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Patrick Cauderlier,
Rémi Canaple,
Pascaline Girardot,
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Jean-Pierre Jeunet,
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
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: Miramax
: Comedies, Foreign, Romantic Comedy, France
: French
: English, Spanish
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One woman decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows in this charming and romantic comic fantasy from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Amelie (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amelie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Her mother Amandine (Lorella Cravotta) died in a freak accident when Amelie was eight, and her father Raphael (Rufus) had limited contact with her, since his presence seemed to throw her heart into high gear. Despite all this, Amelie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. When Princess Diana dies in a car wreck in the summer of 1997, Amelie is reminded that life can be fleeting and she decides it's time for her to intervene in the lives of those around her, hoping to bring a bit of happiness to her neighbors and the regulars at the cafe. Amelie starts by bringing together two lonely people -- Georgette (Isabelle Nanty), a tobacconist with a severe case of hypochondria, and Joseph (Dominique Pinon), an especially ill-tempered customer. When Amelie finds a box of old toys in her apartment, she returns them to their former owner, Mr. Bretodeau (Maurice Benichou), sending him on a reverie of childhood. Amelie befriends Dufayel (Serge Merlin), an elderly artist living nearby whose bones are so brittle, thanks to a rare disease, that everything in his flat must be padded for his protection. And Amelie decides someone has to step into the life of Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a lonely adult video store clerk and part-time carnival spook-show ghost who collects pictures left behind at photo booths around Paris. Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amelie Poulain received unusually enthusiastic advance reviews prior to its French premiere in the spring of 2001, and was well received at a special free screening at that year's Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
City of Lost Children
Amelie director Jeunet and his former co-conspirator made this whimsical wonder
Bread and Tulips
If you want another dose of European charm featuring a loveable gal, check out this sweet Italian movie
As Jean-Pierre Jeunet returns to the Bay Area for On Set with French Cinema, Hannah Eaves and Jonathan Marlow talk with the French director about his early work with Marc Caro (Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children), his Hollywood adventure (Alien: Resurrection), his international hits (Amélie and A Very Long Engagement) and his next film, an adaptation of Life of Pi. Full article >>
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| Brilliant!
by edgeglx
May 7, 2003 - 1:59 PM PDT
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6 out of 6 members found this review helpful
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Go into this expecting nothing and prepare to come away pleasantly amused, surprised and happy. For 122 minutes, it actually doesn't feel that long. Audrey put up a very convincing performance and I really enjoyed it.
Catch it if you haven't. |
| Quite a nice surprise
by mason
August 19, 2002 - 9:47 PM PDT
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7 out of 9 members found this review helpful
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Amelie was quite a nice surprise. After seeing the previews, I was somewhat afraid that it would lean more in the direction of the director's first film, "Delicatessen". While many people I know really loved that movie, the goofiness left me wanting more substance. Since then he's directed "City of Lost Children," perhaps one of my all-time favorite films. Amelie lies somewhere between the two.
There are elements here from both of those films -- the first portion of "Amelie" is a bit too much the former for me. But as it progresses, the story and the characters are fleshed out in fascinating and enjoyable fashion. The message here might be "we're all a bit odd, so just live with it and accept your own weirdness." That's as healthy a message as I can want, so bravo.
While I'm not entirely certain that "Amelie" deserved 5 Academy Award nominations, there's no doubt that the direction and cinematography carry Jeunet's usual luminous beauty, and Audrey Tautou is, as they say, utterly beguiling. The film is well worth watching, no doubt about it. |
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