Amelie

Rummaging through my harddrive this afternoon I came across a whole bunch of movie reviews I wrote for a staff magazine at my old job. I thought, what the hell, I'll pop them on here and take up some space, besides, the internet has plenty of space.

Amelie shows her stealth by hiding behind a pane of glass

Trying to think of a movie to review for this issue I looked thru my DVD collection to find my favourite French movie. I didn’t have to go far (everything of mine is in alphabetical order) Amelie was very close to the top of the pile. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Alien Resurrection, A Very Long Engagement) the feel-good French flick was nominated a few Oscars ago for Best Foreign Film (yes, it has subtitles) and Best Actress. It was the movie that bought back the French accordion (was it ever not in?).
Amelie Poulain lives Paris in a small apartment by herself. She is an introvert with a very extroverted imagination. The narrator introduces us to the people around her with their likes and dislikes. Her mother, Amandine, who has shaky nerves, dislikes puckered fingers from being in the bath too long and one of her friends’ cats like listening to children’s stories.
Amelie is a waitress at the Two Windmills Café along with Georgette, a hypochondriac in charge of the cigarette counter, Suzanne, an ex-circus performer and Gina, granddaughter of a healer. While in her bathroom one night she comes across a small metal box filled with a young boy’s childhood treasures. She sets out to find the box’s owner to return it to him. Her neighbour, Raymond Dufayel, who paints Renoir’s ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’ once a year and won’t go outside, puts her on the right path. Determined to be up there with Mother Teresa for going good, she sometimes sways from her goal to occasionally pull a few pranks on a not-so-nice grocer Mr. Collignon. Sneaking into his apartment she swaps his toothpaste for foot cream, replaces his slippers with ones that are a size too small.
Then there’s Nino Quincampoix (Mathieu Kassovitz) who used to collect photos of footprints in cement and tape recordings of unusual laughs, now he collects torn, discarded photos at photo booths and sticks them back together in an album. He loses the album and in a bizarre chain of events he finally meets up with our girl, Amelie. ‘Amelie’ or ‘Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain’ is an absolutely delightfully, fantastic film, perfect for spring viewing. Full of life, vibrant colour, and handy hints to annoy nasty neighbours, Jeunet has done a marvelous job putting this gem together. It’s quirky sequences and unique characters almost knocked ‘Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’ off my ‘Best.Movie.Ever’ pedestal. (Don’t worry Indie, you’re safe for a while longer).
Its two-hour length seems to fly by, I wish it were longer! Enjoy with a big mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and a yummy Crème Brulee.