Amelie

Rating:
Summary: Kirk
Review: I did not see this film at the theatre but was so sure I would like it I pre-ordered it and have just now viewed it for the first time...Ive got to say it is the best movie that I have seen in a long time and can scarcely recall a film that I enjoyed as much as Amelie. It is everything that a great movie should be with many interesting and artful details that defy description. Director Jeunet is pure and simple A Genius and Tatou was born to play the title role like no one youve ever seen. Dont miss this if you love great movie-making.

Rating:
Summary: Sparkling: Ally McBeal in France
Review: While the characters of Ally McBeal from the television show and Amelie are different and certainly Calista Flockhart & Audrey Tautou are worlds apart, one thing that appealed to me about the tv show also appeals to me about this film. The expressionistic element is wonderful in Amelie. Just like we used to see arrows actually flying at McBeal's heart when she was suffering a romantic heartbreak, we see Amelie literally melt into water in this film. These are great touches.

Jeunet carefully planned the film, using storyboards to plan down to the minute details of exact camera angles and film speeds. The added commentary on the DVD is an eye opener as it is described how the digital imaging now allows for the filmmaker to tint the colors and control the look of the film. Amelie represents a great technological achievement.

The story is touching and carried me along to the end as if the movie passed in an instant. Just as Jeunet paid great attention to the look of the film, he has cast and shot the supporting characters with detailed attention. Even Jean Darie who walks across the screen for about a minute as a blind man Amelie whisks through the city describing the city scene is memorable, without uttering a line. Serge Merlin who played Drefayel the artist with the breakable bones who paints the same Renoir painting each year for the last 2 decades is marvelous and propels Amelie to go for the gusto, so to speak. Isabelle Nauty as Georgette the tobacconist that Amelie falls in love is wonderfully dense and neurotic.

The themes of the picture are also playfully and entertainingly represented. The innocence of Amelie and Nico is a touchstone for the picture. This is contrasted by the world around them: Nico works in a porn shop where Amelie bravely walks in to find him. And while Amelie does try to make those around her happy, she also metes out justice as she sneaks into the apartment of the cranky grocer and puts foot cream where his tooth paste should be and shorts out an electrical cord sending sparks.

Finally, I enjoyed the romance of this picture. Mathieu Kassovitz is wonderful as the Nino. The final scene where Amelie wordlessly and tenderly kisses his eyes and neck with him returning the caress so gently was quite beautiful, and reflects the sweetness and innocence at the heart of the film. I found the picture a complete joy and look forward to revisiting it again. Bonjour!

Rating:
Summary: Amelie: The odd little French girl whom I love
Review: Well, um, what can I say that hasn't been said by everyone else who's seen this movie? I mean, there may have been a select few who saw it and didn't like it, but they don't matter, do they? This is a magical little movie of instances, superb moments wherein a quirky young Frenchwoman is beset by grumps and cold shoulders. She sets out to make her world a better place by doing good for other people, succeeding greatly with each effort yet not really trying to improve upon her own life. There's another equally odd person that she's known since childhood and loved all the while. She freezes up whenver she nears him and runs off in a panic. This was an all around great movie. If you can get around reading subtitles then you'll enjoy this movie. I especially enjoyed Audrey Toutou (excuse any misspelling) in her alluring Zorro costume. Oh those eyes...

Rating:
Summary: Fun, sweet movie
Review: I really enjoyed Amelie. It was a fun sweet romance movie with a few twists. Compared to the standard Hollywood pacing, it feels a bit slow and plodding in some spots, but the quirkiness of the side plots help keep the entertainment coming. This film though about the modern world of real people is full of fantastic little touches made possible with great cinematography and rich special effects.

My only complaint isn't about the movie itself, but about the DVD. The DVD is in French, with the option to have English and Spanish subtitles. Loathe as I am sometimes to listen to overdubbed movies,I wish this DVD had the English overdub option. Reading the subtitles is a distraction from the beautiful filmwork and actors subtle visual performances.

I give the DVD 4 stars, and the movie itself, 5. It may not be for everyone (my wife slept most of the way through) but fans of foreign films and independent movies may greatly enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Some subtitling errors/confusion
Review: A FANTASTIC movie, for all of the mentioned reasons. However, the new DVD release does have a couple of errors in its English subtitling. Example: When Amelie asks Nino to turn to a certain page in his book, instead of ordering him to look at Page 32 (or whichever page it was...I was using those subtitles for a reason), the subtitle says "Page St." Huh? A similar moment happens when Amelie goes to the funhouse. (Instead of "He doesn't get off until 5:00", the subtitle says, "He doesn't get in until 5:00"...which totally doesn't make sense in context.)

Strangely, these errors weren't present in the theatrical release.

Rating:
Summary: A superb comedic fantasy
Review: Last year the selection committee at the Cannes Film Festival in France proclaimed that Amelie was not 'serious enough' to be included in the event. This slight didn't harm the movie's performance. It became one of France's biggest hits ever and went on to become the highest grossing French film ever released in America.

Amelie is pure fantasy. It takes place in that fabulous Paris that exists only in the movies - the Paris of Moulin Rouge, An American in Paris and Gigi. Movies as fantasy can be tricky, though. When poorly conceived, we roll our eyes and sigh, "Only in the movies!" But when done well, as in Amelie, we smile, feel good inside, and exclaim, "Only in the movies!"

Amelie [Audrey Tautou] is 23 years old. She had a miserable childhood. After her mother died accidentally. her father mistakenly decided Amelie had a heart condition and treated her accordingly. She watched him become lonely and sad. Now, she works in a Paris cafe, surrounded by co-workers and customers as daffy and eccentric as she is. One day she finds a cigar box with a child's toys in it. It's been hidden away in her apartment for years. She decides to find its owner, and the happiness this act brings to a stranger causes her to make a hobby out of helping people. Sometimes, if a person deserves it, she plays tricks on them, but this is just part of her plan to help them. Her biggest challenge is to trick her father into coming out of his isolation. She also falls in love with a young man who hardly knows she exists. How she gets him is as strange and delightful as the ways in which she carries out her good works.

Tautou is wondrous as Amelie. Her big eyes, amazing hairdo, somewhat gawky manner, and quirky, knowing smile combine to make her character unique and charming.

The movie is photographed in wonderfully rich, warm tones that make Amelie's world most inviting.

Some critics seemed irritated by the movie, claiming that it manipulated their feelings. I didn't see it that way. We find out at the beginning that Amelie is a lonely child who finds happiness in a fantasy world. So, it's logical that she would see the good things in life as fantastical. Her actions always fit her odd view of reality.

The biggest drawback for some viewers is that the movie is in French. Imagine that! A French movie in French!

Rating:
Summary: PERFECT
Review: Amelie is a perfect little movie. I saw it for the first time last night and fell in love. Creative filmmaking, gorgeous use of color, and artistic visual style & composition. The story, and adorable Amelie, are totally captivating, sweet, sad, quirky, and lovable. It sounds like fluff, but it's not, it has a lot of genuine feeling and substance. Like a movie critic said: "It deserves to be cherished, hugged and celebrated." ... Delightful film making... "with a cherry on top."

Rating:
Summary: Exactly as the reviews say, Feel Good Movie Of The Year
Review: I recently purchased this film from the store on a whim. I did not know it was a french subtitled film which I absolutely love. I am glad I purchased this film because I have not felt better after watching a movie as much as I did after this film. The story is interesting, the movie's filming effects keep your attention fixed, the main character is absolutely adorable and her life is very interesting. This film makes you take another look at life, a more positive look at life. I found myself smiling at the tiniest little details of the movie. I would reccomend you watch this film, and if you don't buy it before you see it, I guarentee you will afterwards.

Rating:
Summary: Great, Distinctly French Movie
Review: the movie was great, probably the best romantic/comedy movie i've ever seen, but it's too bad it's in french, and in france. with the director's masterful job on the screen, and then to be distracted by reading silly sub-titles, it's blasphemy. this movie left me with a smirk, which I held almost through the entire movie, as i thought it was such a well-written and interesting story. i like the narrator and how it gives direct characerizations since the movie is so flavored with the many characters amelie helps. too bad it's rated R for some naughty scenes and dirty thoughts.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Put, A Beautiful Film
Review: It is amazing what one person can accomplish when they really put their mind to it. I'm not talking about huge global changes here. Most of us will never be in a position where we can significantly impact a huge number of people in a positive way. This film shows that you really don't have to. Anyone who simply decides to make the lives around them better can succeed a lot more than they fail. Background, education and station have nothing to do with making that little decision and taking action on it.

Amelie is a simple girl, with simple tastes. Some one who would just as soon spend an evening skipping stones as going to a fancy restaurant with a man. She is not looking for love so much as direction. Up to the point where the story really begins, Amelie has been simply drifting, as most of us do. Victim of the events that her life has thrown at her. She has a job, an apartment and friends... Maybe not friends so much as aquaintences. The people she lives around and those she works with become her project. Amelie becomes a doer of good deeds.

The story plays out sweetly and with very inventive visuals. I'm sure we've all seen the trailers with the pig-lamp that turns itself off and the scene where Amelie disintegrates into a puddle of water after talking with a man she fancies. These effects are not distracting and really do lend themselves well to the progression of the story. Comparissons to Alley MacBeal are inevitable, but mostly inaccurate. Where the illusions on Alley's show were often violent or overtly sexual, those in Amelie are sweet and fanciful. The illustrate the nature of the young woman who has made it her goal in life to make those around her a little happier.

The disk itself is loaded with supplements that will allow the viewer to enjoy the film on another level. This is a must have for anyone's collection. Buy it and watch it with some one you love.