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Amélie

Rating

Director

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Screenplay

Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Length

2h 02m

Starring

Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta, Serge Merlin, Jamel Debbouze

MPAA Rating

R

Review

Like a good romance novel, motion pictures can take audiences on a ride of emotional satisfaction and remorse. Two lovers meet and fall in love. French foreign language film “Amelie,” however is not your traditional romantic film. It is a bizarre, almost twisted look into the obsessive lives of two star-crossed lovers.

The story opens with a young girl named Amelie Poulain (Flora Guiet) whose mother was killed and was raised by her father. As an adult, Amelie (Audrey Tautou) has difficulties forming emotional attachments. She cares much for those around her, but never cares much for herself. When she spies young Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz) in a train terminal, her heart reels for him, but she loses her courage in speaking with him.

One afternoon when he’s chasing after a thief, he leaves behind a scrapbook containing torn up photos from a coin operated photo mat. She becomes obsessed with him and taunts him by leaving clues to his album’s whereabouts while simultaneously attempting to find the mysterious bald man who has torn up his picture at nearly every photo mat in the city.

“Amelie” is a wonderful treatise on love and fear. Amelie lives her life with gusto, but fears the most traditional emotion of love. Love seems beyond her grasp and while she can match-make for others, she can’t seem to capture the elusive man of her desires. Nino feels the same and goes to great lengths to meet her. She arranges for a meeting between them. She shows up, leads him on a goose chase and then denies him her company. He tries so hard to meet her, overcoming the trepidation they share.

Writer-director Jean-Pierre Jeunet crafts an amazingly adept, often humorous look at the courageous and cowardly emotional life of this amazing French girl. Audrey Tautou conjures images of a young Audrey Hepburn. Her young, child-like face, warm, yet devious smile and innocent style.

The rest of the cast, Kassovitz included, play their parts well and while many are charicatures of various personality archetypes, they all manage to convey their characters with honesty. Kassovitz himself, lifts about his stereotype, but falters on a few occasions. It’s hard to sympathize with his character at times, which gets in the way of the story.

The technical merits of the film are very good. While there are a lot of golden tones throughout, the film is still vibrant, not unlike its characters. The design elements of costumes and sets fit perfectly. Meanwhile, the minute detail in the sound design and editing help blend together a seamless melange of sumptuous visuals and intriguing story.

“Amelie,” also known as “Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain” and “Amelie of Monmartre,” is a sophisticated, joyous motion picture of immeasurable worth. It is a work of art not to be taken lightly or seriously. Audiences will enjoy it for its irreverent and humorous nature while secretly longing for a love as pure.

Review Written

April 8, 2002