Amelie

Rating:
Summary: Treat Yourself To Amelie
Review: "Amelie" is a great movie. At a time of economic turmoil and anthrax-soaked mail, this movie defiantly spreads good cheer to all who choose to see it. It's a wonderful movie for troubled times.

Rating:
Summary: A Most Unusual Work of Art
Review: Amelie is unlike any movie I've seen in my 62 years! I have seen it only once, and must go back. It is a movie that one cannot completely take in at one viewing.
Audrey Tautou, the actress who plays Amelie, seems to have been born for the role. Her portrayal reminds me of Audrey Hepburn, in "Roman Holiday." She has the ability to become a legendary performer.
This film captured my total attention, and took my mind off present concerns and the world situation. The film is masterfully done, with the special effects complimenting the story of a very shy young woman, who gets pleasure from helping others, but ignores her own needs.
This is a must see. The English subtitles do not detract, because this film speaks the universal language of human fulfillment in loving others as we love ourself.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I wanted to see this because of the reviews and for my love of France. I had tissues with me expecting to leave the theater crying. But it was surprisingly funny and cute, tragic things happen that are turned into comedy in a way. I found it to be an optimistic movie, so I am now making sure some of my friends who may be down on everything go and see it.
It wasn't predictable but charming. I can hardly wait until its out on DVD. I saw it advertised when I was in France and should have seen it with a real french audience for their reactions, but Canadians will do just as well too.
Lots of laughter and things to relate too.

Rating:
Summary: Fantasically clever entertainment
Review: "Amelie" is hardly the greatest film of all time, but it's certainly among the year's best -- technically stunning, packed with small delights, and fuelled by a (I can't help but say it) postmodern sentimentality. The comparissons to "Moulin Rouge" are apt. Neither's particularly concerned with the real world or with telling a story. They're simply candy-coated entertainments that you can only find at the movies. Obviously, some folks aren't going to care for "Amelie." Too slight, they complain, too divorced from the problems of real life. I should note, however, that the two negative reviews I've spotted here baldly misstate some of the film's "plot" points and characterization, and their misreadings may have contributed to their dislike of the film. "Amelie" is pure pleasure, not for the jaded or the ponderers. Or rather, it's pleasing enough to charm even a jaded ponderer like myself.

Rating:
Summary: A mellifluous film
Review: The Toronto International Film Festival has a history of picking arty hits before they break. Past winners of its prestigious Audience Award include "Chariots of Fire" (1981), "The Princess Bride" (1987), "The Fisher King" (1991), and, most tellingly, over the last three years it has honoured "Life is Beautiful", "American Beauty", and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". The 2001 award went to a film that fully lives up to that lofty pedigree: "Amelie".

"Amelie" is a movie that inspires one to use an assortment of frothy adjectives: whimsical, surreal, pleasant, charming, magical, effervescent, and inspiring. I could go on, but I figure it also deserves to have its praise sung in complete sentences.

It begins with a kinetic retelling of Amelie's childhood. The product of overprotective parents, Amelie develops a shy nature, but also an abundant imagination. This section also introduces an appealing way to sketch characters: through their likes and dislikes. Amelie's father loves the simple pleasure of cleaning out his toolbox. Her mother hates garden gnomes. Amelie herself gets lost in the activity of skipping stones across the water. It's a neat little short hand that the film uses to quickly introduce the audience to its characters. Better to spend your time showing the characters involved in the story, than to waste too much time on needless character exposition.

When Amelie grows up, we see her simple little life: working at an eclectic diner, walking the streets of Paris, and retreating to the solitude of her apartment, where she can surreptitiously spy on her neighbours (my favourite: The Glass Man, so named for his brittle bones, who's always painting a replica of Renoir's 'The Luncheon of the Boating Party'.). A chance discovery leads Amelie on a quest to quietly do good deeds, in order to make everybody else's life better. But who is to make Amelie's life better? Watch closely, and be prepared to be moved.

Amelie's actions reminded me a lot of the main character in another foreign art-house hit, featuring a charismatic and beautiful female lead sprawling out across her city in an attempt to counteract the fates, "Run Lola Run". Where Franka Potente's Lola was all kinetic energy and brute physical power, Amelie relies on her playful nature to make things right again. Audrey Tautou, who plays Amelie, sports a lopsided haircut, has huge but asymmetrical eyes, and a glorious smile. She stomps around Paris in pretty dresses and clunky shoes. I dare you to try and take your eyes off of her. Her charisma is so magnetic you could stick her on your fridge. But Tautou is also perfectly adept at portraying Amelie's more shy moments. It is this contradiction, the attractive but introverted young woman, which makes Amelie such an appealing and fascinating character. She is surrounded by a wonderful cast, portraying a menagerie of wonderful characters. Standouts include Serge Merlin as the aforementioned Glass Man, Isabelle Nanty as a hypochondriac tobacconist, and Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon as a hyper-jealous diner customer.

Take another look at the list of adjectives in the first paragraph above. Could they also be applied to the other films in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's filmography? "Delicatessen"? Magical, maybe. "City of Lost Children"? Surreal, surely. "Alien Resurrection"? That's a tough one. The point is that "Amelie" is a drastic left-turn for the French writer-director. It's much lighter in tone, is set in a world that more or less closely resembles our own, and is truly life affirming. But Jeunet retains his sense of flair with the camera. "Amelie" is a wonder to look at, in that it's composed of a series of beautiful and kinetic shots, which serve to push the story along and create insight into its characters. Witness one scene, where a young man asks advice from his boss at a Sex Shop. They casually talk about the mysterious woman trying to get his attention. But the camera slowly zooms in to reveal that said conversation is taking place while they are pricing and stocking boxes of dildos. Jeunet has a perverse sense of humour, and this is just one shining example of it. He also provides his film with a wonderful score, taken from old Paris, but updated to reflect the film's more magical moments (those magical moments include: Amelie, in a moment of embarrassment, turns to water and splashes to the floor; Her bedside lamp, which has a pig in a suit as it's base, reaches out and turns itself off).

"Amelie" manages a fine balance between a ridiculous sense of fun and severe melancholy. It gets both emotions just right. Some would say that at over 2 hours, the film runs too long. I beg to differ. I could have spent the whole afternoon and most of the night exploring Amelie's fascinating little world. Be prepared for a sense of loss when the credits finally roll. You'll surely miss the joys of "Amelie" once they're gone.

Rating:
Summary: Best Movie ever
Review: This is the best movie I have ever seen, the problem is, if you don't understand french, it is harder to catch all the subtilities in the movie.
However, coming out of the movie theater, you feel lighter, happier and you have the sensation that you have enough strength to move mountains.

Rating:
Summary: The Vigilante
Review: There is a profound sadness and a distinct mean spiritedness that is at the very core of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Amelie." And appropriately enough both of these attributes are part, but not all, of what makes Amelie (Audrey Tautou) not only tick but tick in a full-bodied, fleshed out, multi-dimensional and interesting way.
"Amelie" is the story of a Parisian waitress and do-gooder who takes it upon herself to correct some of the wrongs she sees in her daily life: she's a vigilante for the unloved, the infirm, the love-sick, the handicapped. So why is she incapable of approaching Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a man for whom she has fallen in love and righting her own love life?
The character of Amelie and the beguiling performance of Audrey Tautou very much calls to mind Guilietta Massina in "Nights of Calabria," even though the tone of these two films is very different. The film that "Amelie" most calls to mind is Joshua Logan's "Fanny" with Leslie Caron. On the surface both films, one set in Marseilles and the other in Paris, are lighthearted and sunny but there is definitely a dark undercurrent to both stories. They also share a tone of deep forboding and yearning which is interesting because these are the traits I found so resonant in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's only American film, the much maligned "Alien Resurrection."
"Amelie" is shot is super saturated, yet filtered color that makes it appear muted and somewhat aged. This was the same technique used in "Burnt Money" and adds another visual dimension to both films.
"Amelie" can be interpreted on at least two levels: on the surface level as a humorous Dolly Levy-type story of a woman who, with a twinkle in her eye, helps others as one would do in charity or as the story of a deeply troubled woman who rights the wrongs she sees around her as a way of helping herself feel important and wanted; getting as much as she is giving.
Either way, "Amelie" is fun and important yet inviting...pulling you into the world it creates with vividly drawn characters and situations. My hat is off to Mr. Jeunet and Ms. Tautou.

Rating:
Summary: An entrancing performance reminiscent of another Audrey
Review: AMELIE is a quirky and immensely fun French-language film with winsome Audrey Tautou in the title role. With close-cropped hair, and huge brown eyes and mischievous smile in a waif-like face, this Audrey reminds us of another of that name, the delicate and exquisite Audrey Hepburn. If Tautou learns English, she could become a major star in the perception of American cinema audiences.

AMELIE grew up socially and tactilely deprived. Her father, a physician, only touched his daughter during her annual physical. She was so thrilled at this rare contact that her heart beat quickly. Diagnosing AMELIE with a congenital heart anomaly, her father kept her out of school. Thus, she was tutored at home and had no friends. Her mother died when the girl was young in a capricious accident involving a distraught tourist and the cathedral of Notre Dame. AMELIE is now a shy, emotionally isolated, and awkward young woman working in a corner bistro.

One day, by a freak of circumstance, AMELIE discovers an old, metal box hidden behind a wall tile in her apartment. It contains the boyhood treasures of someone who is perhaps now past 40. Tracking the man down and anonymously restoring to him his childhood memories causes him immense happiness. Gratified by her success, AMELIE decides to enrich the lives of others. Her schemes are quite intricate, and all are undertaken without the knowledge of the beneficiary - one is even her father. Along the way, AMELIE discovers the possibility of love, and she pursues the young man with a stratagem just as delightfully elaborate as her other contrivances.

This whimsical film captivates for several reasons. The characters in Amelie's Parisian world are mildly eccentric (though, after further thought, perhaps really quite "normal"). The director has an offbeat sense of humor, as is revealed in the particulars of the Notre Dame tragedy, and when AMELIE wonders how many orgasms are happening in Paris at a particular moment. Then there's the one scene when AMELIE turns into water. And best of all, there's AMELIE herself. When she looks directly at the camera with her impish smile, one imagines that she's thinking, "I know a tasty secret, and am willing to share it with you."

I hope Audrey Tautou becomes a regular on the American silver screen. I think I'm in love.

Rating:
Summary: Amelie is a dog.
Review: The only thing to recommend this FLICK is some cute special effects. Which is like recommending a restaurant because it has colorful table cloths. It has no story line, no substance, and unless you speak French it is very hard to follow. Don't waste your time, there are too many 'good' movies out there to see. I wouldn't even recommend this movie for 'rent and take home' for a dollar.

Rating:
Summary: Sweeter and more French than creme brulee.
Review: In "Amelie," Jean-Pierre Jeunet employs the whole panoply of Nouvelle Vague camera and narrative tricks first used by Truffaut, Godard and Malle. He uses them in the service of a sweet, funny story about a young waitress who decides to become the secret benefactress of her eccentric neighbors in Montmartre. The camera charges, darts, swirls and loops as Amelie plays matchmaker, reunites middle-aged men with boyhood treasures, wreaks quiet havoc on the life of a nasty grocer who berates his mentally challenged assistant. The camerawork is incredible, and in Audrey Tautou--with her confiding grin and Louise Brooks-meets-Leslie Caron beauty--Jeunet has found an actress eminently worth photographing. This film, being French, is blase about the existence of sex shops, orgasms, etc., so the blue-nosed be warned. The rest of us will respond with joy to the sunny, stylized Paris of "Amelie."