"Amélie" (2001)

Rating: R (for sexual content)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Directed By: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Written By: Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Released: October 14^th, 2001

Runtime: 121 minutes

Studio: Miramax Films

Summary:

"Amélie" is a fanciful comedy about a young woman who discretely orchestrates the lives of the people around her, creating a world exclusively of her own making. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Delicatessen"; "The City of Lost Children") invokes his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of a beautiful ingenue. 

Review:

The story itself starts off a bit sad, then becomes more bittersweet, until finally we become captivated with Amelie as a character and the film becomes extremely charming, and often quite amusing. I love the backbone of the story – this girl who didn’t have a very nice childhood of her own, makes it her business to make others happy, and in doing so she eventually finds her own happiness. 

Because the film is in French, reading the subtitles was a necessity and having to spend my time concentrating on them in order to be able to follow the film, I feel I missed out a bit on details and enjoying the stunning visual side of the film. So that was a pity. – Though it’s not as if this could be changed in anyway, it is a French film after all!! 

This is actually such a pretty film. The combination of reds and greens hop off the screen. It’s very striking, I love it. It’s very rich and pleasing on the eye. I’m quite enthralled by it to be honest.

The actress of Amelie, her eyes are very wide, she has a very animated face. There’s almost a cartoonish quality to the film. 

The soundtrack as well is so easy to listen to, gentle. 

It’s the same director as Delicetassan. I watched that a while ago now and I wasn’t mad about it. It wasn’t that it was a bad film, it’s not, I just feel that maybe it wasn’t for me. However, I much preferred Amelie. I’ve been meaning to watch it for a long time and I just never got around to it for some reason.

I really enjoyed this whimsically entertaining story. I really recommend it.  

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