Amélie

French films have always been attractive to me: and Amélie is very, very French. Perhaps it is the appeal of being able to see actors that I know nothing about whatsoever, or perhaps the fact that I often have to read the subtitles or slowly piece apart the language (I can speak a bit of French) gives further appreciation for the words and camera angles. It would be a complete lie to say that Amelie had not earned its place in one of my favourite films of all time. So, for my fist review, we are going to discuss why.

The film takes place in Paris, in 1997. Princess Diana has just passed away and the story follows Amélie Poulain, and incredibly shy and awkward girl, that almost takes the role of our silent protagonist. When she discovers a box of toys from the 50's, she sets herself on returning them to her owner, discovering a love of helping people in her own, shy way. When she falls in love with a boy that she has only seen once (and never talked to), she sets her goal on getting him. This is the main plot of the movie.

The story in Amélie extremely clever. While always focusing on Amélie, the film carefully demonstrates the simple lives of those around her, and showing the result of her actions and their consequences. Every character is fully fleshed-out, yet flawed, however the most interesting character always remains to be Amélie herself.

Audrey Tautou (Amélie) has now become one of my favourite actresses. She conveys a deeply twisted and upset character with a level of mirth and lightness always, and everything has been perfected; not only speech and facial expressions, but every body movement, the way that she carries herself about the screen reveals so much about the characters mood and intentions, while always remaining to be subtle and clever. This is extremely important being that Amélie is almost silent throughout the film.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet clearly loves the camera. Every shot is just beautiful, the precision that the cameras have in following each cast member, the amazing way they demonstrate space and direction: I found myself knowing my way around Paris having only visited it once as a child. Much can be read from the the characters just by the shots used, and you know that your shots are good when you could frame almost every single one of them.

So, what do I think of Amélie? Well, I think my appreciation has been more or less summed up here, however lets do the final scores. Amélie, for its excellent story, acting and shooting gets it a noble 8.5 stars.