Amélie


Title: Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain "The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain"
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Starring: Audrey Tautou
Language: French

This kind of films isn't what usually attracts me, but the hype of it, and especially discovering "Yann Tiersen" is the composer, motivated me to see it. The film is a dreamy depiction of Paris, the film centers about the life of "Amélie", a waitress who tries to improve people's lives while dealing with her feelings of isolation and her wild imagination. While if we carefully examined the film, we'd find the content rather shallow and simple. What make this film a treat to watch are the brilliant direction and imagery of "Jean-Pierre Jeunet", and the grandeur of the soundtrack composed by "Yann Tiersen".

The film delivers when it comes to the imagery. We will enjoy watching it as it moves from scene to scene, pointing the characters of the film and their feelings, especially "Amélie". I liked how "Jeunet" made the silliest scenes seem beautiful. The switch between imagination and reality in this film is great. "Jeunet" brought us a charming visual film. It's like eating really delicious pastry and ending it with a smile. He also manages well to capture the allure of Paris and "Montmartre", the neighborhood where most the events take place. The script wasn't made serious, but light hearted. Something that will easily make this film a pleasant experience to watch.

"Yann Tiersen" is simply brilliant. Those who have me on their list would have noticed how much I admire him. The piano/accordion driven music would put a silly smile on your face then make you feel sad. The film is a success for two things, the visual representation and the music of "Yann". Tracks like "Le Banquet" made me love the accordion, something I didn't before. "Comptine d'un Autre été" is one of the best piano pieces I heard from a long time, and one of the most passionate. If by any chance someone didn't like the film, then I am sure he/she would love the music, and would demand more of "Yann". The music and the film have such harmony…

Paris is a beautiful city, I won't deny it, I live in it, I pass by most of the film locations each day, but this is not the real Paris. We have a dreamy and imaginary image of what people would want Paris to be. This is one of the reasons the film gained huge success, most people one the "film Paris", and not the real Paris. In the film, it's spotlessly clean, now minorities, and in the metro it's a pleasant experience. The metro isn't a pleasant experience, its war! I pass by each station filmed practically in a daily manner, it is not that elegant. The scenario, if we examined it forgetting the visuals and music, would find some really weird and completely pointless parts that I think ruins the films aesthetics. Why would someone want to know how many people are having an orgasm at the same moment? The scene is funny, but among others, I saw it pointless and damaging the whole picture.

I smiled after the film. It was charming, light-hearted, and lovely. This is one of those films who we'd enjoy watching after a fatiguing day. It doesn't take itself seriously. While the film basically gained universal acclaim, it's not one of the greatest French films as some people might imagine. It's nice, and I'd say worth the time, but French cinema has much more to offer. But, if you have a chance to watch it, I suggest you do.

Yann Tierson

Comments

  1. T. Bawden27 November 2009 at 11:49

    I'm almost offended by this; it seems that so much emphasis has been placed upon accuracy here that the intention of the film has been forgotten.

    The amount of time and money actually spent cleaning the streets, particularly the filthy Parisian subways are fairly easy to read about and whilst this does lend an unrealistic representation of the city, thats the whole point.

    This is not a heavy film by any stretch of the imagination, and doesn't require a huge amount of thought to appreciate. Likewise, its not some cliché of Romance either, its beautiful in its simple idyllic notions, giving us a glimpse of life through Amélie's innocent eyes and it is here that they succeed. This is film is beautiful in its use of imagery and its heartfelt, warming representation of the world, and that is what should be cherished.

    4/5

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