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8.8/10
FilmFascination Rating
If you get a group of introverts together and tell them to make a movie about introverts, ‘Amelie’ is probably the movie you would get. It has got all the quirkiness – secretly helping others, thinking about questions that fascinate only you, or may it be the small things that give you so much happiness.
Amelie grows up lonely because of her eccentric parents who incorrectly diagnose that she has a heart defect. The reality is except for the health checkups that her father carried out, Amelie never felt the warmth of her parents. So whenever her father came close to her, her heart raced faster than ever before. If this does not show how quirky the movie is, there is a scene where Amelie thinks about- ‘How many people might be having orgasms at this very moment?’. And we are swiftly shown 15 flashes of people having orgasms.
Amelie leaves home at the age of 18 and becomes a waitress at the Café des 2 Moulins. One day, after listening to the news of the death of Princess Diana, Amelie is startled and drops a perfume stopper on the ground, leading her to discover someone’s old childhood metal box. After tracking down the person to whom the box belongs, Amelie returns the box to him. But not just like any person would return it. She keeps the box in a phone booth and calls the booth from a distance where she can see it. Bretodou, who finds his childhood box, is moved to tears by the memories it held. And Amelie has found her mission in life. She would go on to do good deeds around society but not in any old way. Instead with heavily planned strategies that amuse her and carefully avoiding any human interactions in the process.
Amelie is a very peculiar movie. For instance, in the beginning, the movie tells us about the likes and dislikes of each character. Some are as stupid as they sound, but each of them goes a long way to tell us more about the character. The film is filled with great individual shots and ideas. One of the funny scenes is when she is waiting for a boy in her café and she resorts to her imagination where in a lengthy bit of story he ends up being on a hill with some goats. And the conclusion is that even if the boy does not come, Amelie wouldn’t care about a boy who lives on the hills with goats. You probably wouldn’t get it right now, but it is hilarious in the movie.
The colors of the movie are like welcoming candies which makes it visually striking. The scenery of the movie and really good actors overall give the nostalgic warmth of a child’s innocence. The CGI used for scenes like the one where Amelie literally turns into a puddle of water due to embarrassment or the one where we get to peek at her racing heart do not feel forced or artificial. They become an integral part of the style of the movie and in a way bring imagination to reality beautifully.
Ms. Tautou addresses the camera as if she were looking each viewer right in the eye. She is perfect to show all the cuteness and innocence of Amelie. Amelie is a child that never really grows up. She shows that with the elaborate pranks, she carries out or the way she dips her hand into the grains. She always has the world at an arms-length. And this feeling is something many of us are going to relate to. Despite all this, Amelie has always got something going on, on her own. It keeps reminding us that life can always be something more. Amélie captivates me because it has a profound admiration for the power of imagination and individuals who dare to dream. By avoiding reality, the film’s quirkiness undergoes a remarkable metamorphosis, ultimately becoming an unexpectedly heartfelt tribute to the beauty of life.
The movie kind of gets slow midway, but everything becomes worth it until the end. I do not expect everyone to like the movie. If you are not as quirky as Amelie herself, it would be a little hard to connect on the level I got connected to the movie. As the Joker said – ‘You just wouldn’t get it’. It would make you question small things like the unrealistic, extravagant imagination Amelie has of the possibilities of life. But it is this originality and creativity of the movie that sets it apart.
The creators of the film have owned up to the fact that the movie is not for everyone and still is bold to go to the full length to show what it wants to. Amelie relies heavily on emotions and it is really hard to get the tone of such a movie right and to get actors that, though peculiar and quirky, leave a charming and tender part of them in our mind at the end of the day. ‘Amelie’ takes all those chances and beautifully wins us over.
Favourite Quotes
Hipolito (The Writer): We pass the time of day to forget how time passes.
Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: You mean she would rather imagine herself relating to an absent person than build relationships with those around her?
Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: So, my little Amélie, you don’t have bones of glass. You can take life’s knocks. If you let this chance pass, eventually, your heart will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton. So, go get him, for Pete’s sake!
Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: Luck is like the Tour de France. You wait, and it flashes past you. You have to catch it while you can.
Josef Stalin dubbed in propaganda film excerpt: If Amélie chooses to live in a dream-world and remain an introverted young woman, she has every right to mess up her life!
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