Amelie

I was clearing out my drafts folder (I'm one of those people with impossible inboxes) when I unearthed this old review of Amelie I wrote a few years ago and never got around to publishing. I did end up editing this a bit, but I wanted to preserve my original thoughts on the film, so here is a slightly updated version of the review.

After watching Amelie for the first time, two thoughts were running in my head. First was that Amelie was beautiful, and definitely will become one of my favorite films. The second one was why didn't I watch this sooner? It's a film filled with warmth. Amelie is a soul of her own, and Audrey Tautou brought her out. I don't think I could imagine any other actress playing the character; she embodied her so well. It's charming, and well-paced, and in its own sense, quite unique.

Amelie tells the story of the titular character's journey to making people happy, while finding happiness for herself. Throughout the film, we get to meet colorful characters with their own histories, and Amelie, with her kind nature, finds ways to bring happiness to people, even at her own expense.  Even her story with Nino was charming, with his eccentricities befitting Amelie.

I like how quirky she is in her own way, that it doesn't appear in a creepy-like way. She is not a conformist to the norm. Audrey Tautou played the role perfectly, if I knew a wider range of French actresses, I would still say she's perfect for the part. She played the emotions effortlessly.  It took me a while to open up to the idea of Matthieu Kassovitz to play Amelie's love interest but he played the role well; they had chemistry on screen. If there's a factor to be taken against it, it is that there are too many characters in this film. While some of the subplots are good, I would have loved to see more of Amelie and Nino. Having too much characters with other stories defers the film's focus from its main character. 

My favorite part of the film is the chase between Amelie and Nino. They're so adorable, with Nino trying to find out the identity of the person who returned his collection of photos, and Amelie planting out these clues because she was nervous about meeting Nino. She was enticed by his behavior, that he was as quirky as her, that he would understand her. Definitely loved the last scene of the film, they were adorable. 

I liked the color palette of the film; it was playful and contributed to the tone of the film. The cinematography was fantastic. This was a delightful piece, and one that would make it to my favorites.

Cast: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Year: 2002