Amelie
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Movie Reviews of Amelie
Movie Review: Infectiously sweet and charming, a complete winner from every angle...
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched `Amelie' solely because some friends went on a ten minute rant on just how wonderfully splendid a movie it is. I have to say that after watching it through it truly is splendid. This is due in large part to Audrey Tautou's delightful performance as Amelie. She's so infectiously sweet and charming it's a shame she never got the coveted Oscar nomination that said year, but in the Academies defense it was a very tough year. Truly though, the film as a whole soaks up her sweet disposition and delivers a wholesomely delicious cinematic experience that is hard to find amidst modern cinema. `Amelie' proves to be one of the more well-rounded delightful films I've seen in a long time, one of those very rare films that puts a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your stomach.
The film, coupled with a tremendous script, follows young Amelie as she endeavors to make right the lives of everyone around her. Amelie grew up in a not so happy home with a not so happy father and mother and thus in her adulthood she distances herself from reality and instead of making friends and companions she busies herself with making everyone she knows and or comes encounter with happy, trying in a very humble and secretive way to make their dreams come true, whether it be setting them up with the man (or woman) of their dreams or helping them get back at the person who makes their life a living Hades. Her biggest accomplishment though comes in the form of herself, for in helping a certain someone reunite with a memory of times past she realizes that she herself needs some helping out and thus makes her own life better for it. I'm being completely and utterly honest when I say that no movie I've seen in recent years is as sweet and charming as `Amelie'.
My favorite part of this film would have to be Amelie's decision to send her father's favorite garden-gnome on a trip around the world. This is of course in an attempt to persuade her father to travel before he dies, but it's this simple gesture to me that somewhat sums up the whole feel of this film. It's so light and sweet and now every time I see the `Travelocity' commercials I'm reminded of this uplifting film.
Everything about `Amelie' works to its advantage and this in effect works very well for the audience. Amelie moves through her life in a fairytale way, meeting new people and diverging on new quests on a whim and this adds so much to the saccharine feel of the film, giving the audience that fuzzy feeling of joy wrapped in blissful happiness. The director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, does a wonderful job in creating the perfect atmosphere for his dreamlike tale. As `Amelie' rolls on the audience is connected with Tautou's character in such a strong way because we begin to understand what has formed the angelic creature before us. She's sheltered and shy yet overtly charming and endearing. The ending may be predictable but it's the type of predictable that makes us glad we came to the movies. Who wouldn't want everything to turn out wonderful for this selfless human being?
So, the verdict from me at least is watch this film and enjoy from start to finish what may very well be the most upbeat and uplifting charm of a film ever made. I know that may seem like a lot of undue praise, but is it really undue? If you watch `Amelie' expecting the good time you deserve you'll be richly rewarded with feelings that modern cinema all too often forgets to award us. Watching the beautifully captivating Tautou prance from scene to scene in all her impishly angelic glory is enough to melt to hard of even the iciest of people.
Movie Review: Paris in the springtime
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't read reviews of the French film "Amelie" in advance, because the impression you'll get before you see it is: This is "Emma" on acid. And it isn't -- it's a sweet, whimsical, weird, and touching little tale about a shy young woman with a big heart. She's nobody's little weasel... yet! But as the movie progresses, you'll rapidly want to see her become somebody's little weasel. Amelie (Audrey Tatou) is a shy, introspective young woman with a vivid imagination and a quirky sense of humor. One day she accidently finds a little box of toys and photographs, and goes on a little quest to find the owner, decades later, and give him back his box. When the return of the box improves the man's life, Amelie is so pleased that she decides to keep helping others be happy in their own lives.
She gives a brittle-boned, reclusive old artist videos of pleasant things. She booby-traps a nasty grocer's apartment because of the way he treats a sweet, slow young man preoccupied by the late Princess Di. She directs a jealous man to a hypochondriac tobacconist in the hopes of making them both happy, sends her lonely father's garden gnome around the world (her father is still grieving for Amelie's mother, who was killed by a suicidal Canadian tourist leaping off a cathedral), and her landlady who still grieves for her late, unfaithful husband. But then Amelie encounters a dreamy young man, Nino, and finds a collection of photographs that he has collected. Will Amelie be able to do for herself what she has done for others -- and fall in love?
It certainly says something about "Amelie" that all the copies were virtually unavailable in my area for the longest time. It's a very sweet, cute, romantic film with a lot of nice visual tricks and likeable characters. If you don't like movies where people can fall in love at first sight, paintings talk, goldfish commit suicide and statues wink, then you won't like this -- one of the best moments is when a quartet of photographs tell Nino that he has fallen in love with Amelie "in your dreams." (It takes a lot to make me melt, but that did it) And it's very rare that in movies, people do nice things just for the sake of it. One of my favorite scenes is Amelie guiding a blind man down the street, rapidly describing the things around them.
And the little visual tricks, while they aren't totally necessary, are a nice touch to the movie -- Amelie being so unhappy that she turns into a puddle of water, her heart speeding up as she makes eye contact with Nino, and watching news reports about her life on the TV. Romantic moments abound -- a scene where Amelie and Nino hesitantly kiss parts of each other's faces is exquisite. And it's funny too, from the suicidal goldfish to the travelling garden gnome to the grocer's booby-trapped apartment, especially the speed dial that calls a psychiatric ward.
Audrey Tatou is wonderful as Amelie, managing to be mischievous and innocent, sweet and sad. Matthieu Kassovitz is vastly underrated as Nino Quincampoix, a dreamy young man who works at an adult video store with a gyrating stripper (yes, it's an odd place for Amelie's soulmate to work, but just watch!). Serge Merlin is good as the likeable, gruff, grumpy Dufayel, Rufus is poignant as Amelie's withdrawn dad, and all the supporting actors weave together in a complex plot that centers on... Amelie.
Like Amelie herself, "Amelie" is sweet and cute and funny and likeable, quirky and romantic. If you have even an ounce of romance in your soul, then sit back and visit "Amelie" in Paris in the springtime.
Movie Review: Do not waste times reading reviews, just go see the movie
Summary: 5 Stars
"Amélie" is a film where you want to find the perfect word for describing its charm. There is probably such a word in French, but I would not know what it was. All I know is that quirky, enchanting, and everything I come up with in English is wholy inadequate to the task at hand. The most important thing to know is that "Amélie" is a film where you should go see it because so many people love it, even if it requires you to not to do anything else so you can read the subtitles (some people resist such demands and--shudder--listen to dubbed versions of "Life is Beautiful" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). I feel about this film the way I did about "Memento," where I told people they should see it and refused to tell them anything else because it would ruin the experience (think the Heisenberg principle). However, I think the audience that would enjoy "Amélie" is considerably wider than those who would cotton to "Memento" (which was a quirky little film). So, I am giving you my strongest recommendation for you to see "Amélie." Now, if you have not yet seen the film, please go away, because I want to talk to those who have seen the film and while I am not going to be providing what we would traditionally consider "spoilers," you really sure come to view this film as pure and chaste as the driven snow (of which we have lots up here).
I find it interesting that the film's French title "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" was reduced to just "Amélie" for American consumption. Combined with the green framed portrait of actress Audrey Tautou smiling impishly as the title character, this certainly does not give viewers a real idea of what they will discover in this film. One of the chief charms of the film for me was how you had to pay attention to the details because almost everything was a clue as to future developments (the exception that proves the rule would be Blubber, whose return we patiently waited for throughout the entire film).
Jean-Pierre Jeunet establishes the fabulous world of Amélie Poulain in the creative prologue, which establishes what each of our cast of characters likes to do. We then begin 48 hours in which d'Amélie's life is changed. Of course such massive developments hinge on a bottle cap fallen to the floor. Our heroine's efforts to sabotage the life of Collignon (Urbain Cancelier), the Grocer (who will never be confused with an artichoke), struck my funny bone exceedingly hard and her relationship with the Glass Man, Raymond Dufayel (Serge Merlin), was particularly nice, both their discussions about the girl with the wine glass in the Renoir painting and the old man giving her the final push to her destiny. The only question is whether Nino Quincampoix (Mathieu Kassovitz), is really good enough for our girl, but if she is smitten with a man who collects torn up and discarded photographs from photo booths around town, who are we to challenge her choice?
The end of the fabulous 48 hours at which point our heroine finds her destiny does not offer a perfect world. Some find true bliss in love, others finally go on trips, but some still right where they started, unpublished, afflicted by imaginary illnesses, or consumed by jealousy. But as long as Amélie lives happily ever after we are content. I pity the person who does not fall in love with this film.
Movie Review: A woman without love wilts like a flower without sun.
Summary: 5 Stars
From director Jean-Pierre Jeunet comes the charming romantic comedy "Amelie", a film that greatly transcends it's genre. Romantic Comedies are a dime a dozen here in the States, but Jeunet has crafted a very quirky, fun and visually pleasing film that delivers comedy and romance both in spades without ever feeling cheesy or familiar.
Ameile Poulain is a shy and reserved 23 year old girl who had a rather odd childhood. Her mother was killed when a suicide jumper landed on her and father, though a good provider and kind person, never showed Amelie much affection, erroneously diagnosing her with a heart condition and having her homeshooled. Truth be told, Amelie's heart would race when her father would medically examine her, leading him to believe she had a heart condition. In reality, affection was what cause her excitement.
Fast forward to 1997. Amelie has a flat all to herself, and desires a relationship but due to bad luck in the past has all but given up on them. She works in a small cafe in town with a group of eccentric co-workers, but she goes home alone to her cat each night. Amelie is lonely, but too shy to go out and meet people. She feels it's time for a change in her life, but she feels things will happen on their own.
One morning, Amelie hears of the death of Princess Diana on television and, in shock, she drops in the cap of a perfume bottle. The cap rolls toward a tile on the lower wall and knocks it down, revealing a space inside, where a rusty box of momentos lies. She feels the need to return it to it's owner, now a middle aged man, and when he recieves it he feels so much joy that Amelie, satisfied by her good deed, goes on a mission. Do good deeds for others to bring a little happiness to their lives. However, karma does come her way when she finds an interesting scrapbook that a man leaves behind at a photo booth. Through this book, she develops an infatuation with this man. Is he the one she needs to fill the empty romantic void in her own life?
Amelie has a stylish and colorful fairytale romp, well-crafted and smart without coming across as pretentious. The colors and settings are bright and vivid, and make you long to be in the city of Paris. The film goes inside Amelie's always-daydreaming mind. The viewer enters a world where televisions, and other inanimate objects, talk to you. The pixie-like nature of Amelie, played by the beautiful Audrey Tatou, is a perfect fit for this eccentric character. The cinematography is breathtaking, bringing to mind the vivid colors and atmosphere of 'Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas", but with less acid of course. It all feels like a dream, a setting so perfect and surreal it dosen't feel realistic, but that's what cinema is about. "Amelie" is a 2 hour escape into a the title characters world with everything is serene and perfect, and it's a mighty enjoyable ride.
There's a timeless feel to "Amelie", it's a feel-good film that makes the viewer feel hopeful. The musical score by Yann Tierson fits the images like a glove and is very memorable and unique. This is one of those rare films where everything just falls into place. I highly recommend it to any fan of cinema, regardless of taste. When you invite Amelie into your world, she won't be forgotten. Like she did for the characters in the film, she might just change your life. After all, theres a little Amelie Poulain in all of us.
Movie Review: Tres bien mes amis!
Summary: 5 Stars
I find it difficult to believe that not one person has written a review for this movie. So I shall try to do my very best. This movie simply oozes charm. I bought it on a lark, and not a few positive words from others. And well, because Audrey Tautou looks cute on the cover. I'd seen a few bits of it here and there, and decided why not. I am glad that I did too, because it's marvelous.This is a quirky movie, and in that way that we Americans will never be able to reproduce. All we do is remake them, and they're typically saccharine sweet at best. We seem to excel at war movies, and depressing stories that crush the spirit of the viewer. And those are good too, but there's only so much one can take before they need a movie like this to soothe their soul. And here we have the French to thank for something other than blowing up a greenpeace ship. Not that I don't whole-heartedly appreciate that.
The story is about a girl who spent her childhood starved of affection from her neurotic, but well meaning parents. Mom dies in a bizarre suicide attempt by a Quebec exchange student involving Notre Dame, gravity, and a little bit of screaming. It has almost no bearing on the plot other than to dispose of the mother, and thus add a dimension of grief to the father, who builds her a shrine of odds and ends; to include a (seemingly) nomadic garden gnome. She works at a café with more "interesting" people, who have their own little stories, but they are little indeed. She's unlucky in love, thus far, and in life she's so shy that her world consists of working, visiting her bereaved father, and isolating herself in her apartment, where she spies on a curious neighbor who has painted the same Renoir every year for the last twenty years. He also suffers from a genetic condition that predisposes him to suffering broken bones with great ease. Similar to Samuel L's character in that horrible movie Unbreakable, but here it's actually believable. Everything changes when she hears on the TV that Princess Di has been killed, thus she drops the lid from the bottle in her hand, thus it rolls off and knocks loose a wall tile in her bathroom (how's that for contrived?). Hidden behind is a dust covered rusty tin with some small child's treasures concealed within. She decides to reunite the tin with it's now quite grown up owner, and if she is successful, she will spend the rest of her life trying to reunite other miserable people with some form happiness. It sounds sweet, but only through some small cleverness on the part of the writer can it possibly succeed. Thankfully, it does, begging me to wonder if this movie could possibly ever been made in the States...
All of this takes place, and more, with the backdrop of a Paris that does not really exist. The colours are bright, the streets clean, the people amiable. But the photography is outstanding, and helps the movie along in that effortless way we all like to see. Amelie is not all sweet though, as she sees fit to avenge the small crimes of one of the movies myriad of characters. It's all quite harmless, as is the movie, which makes it such a delight to watch. Like eating tiramisu, in a hot bath (I guess). This is definitely a good movie for guys to rent if their lady is coming over, and should yield some form of passion (though I take no responsibility for that comment). Excellent movie for anyone not afraid to read subtitles.