Amelie (8/10)

[Dehydrator]

AMELIE (2001)
_______________


Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Written by Guillaume Laurant & J.P. Jeunet

Starring:
Audrey Tautou as Amelie
Mathieu Kassovitz as Nino
Rufus (whatever is his second name?) as Amelie's Father

my rating 8/10

+++ might contain minor spoilers +++

Who would have thought that the geniuses behind DELICATESSEN & CITY OF THE LOST CHILDREN would get that much critical applause one day? After directing ALIEN:RESSURECTION, Jean Pierre Jeunet (director of both mentioned flicks) seemed to have exposed his more "dark" side enough and returned with AMELIE, his most accessable work to date (even more accessable than ALIEN:RESSURECTION) and arguably his best.

The plot is all about Amelie Polain and her search for love, life and reason. She's not your average big-town waitress, she'd rather think about how many couples have an orgasm right now than trying to get herself one, Amelie is all about the little things, like applauding the child-minded sidekick of her local Grocer for his treatment of Vegetables. One day, just after Lady Di's demise, Amelie finds something in her flat that was obiviously put there by a little boy, many years ago. That's the point when she deceides to let the life of other people influence her own.

AMELIE counts at the imdb's Top-10 at the time I'm writing this, something I personally don't really "get". Despite what a lot of critics were telling you, this movie is likely to not change your life, it's actually more likely to make you feel good with the life you have. Watching Amelie is no deep experience, no big deal actually, nothing to really write home about, all about the little things. And I guess that's why it became so popular and it's also part of this movie's charme (and the movie's got charme to boot) which makes me like it this much. It's rare to find a movie that's just plain positive about life (even more so if the movie in questiton is directed by the guy who made CITY OF THE LOST CHILDREN & DELICATESSEN), without having any big message. Of course, this movie bathes in metaphors : We get to know a man who is unable to leave his flat because his bones break too fast ( in my interpretation, this guy symbols Amelie's grip at her present situation which she is afraid to let go), passport-photograph-automats are shown as a method of communication between 2 lovers ect... Amelie is not the kind of romantic-comedy you'd dare Julia Roberts to star in. But basically, it's just that, a romantic comedy for people who hate most romantic comedies (like me).

The acting is top-notch all around, Audrey Tautou's performance is masterful, I guess that's when people say that a person "becomes" the part it has to play. Matthieu Kassovitz (director of the ass-kickin' THE CRIMSON RIVERS) does great with his part too. Jeunet regular Rufus (he whose second name nobody knows) is totally opposite from his part in CITY OF THE LOST CHILDREN, but he comes through nontheless. The movie looks great, every scene could easily go through as a postcard image, I'd say that Jeunet's visual masterpiece to date is definitely Amelie.

There's really not much to be said about AMELIE, see it, enjoy it, love it. Try to watch it with an open mind and get the hype off, if only to see that "romantic comedies" doesn't automatically mean "suck damm hard".
8/10

[GoodAsh]

Amilie
I've seen it like three or four times in the theatre and I just reserved it whenits out on DVD. I would agree 8/10. I loved the cinematography and the acting was excellent.