Amelie
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Movie Reviews of Amelie
Movie Review: 2nd time viewing..
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched Amelie on DVD several years ago for fun, and really enjoyed it. Then a few weeks ago I finally ordered my own DVD and watched it again. It's great to watch even a second time thru, probably because it's hard to catch everything the first time. And that's because many of the good parts of Amelie are very brief, especially in the first 20 minutes or so when Amelie's childhood & teenhood are shown in a pretty fast pace. Just like how the official summary of the movie describes Amelie, she is "painfully shy" but also playful & enthusiastic with her eccentric hobbies, like skipping stones (as well as "stealing" nice skipping stones throughout the movie XD), and helping people out.
As for the content of the movie, the story has some elements of intrigue & mystery, and with the shy-yet-mischievous Amelie character wanting to do things in her indirect ways, a lot of light-hearted action takes place while these little "mysteries" are solved. Overall it starts off as a comedy, with bits of adult content (brief showings of nude breasts & non-explicit sex scenes), a few fun fantasy elements like inanimate photos & animal-objects talking to her, and gradually turns into a light, adorable romantic comedy in the 2nd half. She and her love interest are based on a curious crush on each other, with their main goal being to simply find out more of each other, without meeting, yet. XD (As opposed to typical romantic comedies where the main characters hook up, fight, get back together, have dramas, then FINALLY get back together.)
Another thing to note about this movie is the presentation. The style is very artistically composed, with colors being selected & saturated to get an almost toy-like world in some scenes. The various characters have distinct personalities, from an obnoxiously bossy vendor to a quiet, wise painter.
Overall, people who are tired of typical romantic comedies will like how eccentric this movie is. Shy/quiet people will relate to Amelie's interests & personality, as this is a very "character-driven" movie.
Movie Review: A Fantastic, Uplifting Enchantment Of A Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
"Amelie" is one of the more difficult movies to do a writeup for, simply because it's so completely off on its own: to my knowledge, there's never been another movie like this, before or since. It's got a vibe all of it's own that makes it an inspiring and comedic standout.
Amelie Poulain - played to perfection by Audrey Tatou in one of the world's alltime great performances - is a shy, somewhat elflike, highly idealistic girl with a strong sense of justice, an extremely acive imagination, and a thinly buried flair for mischief a mile wide. After finding an old box of childhood treasures hidden behind some boards in her apartment, she takes it upon herself to track down the original owner of these toys and odds-&-ends. When the original owner turns out to be a now-quite-melancholy older man who is deeply cheered by the return of these old memories, and touched by someone's having taken the time and effort to return them, Amelie too is uplifted, and thereafter takes it upon herself to help those whose lives she feels could use a boost. In spite of her impish altruism, though, Amelie is unable to pursue her own dreams of her own accord, and the question of the movie is whether life will work out for Amelie even as she's secretly helping others to achieve their own dreams. Of historical note, the movie features the best performance ever by a ceramic garden gnome(!) whom Amelie abducts from its owner's garden and sends on various trips around the world to get its picture taken and sent to the owner before its eventual triumphant return home, in hopes of inspiring that person to follow up on their own dream of world travel! The angle is played so beautifully that the gnome actually becomes his own character, and it inspired the growing global trend of benevolent 'gnome-napping' that you may heard about, and has made its way into numerous travel commercials. That there is just one of the many inventive schemes Amelie hatches to try and 'push' people towards happiness.
Truly, a one-of-a-kind movie, totally delightful.
Movie Review: Romantic Feast for the Senses & The Soul
Summary: 5 Stars
I have found this film -- a film that I can watch multiple times and I frequently come up with excuses to put this DVD in to be transported into Amelie's world. The film begins introducing Amelie as an inventive little girl, whose isolation is due to a simple misunderstanding by her parents. Her doctor father thinks she has a heart condition because her little heart beats faster during the only time she has physical contact with him through his stethoscope.
Amelie's world has intense colors and the beautiful sights of Paris where she enjoys simple pleasures.
She dips her hands into a bag of beans for the guilty tactile pleasure of it.
The sound of cracking the crust of her brulee delights her.
She wants to be loved, but is shy and retreats into her own little world.
A random event propels her to find and help a stranger, which leads her to become somewhat of a superhero of kindness to those in need and impish retribution to the mean. This is cleverly woven with a series of urban myths reenacted as in the traveling gnome. Her journey takes her from helping strangers, neighbors, co-workers, friends, family, and ultimately herself. Her actions in a way set free those she helps whether it is allowing them to get out and travel, feel better against a verbal insults, have some closure in the face of lost love, or find your soulmate.
Yes. Audrey Tautou is an adorable actress and is a perfect fit for the character of Amelie. Yet, I have seen her in other films being equally charming, but the films fall flat for me. What makes this film is the collection of quirky characters, the amazing cinematography, the clever writing, and the attention to details.
I often recommend this film as a great date movie because it does turn into a charming, quirky, funny, ultimately romantic experience for Amelie without being too sweet or too sappy. There a things for both men and women to appreciate.
Movie Review: Simply enchanting!
Summary: 5 Stars
Amèlie (Le fabouleux destin d'Amèlie Poulain) is the kind of film you just can't find in Hollywood. It's enchanting, magical and gorgeous, with a very endearing story, very imaginative visuals and the perfect actress in the perfect role.Amélie (played by the lovely Audrey Tautou, `Dirty pretty things') is a young woman living by herself in Paris, working as a waitress in a café. On the day that Princess Diana's death she finds an old toy box behind her bathroom tiles, and she decides to look for the man who used to own those toys - if he's moved by this discovery, she will dedicate her life to helping others be happier. Obviously, the man breaks into tears at the realization that his long lost, boyhood treasures return to him, so Amélie embarks in many a project to help her father, her neighbors, friends and co-workers find happiness.
However, Amélie herself is not really happy, as she has not found true love yet. She needs a man who shares her dreams and her outlook on life. Thus appears Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz, `Birthday girl', director of `Gothika' with Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz, and `The Crimsom rivers' with Jean Reno), a weird young man who collects torn photomat pictures, discarded by unsatisfied costumers. Amélie follows Nino and tries to arrange for him to meet her, in one of the most romantic cat & mouse games you'll ever see.
Director's Jean-Pierre Jeunet's ('City of lost children', 'Delicatessen')use of colors and unusual camera angles give an incredible visual styling to this movie, and enhance the magical elements of the story. Another gorgeous element of this movie is it's soundtrack. Yann Tiersen's use of the accordion gives the music much of its Parisian feel.
Nominated for five Academy Awards (although it didn't win any of them), including Cinematography, Foreign Language Film, Art Direction, Sound and Original Screenplay, Amélie is a movie you'll want to share with a loved one, and that you'll cherish for all your life.
Movie Review: most charming films ever made
Summary: 5 Stars
this is one of the most beautiful love stories ever made into a film...
everything about it is charming.
i never thought i would care for a love movie of any sort beacuse Hollywood has a way of making carbon copies of the same love movies ever since Casablanca...
but leave it up to the French to make something that's so beautiful and so original. Actually the French tend to make very melancholy movies that end very sadly
but with the touch of enigmatic Lou Jeunet (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children) came one of the most beautiful love story ever made...
everything about this film is so well manicured... it seems that every detail from the sets, the music, the costumes to a very sweet story is highly paid attention to.
the sets were wonderful... everywhere you looked on the screen seem to glow or shine with brilliance... Jeunet seems to be telling you to slow down and look how beautiful life is! the cinematography is always full. what Jean does for this small town in France reminds me what Woody Allen did for Manhattan... he makes you fall in love with it.
and if anyone came away from this film not loving Audrey Tatou they did not watch this film... having seen other films with Audry i realized that she's just playing a character (contrasted from her brooding Senay in Dirty Pretty Things) but i think most people would like to always see her in this role... she pulls off the right amount of innocent and beauty that Amélie demands...
i could only pray that someone like Amélie would be meddling with my life...
the subtle touches with the special effects were not overwhelming but very fitting (the talking paintings and pictures... the melting into water and some the amazing shot of Amélie skipping stone)
everything about this film seemed to fit toghther... i recommend to anyone who is feeling downhearted and needs a little faith in the human spirit!