Film Review: Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, 2001)

Among casual filmgoers in late 1990s French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet was known mostly as one of the persons responsible for the premature death of the original Alien film series. More hardcore cinephiles knew him as the author of Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children, films firmly entrenched in the realm of art cinema. Soon afterwards Jeunet completely changed his general reputation by 2001 romantic comedy Amélie, which is not his commercially successful film, but also one of the most beloved works of 21st Century French cinema.

Protagonist, played by Audrey Tatou, is Amélie Poulain, young waitress who lives in Parisian neighbourhood of Montmartre. Her parents were eccentric and, as result, she grew up to become socially awkward. When she accidentally finds box of memorabilia in her apartment, she decides to find its owner. After succeeding in her mission, she begins secretly manipulating their neighbours and acquaintances in a effort to solve their problems and improve their lives. While successful in bringing happiness to others, Amélie isn’t so in improving her life, at least before she gathers courage and energy to approach Nino Quincampox (played by Matthieu Kassovitz), young woman to whom she is attracted.

Amélie was greeted with hostility by snobbish critics and members of French cultural elite that had hailed Jenuet’s previous film. This, among other things, reflected at 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where it was rejected entry over allegedly not having standards high enough for such prestigious events. This mini-scandal was in sharp contrast with opinion of French public, that turned the film into major box office hit, as well as politicians like president Jacques Chirac and prime minister Lionel Jospin who both lauded the film, that would ultimately become French candidate for Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Success of Amélie can be best explained with its light touch and Jeunet’s successful blend of romantic comedy cliches with his very personal style. Film benefits a lot from likeable Parisian locations as well as use of elements of magical realism. The cast is superb, especially Audrey Tatou who delivers a lot of charm and shows talent in her breakout role. On the other hand, Amélie is far from perfect, mainly because Jeunet at times seems to be too much in love with his films and maintains certain shots and scenes too long, making running time a little bit too excessive. His film nevertheless deserved success and can be recommended to the viewers who, from time to time, require something on screen that would make them smile.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo

Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax y
Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7