Rating: 
Summary: Magical
Review: Rather than repeat all of the descriptive words written in many of the other reviews such as charming, magical, etc. (and the movie is most definitely all of that and more), let me simply tell you of my reaction to this movie.After the movie was over, I found myself smiling as I left the theatre, thinking about various scenes in the movie. Thirty minutes later, I was smiling, thinking about scenes in the movie. I found myself looking at mundane things as I drove my car home...thinking..."how magical the simple things of life are." The movie made me think that too often we ignore the simple, but meaningful and beautiful things of life while we run toward our goals, ignorant of the beauty that we are passing by. The moview made me want to take a moment and savor life...to savor the way the rain drips off a leaf, to savor a fellow human being just walking down the street...to savor our relationships with each other...to savor what we rush by every day. I was reminded by a scene in Thornton Wilder's play, OUR TOWN, where Emily, who is dead, talks about how we miss most of what is going on around us while we are living. This movie underscored how easy it is for us to fall into such a trap. All I can say is to go see this movie and walk out changed.
Rating:
Summary: AMELIE regales with small wonders of joy and happiness
Review: I am not be a pundit in the appreciation of French movie but AMELIE clearly deserves the accolades it garners - and what a triumph for director Jean-Pierre Jeunet who returns to his motherland after dabbling in a Hollywood feature Alien Resurrection. Jeunet uses masterly beautiful cinematography and digital effects to enhance the poetic Paris where Amelie, played by the enchanting ingenue Audrey Tautou desires to spread bliss to the surrounding people and performs the deed anonymously. The movie starts with the purveying of Amelie's childhood where her father is a physician who yearns to travel. The intimacy towards her reticent father is only experienced when he gives her a check-up; her mother died tragically with a fateful suicidal victim falling onto her. Introverted and a lonely recluse, she enjoys the small pleasures of throwing stones in the river and eating strawberries from her fingers. She slowly fades into the glorious Paris where few ever stops to admire its delicate beauty. It is only until the day when she finds unexpectedly a box with little toys and returns it to the owner after much difficulty that she discovers the simple joy of spreading warmth to the people around in her tiny universe. AMELIE is heavenly for the subtle emotions it triggers. The quirky humour where Lady Di's sensational demise is juxtaposed wickedly to Mother Teresa's; Amelie's sarcasm towards the grumbling grocery shop-owner -"even artichokes have a heart". It is ironic that she lacks the courage to pursue her own happiness when she gives others mirth through little acts. She steals her father's gnome and pictures it with thw world's historical monuments as backgrounds to convince her father to venture out; she writes love letter to comfort the forlorn widow; she gives the Glass Man who named for his brittle bones a new perspective towards life. In her adventures there is sweet exuberance and fluttering hope that she finds her true love with a shy photographer (Mathieu Kassovitz). Of course the dazzlingly resplendent magical Paris isn't reality - and curmudegeons in the Cannes Festival rejected the film for its lack of realism. Yet in this film Jeunet's deliberate removal of flaws through computer effects has wondrously touched the audience's heart to spellbinding effect. It sheds miraculously hope in the worst of times and that ordinary heroes can achieve happiness unwittingly. The lead role intended for Emily Watson is through a twist of fate, helmed by Audrey Tautou - and through her emotive eyes - there are genuine moments of sorrow, mellifluous joy, cunning and bashfulness. For all its box-office phenomenon, it remains at the very best a deeply moving picture that will tug at your heartstring for a very long time after you leave the cinema. Happiness is a subliminal experience - and it is definitely one emotion you will feel after this movie.
Rating:
Summary: So SWeeT! i CouLD GoBBLe HeR uP!!!
Review: So BeauTiFuL!
So HiLaRiouS!
So DeLiCiouS!
So DeLiGHTFuL!
So eNCHaNTiNG!
So NiFTy-NeaT!
Rating:
Summary: Candy
Review: This is pretty much the most charming, and sweet movie you will ever see. It's a movie by Jean-Pierre Jeunet so you know it's just going to be so clever your going to smile most of the time. Top that off with the most adorable woman you will ever meet, a clever engaging story, and WONDERFUL cinematography, and you pretty much have one of the best movies ever made... Some will find it too saccharin...it's not. Your just too jaded to appreciate simple childlike pleasures. I feel sorry for you.
Rating:
Summary: This movie changed my life!
Review: Amelie, By far the best movie of the year. Never in my life have I cried through-out an entire movie simpley because it made me so happy.
I left the theater feeling uplifted, and full of life. Audrey Tautou Is nothing but perfect.
Since it has opened..I have been back at least 6 times..and I am anxiously awaiting release on DVD..
Thank you Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Rating:
Summary: Perfection!!
Review: I do not wish to tell you anything about this movie; I do not wish to deprive you of the sheer joy you will experience. If you are going to die tomorrow, go and see this movie; it will NOT be a waste of time. I have never seen a movie that is this good. I haven't ever given a perfect score before this movie; but this one deserves 6 stars not 5! I have already been to see it three times in two days. Superb, wonderful, delightful (where is my dictionarary of superlatives!!). I have now seen it FIVE times! I intend to see it a few more times and then hopefully the DVD will be out and I can BUY IT!!! Not only a MUST see; but a MUST see AGAIN and again and again.....
Rating:
Summary: A visual feast that is hard to describe but easy to watch.
Review: I had the luck having seen previous movie of Carot such as "Delicatessen" and "City of lost children", so I knew more or less which visual style of movie I was about to witness. I had no idea about the plot though, so I was very willing to let myself be surprised. And surprised, I was.
The movie opens with a 4 minute mixture of complete factual but not to the matter enumeration of events such as somebody removing one name from his address book and a fly (which flaps his wings at 14.670 beats per minute) being squatted by a car. And all of a sudden, with a pace that you have rarely seen in any movie, you are thrown right into the life of Amelie.
You will go through the life of Amelie from baby to adult. The very many details of this life do not stop to surprise you (her father thinking she has a hart problem, and the discovery of a box filled with children toys on the day that Lady Di dies).
What is very special about this movie , besides the excellent plot, is the visually overwhelming scenes. Carot really makes every scene work for themselves like he has done in his previous movies.
The biggest problem is that it is very hard to describe what this movie really is about. Is it about a girl who is unlucky and tries to help other people find their luck? Or is the movie just telling us the story of the life of a girl and what happens during her life?
It is up to you - the viewer - to decide on such questions. The movie just gives hints at what life could be. It is definitely a must see if you want to get away from the typical Hollywood blockbuster for a while.
Rating:
Summary: A Movie You Can Taste
Review: Without a doubt the best movie I've seen this year. Amelie was wonderful, imaginative, and hyperbolic in all ways. She sees life with such romance and wonder- although not always happily. And her desire to do things for other people anonymously springs not so much from a Pollyanish ideal as the romantic ideal of the INFJ- to see mystery in life, and create mystery in others. Beyond the rich characters, the cinematography and sound editing are fantastic. The sights and sound are so vivid one feels like they can actually touch the movie's insides, taste the stars, and eat the light. After leaving the film I yearned to see all the details of life as she does. I was rewarded crossing the floating bridge next to Seattle, and seeing the left side storm tossed with tall waves of foam; the right side completely placid and calm like a small pond on a hot, breezeless day. This is the imagery of the film, and the benefits from seeing it.
Rating:
Summary: a pleasure
Review: I loved the artistry of this movie - that people can acurately represent their vision of beauty always impresses me. So much cheerful color saturation that made each scene like a painting, every inch of what you see is lovely - little inanimate objects come to life, creative concepts abound. I enjoyed the plot emmensly. It is possible? -to unclench one's grip on reality for just a moment and watch how an imaginative recluse might see the world on a good day, or what it is like to fall in love - or might such sencerity make people cringe? I do not find this concept a stretch, for my part there was much in the movie I identified with. Sure I have my bad days too, but this movie was not the time nor place to explore these thought and visions. Are we allowed to be this cheerful? People seem to equate carefree and sunny with vapid and immature. Do we only have sunny weeks like these in childhood? Is a woman's sexuality childlike if she expresses shyness, imagination and sensitivity? I certainly hope not. Some my be sceptical of all these elements - Sure there have been many examples of sapp laden movies that have attempted to "warm our hearts," in the past, but I would not put Amelie in that catagory. It's a matter of personal taste I suppose - you can't please all of the people all of the time. But as I understand it, many people got the sugar rush from this movie I did (note sugar, not sacrine). If it isn't already obvious, this movie is non-representational. It seems to bother a few people that the "real" Paris was not shown, but I think most people are aware that Paris is not saturated in sepia tone and accompanied with constant accordian music. In case this might distract from your pleasure, you are hereby warned. Relax and enjoy the sunshine.
Rating:
Summary: I wish they allowed 7 stars ratings, then Amelie'd get 8.
Review: A perfect blend of breath-taking cinematography, an extremely imaginative and meticulous director like Jeunet, an enchanting storyline, adorable actors, and an extraordinary soundtrack by Tiersen to wrap it all up in what I personnaly feel is the prototype of a perfect movie.
| 
