Amelie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, 2001)

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

France

120 min, color, French (English subtitles)

What an excellent film! Although Jeunet's Delicatessen and City of Lost Children are easily counted among my favorite films, his more recent Alien Resurrection left a blot that had to be erased. With some trepidation, I went to see Amélie unaware of the reviews it had been garnering. What a pleasant surprise! This film is so light-hearted and good-natured that is easy to simply sit and relish it for the full two hours without even realizing that the director has a statement to make beyond entertainment.

Although it shares much of its surrealistic atmosphere with the two illustrious predecessors, Amélie has none of their dark undertones. Through creative use of filters, camera positioning and motion, and (I think a great deal of) post-processing, Jeunet has crafted a beautiful universe where small chance events create destinies that the characters seek to overcome. Less bizarre, but equally improbable, Parisians go about their lives, indulging in quirky hobbies and meddling fantasies until the mettlesome fantasy of one Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) changes their lives.

The film opens with the (very fast) depiction of Amélie's childhood. The frenzy of images, funny commentary and ingenious editing convey the unique upbringing of the protagonist and set the stage for her chance encounter with the box that sets her on the quest to help others. During her "journeys," she comes across one Nino Quincampoix (Mathieu Kassovitz), whose strange hobby involves collecting and pasting together photos that people discard at the instant-photo machines. She falls for what appears to be a fellow romantic but cannot bring herself to let him know about it for fear of encountering no reciprocal feelings. While she "teaches" others to live life without such fear, she fails to recognize the obvious discrepancy in her own existence.

Amélie is really a story about being afraid to take chances. Everyone in this surrealist world, including the protagonist, prefer their drab existence, which they fill with various sundry distractions, to taking a chance, a leap of faith, toward the fulfillment of their dreams. Thus, Amélie's father, Raphaël Poulain (Rufus) would rather mop around his house, forever dusting the plastic dwarf and lamenting the untimely passing of his wife, than travel the world as they had once planned in their youth. Similarly, Joseph (Dominique Pinon) is terminally afraid that the woman he loves will be unfaithful to him. Of course, his morbid jealousy makes this a self-fulfilling prophecy as he drives two of them completely nuts by his obsessions. Amélie herself would rather spend her waking hours busily helping others regain their lost balance than take the plunge herself and expose her vulnerability to Nino. It takes another former zombie, the "glass-man" painter, to force her to open up and live up to her own pretensions. What would love be if there weren't the risk of rejection?

The masterful directing by Jeunet finds a worthy complement in the excellent acting by Audrey Tautou, who manages to portray the ingenuous Amélie with great humor and considerable skill. In fact, all the actors deliver such convincing performances that one might find oneself accepting the surreal Parisians as a matter of fact. Excellent film that will enliven even the most sagging spirits. A must see.

November 16, 2001