animation Show, Volume 1.It and the DVDs are most recommended.