Review of Amelie

Introduction

You can wait for ages for a decent foreign language film to make it big at the box-office, and then like London buses two come along at once (audiences are remarkably fickle about films that you have to read). 2001 was the year of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Amelie. Both visually striking and distinctive films that were lauded by critics and audiences alike, I always felt that Grouchy Tiger cruelly snubbed Amelie in the Oscars. Given the current state of relations between the USA and France, that was probably an ominous precedent. Nevertheless, it is Amelie that resides on my DVD shelf and not Crouching Muppet, Hidden Wires.

Amelie Poulain was born into a cold world. A distant father and a disciplinarian mother meant that while her parents were over protective educating her at home, they were hardly a close-knit family. Consequently, Amelie`s well-developed imagination provided her with a rich fantasy life. As soon as she grew up, she left home to work as a waitress at a Parisian café. By sheer chance, she finds a box of child`s keepsakes secreted by a previous inhabitant of her apartment, and there and then she decides to devote herself to bringing some light and joy into the lives of others. However her natural shyness precludes her being open about it, she devises complex schemes and machinations to help people, but realising her own dreams is harder than she imagines.

Video

Amelie gets a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer and it is pixel perfect. It is a crystal clear image with strong, vibrant colours. This is ideal considering the unique visual style of the film. The palette is a glorious blend of warm hues, greens, brown and reds; the whole film has a rich sepia tone to it that gives it a sense of enchantment. The special effects are seamlessly blended in to the live action and are never intrusive. Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs with assurance and establishes a style that enhances the magic of the story. His Paris is a stylised and idealised Paris that, while it is nothing like the real city, is perfect for the tale. The whole film is like watching an oil painting in motion (And we`re not talking the dire What Dreams May Come here).

Audio

The sound comes in DD 5.1 and DTS French. The DD 5.1 is the one I listened to and it is a very good surround track, subtle but vivid with the surrounds put to good use. The dialogue is as clear as the subtitles. The score is also very moving with extensive use of accordion, which surprisingly is never irritating, far from it in fact.

Features

For extras you want to be looking at the two disc special edition. This on the other hand has some nice menus with random alternate opening sequences, a brief but pointless booklet inserted in the Amaray case, and a Director`s commentary from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

The commentary is very good and interesting to listen to, although it does start off with an admonition from Jean-Pierre Jeunet not to listen to it. He`s very voluble and discusses all aspects of the movie, from the actors to the locations to the special effects. Of course he also recommends that you learn French to fully appreciate the dialogue. For those who find Amelie`s depiction of Paris to be imaginative to say the least, he also is quite candid in putting the record straight about the real Paris, warts and all. There is the occasional reference to the extras on the second disc, but if you wanted the extra special edition you would have already bought it, right?

Conclusion

I`ve always believed it a fundamental rule of cinema that if a film needs a voiceover then it has already failed. Cinema is a visual medium and if you cannot tell your story visually then you should go back to the drawing board, Bladerunner is a perfect case in point. Then Amelie comes along and completely proves me wrong. Not only does Amelie begin with a voiceover, it continues along the same way, happily breaking cinematic conventions as it goes along. The narration, far from slowing the film down actually livens it up, giving it a vital and exciting pace. The fifth wall doesn`t stay standing for long, as characters address the camera when they feel the need. (Including a charming moment where Amelie estimates the number of orgasms at any one time in Paris)

The cast bring to life an amazing collection of characters. The impish Audrey Tautou as Amelie of course carries the film. She has a childlike innocence combined with a mischievous side that utterly draws the audience`s attention. While she can be angelic when she`s determined to help someone, there is also a delicious malice with which she can orchestrate revenge, as in the tricks she plays on the arrogant grocer Collignon, reminiscent of the Roald Dahl book, The Twits. Mathieu Kassovitz is fairly non-descript as the love interest Nino, but he is naturally made to be just as quirky as Amelie to provide a `neat fit`. Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon makes a memorable appearance as the jealous customer of The Two Windmills, where Amelie works, cataloguing every movement of his ex girlfriend on tape. Serge Merlin plays Raymond Dufayel, a neighbour of Amelie, who is housebound by brittle bone disease that spends his life recreating Renoir`s masterpieces. His relationship with Amelie is really at the heart of the story, as he is trying to capture the essence of one of the subjects in a painting, and it is a girl who Amelie relates to, and as they explore the motivations behind this distant figure of art, Amelie is motivated to change her own life for the better.

It took me a while to see where Amelie was coming from. My first impressions were of a neurotic girl with an overactive imagination. It`s the French Ally McBeal, but without the self-obsession, rampant materialism and alleged eating disorders, ahem. But eventually I got it, it`s been a few years since I`ve experienced one, but Amelie is most definitely a fairy-tale. A young girl has a less than happy upbringing, but through good deeds and magical adventures she gets her just reward and they all live happily ever after. The visuals and the films design also match the fairy tale ideal, and if Paris has been sanitised and idealised to reflect that it is hardly a bad thing, and far less offensive than the uncalled for ethnic cleansing of Notting Hill. Yes, the story and the characters are saccharine sweet and unthreatening, but this is a fable, and the few ogre-like characters do get their just desserts. The disc presents this magical movie to best effect with a beautiful transfer and excellent sound. Those looking for extras would have gone for the two disc release, but the Director`s commentary is very well done and makes this disc very good value. In the end, Amelie is the ultimate feel-good movie, and if you are looking for 2 hours of sheer escapism and fantasy than you can`t find much better than this film.