Le Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain
Since this past April, friends had been recommending that I see Le Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain, commonly known as Amelie. I had blown off most of my chances to see it until this week when, while at Blockbuster, I decided to sit down and give it a chance.
The movie begins with a voice-over done by the narrator, and in it we are exposed to the main character of the movie: Amelie. A brief background of her life is given, presenting us with her emotional basis for the movie. We find that the movie is set in Paris, France, and that Amelie is an only child. Her mother died when she was young, and now that she is older, she leads life independently and in an introverted fashion. The story takes off from there, and as I do not want to ruin any of the plot, I will cease from revealing any more of it. It is mostly taken from true stories that Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director and writer of the film, either experienced or was told about. This gives the plot a very realistic sense to it, and makes it excel.
Visually the movie is stunning, and deserves every cinematography award it either won or was nominated for. This is the type of movie that makes me love movies and love creating them myself. The colours in it are outstanding; the colour-correction done in post was well worth every penny that was payed. Each shot is beautiful and different. They are extremely well thought out and executed. I can only wish to make a movie with cinematography such as Amelie.
To be honest, I did not pay much attention to the soundtrack. The only thing I remember about it is that it sounded very French. This is neither a good nor a bad thing - merely an observation. In subsequent viewins, I will make sure to listen for it.
The acting is right on. Audrey Tautou does a perfect job in her role, and I will definitely be seeing the other movie I know she is in, Un long dimanche de fian�ailles. Mathieu Kassovitz and Serge Merlin give other notable performances.
All in all, I must say that Amelie is the best movie I have seen in a good long time. I highly recommend it to everyone, no matter your taste in film, as it is just that good.