Amelie

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: It's lovely to notice that there is still a director who tells a lovestory in a differnt way as usual and chooses a figure who is different too.Dreaming while living in her own world and always helpful towards other people Amelie falls in love. What follows is a "game of love" which is stamped by humour and fun dependent on situation. Amelie tries to support other people (without noticing it) to realize their dreams and to solve their problems. She also includes her own "craze" in a game of confusion which shows the fear and the contemporary wish of a relationship with this person clearly.
It's a magical movie which Jean-Pierre Jeunet brought onto the screen of our cinemas and now our TVs. He succeeded in shooting an unusual movie which is told with nice rides and adjustments of the camera, with much irony and joke, with much love and romantic, with a nicely told story and with beautiful ideas. The movie bewitches me every time I see it again! You must watch this!

Rating:
Summary: Smiles and Laughter
Review: A truly wonderful film. Throughout the opening sequence, in which the cast of unique characters is introduced, I laughed at the originality of their character traits. Within two minutes, you feel as if you truly know everyone in the film as a close friend. This closeness makes the rest of the surprisingly long film fly by. At least a half-dozen sub-plots, (really just amusing anecdotes acted out), provide laughter and poignancy to the film. At the end you are happy for Amelie as she finds love, and happy for having spent two hours with such a pleasing film. The enchanting, fairy-tale music will be in your head afterward, and the next day as you think of the film, a smile will come across your face.

Rating:
Summary: Yep, it really is that good.
Review: Believe the hype on this one, folks. It's a touching love story, but at it's heart the film is about ALL joy in life. Finding joy in the details. And the DVD is truly exceptional. 2 documentaries, Q&A sessions from 2 film festivals, screen tests, director's commentary and production art. Definitely one of the top 3 DVDs in my collection.

Rating:
Summary: So Cute It's Scary
Review: Amelie is unlike anything I have ever seen, and after seeing this directors work in City of the Lost Children, thats a big statement. Amelie is about a young girl (Audrey Tautou) who's key to life is by making others see the beauty that they never can see themselves, here eventful encounters with many unique characters bring her to a romance with a mysterious man who's hobby is collection torn pictures throw in the trash next to photo booths. The movie is so utterly adorable it makes viewers blush with how cute and charming it is, and it doesn't hurt that Audrey Tautou is the cutest actress today complete with her little grin. I was smiling the entire way through, Amelie is a beautiful film please don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: Open Letter To Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Review: Dear Monsieur:

Shame on you! You have made me cry! I do not cry at love stories as a rule--until tonight AND the night before! Perhaps it is because I am also a girl who did not have many playmates; perhaps it is because I am a girl with rather peculiar parents. Perhaps the girl with the glass resembles me just a touch too much.
Alas, all this is true.
But I think the true reason for my tears is this:
1. It is about time that garden gnomes got to see the world.
2. It is about time everyone had their portraits taken in photo booths.
3. It is about time everyone learned to skip stones.
4. And most importantly, it is about time to love small things. For this must surely be the direction toward small miracles.
5. And finally. Your film is not a small miracle.
It is a giant one.
Love, Zorro

Rating:
Summary: Gift on a disc!
Review: That's what I think of this movie. The imagery, tale, and whimsy all put together on one tiny disc so beautifully, that once you see this you will feel the same.

The first thing you will notice is the stunning camera work, then the actors, then the plot. The direction of this is so brilliant. The tale itself is pure whimsy but it will leave you with a sense of well-being.

All of the cast did an exceptional job and you will find that reading the subtitles is, in most cases, not neccessary. The director, actors and cinematographer have the uncanny ability to tell the entire story, along with mood that even if you don't read the subtitles, or for that matter understand French you will know what is going on. The actors delivery of thier lines let you in on every detail that is happening or about to happen.

The extras on this DVD is worth a look as well. Most of the time the "behind the scenes" stuff that laden DVD's is worthless, such is not the case. Take the time to look at all of the interviews and in particular, the director and the cinematographer. When you get a glimpse as to what it took to make this, you will be astounded. Sure it's not full of car chases, explosions or any other very high-tech special effects, but rather the director's vision and use of color to set the tone of every single scene. It is amazing. When you hear those blowhard directors talk about pouring thier souls into films generally, you pay no mind. However, with Jean-Pierre Jeunet, it's a whole different issue. The attention he paid to even the smallest detail is impressive, to say the least.

I find this film to be more palatable than his "City of Lost Children" which is a bit more like "Brazil". Jean-Pierre Jeunet, can get a tad complicated at times, but in Amelie, he does not lose focus for one second and you finish the film with the thought that there is a little bit of Amelie in all of us, but perhaps there should be more.

It doesn't matter if you are male or female, if you like action or sci-fi, this is not a "chick flick", this is a film for all. One of the best films made last year that should have had more recognition than it did.

Pick it up, you won't be sorry!

Rating:
Summary: A heart-shaped French delicacy!!!
Review: Amelie is a rare delight. The title character is a painfully shy loner who discovers a small box filled with a little boy's keepsakes. She seeks the rightful owner of the box. The charm of this film is that Amelie wants to perform her little miracles, hiding in the shadows, with no recognition for herself. The characters in this piece are fascinating, each one reflecting back a facet of Amelie's personality. In the end, Amelie's compassion ends up being her own salvation - and that is what makes the film so much of a joy to watch. Hollywood has pretty much exchanged emotion and subtlety for rudeness, crudeness, and over processed digital special effects. Like a good French wine, this motion picture is an experience to be savored - not devoured. Amelie has a look and feel that stands out from anything I've seen in recent years. So many modern films are filtered with a grayish or orange tint, which tricks the viewer's eye into thinking it is watching a stark, gritty documentary. Steven Soderbergh seems to be the reigning master of this technique. Amelie by contrast, with it's deep reds and fluorescent and forest greens accented by cobalt blues and electric yellows, transports you to a world full of magic and hope. The effect is enchanting.

The DVD package is complete with commentaries and documentaries on the making of the film. These added features make it clear that this film was carefully planned by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, much like "The Sixth Sense." Shots were storyboarded, set up, and orchestrated months in advance. And any extra footage of Audrey Tautou is always welcome in my home. A blend of the beauty and grace of Audrey Hepburn, the humor and physical skill of Charlie Chaplin, and the vulnerability of early Winona Ryder, and the sultry elegance of a sixties European model. Her method of using her eyes, facial expression, and body language (relying less on verbal expression) to create a character is what helps makes Amelie transcend language barriers.

I was a little disappointed there wasn't a version with dubbed English, but after 15 minutes or so, I didn't even notice that I was reading subtitles. There were more than quite a few belly laugh moments, and it became very apparent that this is one of those rare films that is so good it completely transcends culture, language - the universal message is "The good you do for others returns - especially when you don't expect it to." A French delicacy. I just hope we get to sample more of Jeunet, Tautou, and the rest of this team's products soon. Thanks, Miramax.

Rating:
Summary: charming story, breathtaking visuals and terrific dvd extras
Review: Amelie is a charming film from innovative French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, Alien:Resurrection) starring a lovely doe-eyed Audrey Tautou. In telling the tale of kindness and relationships, this movie has the unique look of Jeunet's other films (and uses many of the actors we've seen in his earlier work) with characters and situations that are more accessible.

Special features include: a commentary track with Jeunet, in French or English; a featurette, 'The Look of Amelie'; outtakes; screen tests by Audrey Tautou (Amelie), Urbain Cancelier (the abusive greengrocer) and Yolande Moreau (the lovelorn concierge); Q&A sessions with Jeunet or with Jeunet and cast members; a storyboard comparison of the scene in which Amelie rides through the funhouse; an intimate chat with Jeunet, in which he describes the process of getting the film made, its snubbing at Cannes, and its subsequent commercial and critical success; 'Home Movies', inside the making of the film; French and American trailers and tv spots; a scrapbook; and cast and crew filmographies.

I think Jeunet is the most interesting French director working today. Amelie is visually dazzling and narratively both compelling and charming. The special features are plentiful and interesting, and make the dvd version worthwhile, particularly if you are interested in the work of this fine director.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Luv is not enough
Review: Yes she is cute and she has a wonderful smile that will rock your world, but that's not the only reason you gotta love her. Because....yes she will stand on somewhere high and wondering how many people in the world are having orgasm. Yes, she will be recording some funky stuff and send to the glass man. Yes, she will revenge people who have been mean to herself or someone she likes. Yes, she will steal her father's gnome and send it along with someone who is traveling with picture updats :)). Yes she will cut and paste her neighbor's past husband's letter into a new one, then sent it to the neighbor as a lost letter found up in Mount Blanc. Yes, no matter she goes she will always notice the stone she likes for skipping it. And yes, she will hear Stalin telling her not to care about what the glass man told her.

There are so man things in this movie that will make you smile. My favorite parts were that she went to the photo booth with Zorro's uniform (she imagined it, too, while she revenged on the grocery shop owner for one-armed Lucien); and when Nino first went to the coffee shop while she stood behind and denying she was the Zorror girl and pass a piece of paper to him. Kind of remind me some childish love in young age. Well, I guess her childish (or genuine I should say) nature is the momentum of the movie and is what makes her so cute. I must applaud for Audrey Tautou. She did an incredible job being Amelie.

It's hard to end this comment because there are so much to say about, but I will just end it this way. Watching Amelie is just like reading Zola's story. While following Amelie through her daily life, we have all become herself in the end of film. I believe for people who love this movie, you will smile for at least a week.

Rating:
Summary: Delicious, like a glass of sparkling burgundy
Review: I don't often view foreign language films. I find it maddening to try to read the subtitles and watch the film at the same time. Also, I had heard such glowing reviews about this film that I was prepared to be disappointed as well as frazzled. I could not have been more wrong.

This is a wonderful, wonderful film. Amelie (Audrey Tautou) is a mousey girl living in Paris whose life is so ordinary that it borders on pathetic. One day she discovers a tin box in her apartment with little toys and keepsakes of a young child that was hidden behind a wall decades ago. She sets out on a mission to find the boy and return the treasures to him. If the mission has a positive effect, she vows to devote herself to doing good deeds for others. This leads to numerous touching and droll adventures, where Amelie doles out her own personal brand of justice to various characters, both good and evil. Along the way she discovers love and turns it into a cat and mouse game of mystery and fascination, making her lover fall for her and pursue her without ever knowing who she is.

The story is brilliantly written, with a wry sense of humor. Only the French could make mundane situations so funny, ironic, charming and philosophical at the same time. It is a marvelous mix of intrigue, misdirection and offbeat humor. Director Jean Pierre Jeunet squeezes the maximum amount of wit, sentimentality and humanness from every frame. The Parisian street scenes are wonderfully done showing us more of an insider's look at Paris than a tourist's guidebook.

Audrey Tautou is captivating in the lead role. She reminds me of Audrey Hepburn, full of breathy enthusiasm with a twinkle in her eye and mischief on her mind. When she is good she's wonderful, and when she's bad she's even better.

This is an enthralling delight of a film, like a glass of sparkling French burgundy. It will make you chuckle and tug your heart strings. I rated it a 10/10. Even if you hate subtitles, see this film. You won't regret it.