Amélie: A Quirky Love Poem

Amélie is the movie I’d imagine to see written and directed by Wes Anderson. Jean-Pierre Jeunet ventures off from his previous endeavors, and into the whimsical, fantastical film that is, The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain (Amélie). Through the decisive, yet odd, camera angles that follow Amélie as she pursues her stratagems to compliment her newly kindred spirit, to the idiosyncrasies that are learned for even the most insignificant side characters, it is no wonder why this serves to be a cinema gem across the globe.

The idiosyncrasies that are laid out, before the film even begins, creates attractiveness for the viewers to lean into what story is being unravelled in front of them. When the story switches timelines to address the much older version of Amélie, we are acquainted with her surroundings in detail, and the mise-en-scéne sets the tone for how the film will utilize its technical apprehension to seize the audience for its visual appeal. The stage is set through yellow highlights and green shadows for the overall color theory, which creates a nostalgic effect for those relating back to how it mirrors the fantasy theme when compared to harsh reality of Paris’ streets. During the opening act of the film, we can see Amélie using an Instamatic camera to photograph her surroundings, and it is interesting to note that the color of instamatic cameras come close to the visual color grading that appears throughout the film. This could be a nod to the creative shot by shot scenario that Jeunet storyboards so often before he begins filming, or it can serve to clue in the audience on the mise-en-scene details. Given this nostalgic feel in correlation with the uplighting story that deals with only minor conflicts, it creates what critics and the director call, “Fake France.” The critic, Beradinelli stated that Jeunet “uses the city more as a character, than a mere backdrop. He uses odd camera angles, quick edits, and other ‘tricks’ to keep the movie visually dynamic.” Jeunet’s stride for perfection in all aspects of the film’s creation, is both done with smoothness and clarity, whilst captivating his audience through hist brilliant casting of Audrey Tatou, as Amélie for the film.

Tatou’s performance creates a friendly experience for the viewer to accompany her through her pursuit to enrich everyone’s life around her. Some critics such as Chris Kaltenbach, go to the extent of labeling her friendliness as “irritable,” following it up with, “in trying to make her seem irresistible, they succeed in making her cloying.” The cynicism associated with his critique, assumes that he keeps his relationships on a more realistic basis, with no room for optimism. Amélie, is a movie that dreams of maintaining an optimistic perspective, while living the best version of your life each day with the people around you. Given its releasee date, it could not have come at a better time for the US, considering only just two months prior, were the September, 11th terrorist attacks.

A major theme in the film surrounds the act of voyeurism, and what an individual can learn if they study another person long enough, especially when it’s long enough to know their routine. In the film, voyeurism can be studied in multiple aspects, such as through, the cinematography, which is lurking over the characters as they enter and exit different scenes, Amélie learning more about Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), and through Raymond Dufayel (Serge Merlin) when he studies Amélie’s habits and her going through the shopkeeper’s apartment. Voyeurism is often associated with stalking and has the stigma of being creepy, and while I don’t disagree, Amélie’s choice of utilizing it, seems more harmless than creepy. It could be the timidness that she holds against her feelings for another such as Nino, or it may be to fuel her obsession of following stratagems for plans to achieve completion. Can voyeurism turned outward to the audience through fourth wall breaking? Occasionally throughout the movie, we see Amélie project her thoughts onscreen towards the viewers. The first scene is when she, herself, is watching a movie, and tells us that she likes to look at faces in the movie theater while its dark. We then see her look down at us during a scene in the café to relay foreshadowing information to us, before continuing her conversation. Lastly, we see her (and Nino’s) reaction as she is flying by on the moped down the streets of France with her new beloved. This fourth wall impression is enhanced by the narrator that delivers messages of both her thoughts and perspective, with the forbearance that the viewer will not be misled by either advance. I think this next study is a small easter egg for viewers to catch: when she first makes her fourth wall appearance, we learn of her likeness of watching movie-goers in the dark, where if this movie is watched in a theater, she is in turn looking back at that exact scenario. Is this a further reach of a fourth wall, or just a nice nod back to her statement?

What I found most questionable is the numbers that follow throughout the film. Jeunet states in an interview that he was always one for an imagination, and couldn’t bare to have a mind that dealt with numbers, which is possibly why these feel more like assumptions, then they do factual. In the scene where Amélie is on her balcony questioning the amount of orgasms that are occurring between couples at this moment in time, she affirms the number, “Fifteen!” as if to say that she knew. Briefly after, she finds the treasured box of archived materials, that she assumes is 40 years old. Not to be so critical as to assume every numerical aspect must be factual in the film, but it is an interesting notion to ponder nonetheless.

Amélie’s placement in genre has been argued for both as a romantic comedy, and as a fantasy. I don’t see why it cannot be both? It is a film that follows a more fantastical, comedic path, with romance entering as a sub-genre to complete the film, full circle. It is a movie of cinema achievement in all aspects: directing, cinematography, acting, lighting, sound, location, and dialogue. Amélie is a movie that is timeless, and can and will be enjoyed by many followers in the coming decades that proceed it. It’s a modern masterpiece.