Amélie Reviews

Jean Pierre Jeunet is a god! I wish I have seen this as soon as it was released last 2001 but since I was a major dumbass then, I never bothered watching this glorious portrayal of Amelie Poulain's life, until this year. Every part of this film is simply superb. The cinematography. The lines, even though it's French. The story. And everything in between. I love Audrey Tautou and her face is untimely. I can absolutely watch this film over and over again.

I'm a sucker for happy endings. :)

''Amélie has a strange feeling of absolute harmony. It's a perfect moment. A soft light, a scent in the air, the quiet murmur of the city. A surge of love, an urge to help mankind overcomes her.''

One person can change your life forever. Amélie is one of these people, and this is her story...

Audrey Tautou: Amélie Poulain

Amélie is the best French film since Love me if you Dare that I have ever had the pleasure of watching.
Artistic, imaginative, visual and extremely clever are but a few ways to describe Amélie.



So what's is Amélie? What is it about I hear you cry?!
Well the answer is simple, it's the gorgeous tale of Amélie Poulain and her dreamy wondrous life. I could certainly relate to her magical, colourful imagination.
Audrey Tautou as Amélie makes the role her own while film maker Jean-Pierre Jeunet hits the nail on the head spinning and weaving one of the best films to come from France I've ever had to have the luxury of seeing and beholding.

I mean the music blends with the colourful imagery much like Amélie's old friend Raymond's artwork. Which brings me to the characters in the film wonderfully fleshed out while we are treated also to some breath taking sequences.

As a director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet has a unique perspective. He seems to make great use of colour, some would assume then to be unnecessary extremes, but for myself it gives Amélie a glossy visual look, whatever the weather's like in the film.
Also he tends to to zoom about with his cameras but again this adds to the way the film sucks you into its own little bizarre world, just as Amelie draws Nico into her heart without them actually meeting.

A few nice special effects polish it off, and there are a few little details that you probably won't see the first couple of times.

It's hard to translate into words how much I loved Amélie .
Like being next to a Monet, or a Da Vinci, watching as he effortlessly splashes vibrant colours and shades across his canvas.
I had this strange but fantastic feeling of being inside the mind of Amélie, seeing so much in the dazzling imagination she viewed life with, and wanting to stay with her much longer than the two hour duration of Amélie.

It was just so refreshing to watch a movie where your fantasy realms are realized in fantastic detail.

Amélie is simply a story of imagination, of love, of dreams, of life.
What other movie offers a gnome on holiday, a photo booth mystery, a bizarre childhood, a clever trail to reclaim an album...none I tell you! This Amélie truly is a masterpiece and I cannot stress it enough.

And what's most wonderful of all, I'm still smiling from the experience.

''Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's.''

first off, i want to preface my review with some quotes... only one has an actual source, the others are pretty much just sayings which i still find to be very true:

"OPTIMISM, n.
The doctrine, or belief, that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly, everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong." - ambrose bierce

"pessimists are optimists who have reflected on things"

"optimism is simply a result of lack of information"


that said, i suppose people who know the movie already are by now probably able to tell why i think that "amelie" fails in every way it can when it comes to transporting relevant messages about life. no, not everything is dark and bad but not everything is just cute and cuddly either. those who don't know the movie yet but think that above quotes are quite true - well, better stay away from "amelie".
apart from this shallow attempt at a story there's amelie herself as character. she is portrayed in such an awful way that i started avoiding movies featuring audrey tautou fearing she might once again have that frozen cocky smirk that makes me more aggressive than... listening to the spice girls. or something in that category.
that was until i saw her in "dirty pretty things" and didn't even recognize her without that stupid grin - but that's another story (and a great film - go see that instead!).

i think there is only one positive aspect worth mentioning (which "doudouce55" also already has in her review) and that's the decent photography - which is why i give it 2/10 too.

"It's better to help people than garden gnomes."

Amélie is an appealing little gem of a movie that is full of imagination and charming performances.

Audrey Tautou plays a young French woman named Amélie. She has always avoided true love and such things, instead enjoying life's little treats; skimming stones over water, plunging her hand into a sack of grain, and cracking the top of her Crème Brulee' with a spoon. But after she does a good deed for someone, she enjoys the pleasure of knowing she's made a difference in someone's life. She decides that she will continue doing good deeds; interfering with people's lives, etc.

But somewhere along the way she finds true love in the form of a young man named Nino (Kassovitz).

The film is very well made; the cinematography does justice to the beautiful locations, and the art direction is simply gorgeous. From costume design to production design, each shot is beautiful in all aspects.

Audrey Tautou was a perfect choice for the main character. Her wonderful appearance makes her look great on screen; she's sincere, delightful and charming. Apart from Tautou, the supporting cast is just fantastic. Each performance is heart-felt and truly stunning...despite having to read subtitles for each word they say.

The direction is very good. Each scene is done extremely well, and is thoroughly entertaining. Accompanied by a pleasant, charming score.

Overall the whole film is an intriguing experience. Well made, gorgeous to look at...all in all it's unmissable. Marred by overlength and its tendency to make the audience frustrated at Amélie's slightly weird strategies that grow old towards the end.

Look, describing the film doesn't do it justice. Just take a chance and go rent the movie for a pleasant evening of laughs and sincerity. I guarantee that you'll be enthralled.

where do i start? i can't possibly imagine giving it less than 11/10, but there's no such score here. amelie, like to so many others, defines my life. for optimists, creatives, or those needing of a boost in daily life, get that by watching this enriched, beautifuly depicted film of a girl trying to find love.
While she is quiet, and shy, the story encourages the audience to look behind her words and more at her actions. Another commentary claimed she has no personality. Check out her other movies and get a perspective. She's amazing.

The soundtrack kicks ass, to boot!

I really do not understand what the whole fuss is about, regarding this film. It's a sappy story if there is one, it's certainly not the most beautiful film out there (yes, the photography is good [hence my 1 full star of 2 points]), but Audrey Tautou has *no personality whatsoever*. Her acting in every single film is the same, she has but two expressions to her face. As for this movie, its meaning is lost on me. Jeunet's film City of Lost Children had more meaning, consistency and character than this film, which has zero value. (Amelie, or rather The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain as its original title was, is definitely not coming in my movie collection.) It was a waste of time, and all 8 of us watching this together when it came out on dvd actually voted to fast-forward the movie as the acting was unbearable!