O Fabuloso Destino de Amélie Poulain

A year ago, if someone would have asked me "What is your favorite movie ?" , I would not have known what to answer exactly, maybe Fight Club, maybe Vertigo, Indiana Jones even would have come to my mind.

Since June, I have but one answer: 'Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain' !!! It is simply unique in his kind. And now it has come out in the US, I am a bit frightened, because everybody there describes it as a simple 'feel-good movie'. It is so much more than that ! Never before has a movie INFLUENCED my life in such a way. Audrey's performance is simply stunning... she plays with an innocence, a wit, a smartness and naïvity that even someone with 40 years experience could not have done better. (please, will someone give an oscar to that girl, she makes Kidman & Blanchett look pale :-) The score from Yann Tiersen is so beautiful that by now I'm addicted to it ( I read here somewhere something about 'accordeon jingle', please, get some education ;-). The story itself could easily have been abused, and I'm sure that if Hollywood had made this movie, it would have been ridiculous, but now it is a beauty, a pearl amidst broken hearts.

This movie is for everyone who understands passion or who has lost his/her childhood somewhere along the way. If you love art & music, sunshine & poetry than you are qualified for seeing this movie, be warned though...this movie can change your life (and maybe..it will ;-)!

Audrey is superb, Matthieu is better than himself, every actor gives a stunning performance, the scenery is beautiful, the whole movie is amusing, entertaining and charming, even CGI is perfectly done ! 10 out of 10 !!!

a 21-year-old Amélie fan who can enjoy the little things in life again

Amelie is a film that struck a certain chord with me. Every now and then movies come along that speak out to you and emotionally touch you in some way. Amelie is one such film for me. I related to its innocent charm and delightfully shy protagonist played by French sensation Audrey Tautou, the way very few films have. Part of the reason we watch movies is to learn something about ourselves or recognize characters that are remarkably similar to us and the way we are in real life. For all of us shy, introverted, quirky, and odd-ball eccentrics out there who have trouble relating to "normal" people, Audrey Tautou in this film is our personal hero. Instead of going into much detail about why the film works, I'll instead try to explain what it meant to me personally. Sure I guess this means I have to open up maybe more than I'd like to about myself, but oh well. The way Amelie's childhood was presented is similar to my own. I am an only child to divorced parents and very rarely had friends as I was and still am very much a loner. As a child much of my time was spent alone so I entertained myself in all kinds of silly ways. Just like Amelie does in the film. Of course I gained my fixation with films at an extremely early age, but also did stupid things like give my stuffed animals personalities and have conversations with them, draw pictures and create stories to go along with them, and laid in bed listening to the radio with the windows open on a lazy summer day imagining creatures out of the cloud formations. Apparently there are legions of us out there. Even today I enjoy solitude far more than the company of most people and still use my imagination to think of stupid little things. Amelie did an amazing job in capturing what the world is like through the eyes of a person who doesn't really fit in, but finds joy in the simple things in life. Like the fresh spring breeze on your face, the sound of the rain, the chirping of birds, the touch of fur, and popping bubble wrap. Actually popping bubble wrap was always an exciting and rare treat during my youth. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film also has a marvelously fun nifty view of sex. For Amelie sex is not something that is intimidating, temptingly desirable, sinful, adult, or lustful. It's just another of the many silly things that people do in this world that make us human. Two people taking off their cloths and rubbing up against one another. How sweet! In fact many people have insulted the film for it's unique view and open attitude towards sex. For shame really. Sure there's a lot of it actually. Amelie's first sexual encounter, the orgasms, the object of her affection working in a porn shop with a stripper and putting price tags on didoes. But it's all in good fun and filmed with the naivety that a character like Amelie would view sex as. Anyways the movie really works. Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel does an excellent job in filming Jeunet's crazy vision and Audrey Tautou with her funky hairdo, wide brown eyes, and whimsical voice and kitten like mannerisms and shyness brings the movie to life. As I said I relate to this movie and understand the character the way I do with few other movies simply because it is frighteningly very much like I tend to be in real life.

"You mean she would rather imagine herself relating to an absent person than build relationships with those around her?"

Hmm, so would I sometimes. Audrey Tautou's been a more reliable friend than most people and has put a smile on my face and lightened my day at the thought of her more times than one. And I still say I'll marry her one day.

the grace is the fundamental virtue of film. a grace as result of humor, childhood's crumbs, profound faith and love and joy and an actress who explores in wise manner each part from her character. a film who remains adorable for its deep force of freedom, high art and translation of every day reality in the right language who preserves the tools of fairy tale. a film about life as miracle. useful . charming. extraordinary. because it discover and not propose. because it is a crazy, magnificent trip in the essence of things. because it has not a specific genre. because it seems be only one of beautiful spring mornings.

Not a lot of movies create their own sort of universe. Some that come to mind include "The Wizard of Oz", "American Beauty" and "Vertigo." These movies are so distinct and original that they seem to have created there own spot in the universe, untouchable by anything else. You can add "le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" to that list.

Here is a film so original, so funny, and so warm that it left me with smiling for hours and the people on the sidewalk thinking I was crazy. Yes it is heart warming, but not in the phony Wal-Mart commercial sense; but in the sense of how good you feel when laughing with a dear, dear friend.

The film tells the story of French waitress Amélie (Audrey Tautou.) She is in her early twenties, lead a gloomy childhood and is missing something in her life until hearing of the Death of Princess Diana causes her to drop the cap of a bottle which rolls along the floor and dislodges a tile on her bathroom wall. What she finds behind that tile leads her to the decision that she is going to do what she can to make the people around her happier by whatever means possible.

Amélie goes about this with great success. One particularly wonderful scene shows Amélie helping a blind man across the street and rapidly describing what's happening around them to give him a picture of the world he doesn't get to see. This is only one in a mountain of selfless deeds she does to make people happy.

As she continues enriching the lives around her, Amélie becomes challenged with the fact that if she only helps others anonymously, she may live her life alone and without the happiness she brings others.

Amélie's conflict is what rounds out the picture and makes it complete. The movie is deep and takes Amélie's inner struggle seriously, but it's never heavy. Brilliantly hilarious, "Amélie" has a wonderfully funny script and is brought to life in visual splendor by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Alien: Resurrection", of all things) and has at its center Audrey Tatou giving one of the warmest, most sincere and funniest performances you'll see this year.

I can't tell you how much I love this movie. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps and I can't wait to see it again. SEE IT IN THE THEATRE IF YOU CAN! This may be the year's best picture and is not to be missed.

Rating: ***1/2 out of ****

What a fun film! From the moment it begins, "Amelie" bursts with joy and energy. It's a fable of sorts, a love letter to a Paris fondly dreamt of by many. It may not be the real world, but it is such a delightful fantasy that it doesn't matter how unbelievable some of it may be. "Amelie" is the rare romantic comedy that has both the romance and the comedy. It isn't very surprising that this has been a hit in France for a while now, and I have no doubt it will find the audience it needs in the States as well.

Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a nave girl working at the Two Windmills Caf. When she was a child her mother and teacher was an innocent victim of a suicide gone awry. Amelie stayed with her father until she was old enough to leave and lead a life of her own. One day she finds a small box of treasures behind a tile in her wall, she decides to return it to her owner and become a natural do-gooder. Later on, she catches a man groping for lost photos under a photo booth (Nino Quincampoix, played by Mathieu Kassovitz), and it's love at first sight. She decides to go on a quest to find this man and help anyone she can along the way (including her father and co-workers).

I said before that this film was a love letter to Paris, it is also a love letter to Amelie herself. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (director and co-screenwriter) conjured the film like a dream, as if Amelie is his dream girl and he is trying to save her and bring her to a happy ending. It's not hard to want everything to work out for her and her friends. Amelie Poulain is the kind of person who you wish was your best friend, your neighbor or your sister. She bounces along with good grace and whimsy living life to its fullest, yet keeping a mischievous grin. She has her own idea of justice that isn't very disagreeable. The tormentors must in turn be tormented; the lifeless must be brought to life. The film is like a non-musical "Bells Are Ringing", with our heroine bringing so much life to those around her but neglecting her wants and needs.

After seeing Audrey Tautou as Amelie, I can't possibly imagine anyone else in that role. She embodies Amelie like no one else could, she is a rare find that pulls off the job of breathing life into Amelie in spades. Wait, I take that back. She does not just breathe life into Amelie, Tautou makes her jump off the screen and pull the audience into the story. It would be a crime for her not to get a Best Actress nomination for her role.

Magical is the world that Amelie lives in, where photos and lamps come alive to aid her quest, where TV shows are showing nothing but her story. The story this setting surrounds is pretty standard, and presented plainly could have just been another machine-processed romantic comedy. Is it too sappy? No. On the contrary, the film takes quite a few steps to make sure it doesn't become tacky or conventional. The rich, storybook setting and a witty screenplay (asides are taken to deepen our connection each character, little things that each likes and dislikes) make the film all the more a delight to watch. The cinematography, crafted by Bruno Delbonnel, does wonders for "Amelie". The camera captures the action with an eye of a child in a candy store, beautifully bringing about each shot as a new discovery.

With films like "The Widow of Saint-Pierre", "With a Friend Like Harry" and box-office hit "Brotherhood of the Wold", French cinema has had quite a year. It's a delight that we round off the year with "Amelie", a fresh, funny journey that could have easily just been more Meg Ryan-esque romantic comedy fodder. If not for anything else, see it for Tautou's performance, but prepare to be smothered in a dream world.