Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amélie Poulain [Amélie] (2001)
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British audiences rarely seem to respond to foreign films in large numbers – particularly if those films are subtitled. Therefore, when a French language film such as this manages to become one of the year's most talked-about films it must be something special.
The film's main character Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a seemingly unremarkable young woman who works in a café in the Parisian suburb of Montmarte. Having grown up in a quite dysfunctional family, she is a bit eccentric and one day resolves to enliven her existence by setting out on a quest to do small acts of anonymous goodness to random strangers. She visits her reclusive neighbour, kidnaps her father's beloved garden gnome and returns some lost childhood mementos. She also observes her eccentric colleagues and neighbours, and eventually falls in love with a mysterious young man called Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), with whom she embarks on an unusual courtship.
It's quite a slight plot, and the focus here isn't really on the progression of the story, this film is more concerned with its eccentric characters and some slightly surreal situations. Although most of the film is grounded in reality, there are occasional slightly surreal moments as we see a visual representation of what Amelié is feeling. The film is frequently amusing, although I suspect there's probably some humour here that hasn't really translated from French very well.
Director Jeunet is rightly famed for the visual impact of his films (see also “The City Of Lost Children” and “Delicatessen”) and this film is no exception. The film lacks the dark epic feel of his previous films, but there is still some spectacular imagery here with excellent cinematography being backed up by some good understated special effects.
The acting is also brilliant, with Tautou producing an extremely likeable performance as the eccentric main character. The supporting cast is equally good, especially Amelié's equally eccentric father (Rufus) and cynical café customer Joseph (Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon).
In summary, this is a highly entertaining, original, amusing, surreal and extremely likeable film. The lack of a strong plot is the only disadvantage, but this is still a classic piece of film-making.
Rating : 8½ / 10
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All content ©2003 William Marnoch.
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