AMELIE
Starring:
Audrey Tautou and Mathieu Kassovitz
Director: Jean Pierre Jeunet
Running Time: 120 mins
Certificate: 15
Available to buy on DVD 15th April
Amelie (Tautou) didn't have a normal childhood. Her father was a doctor and after dealing with people all day, he would come home and keep himself to himself. He would only ever speak to Amelie at her three monthly medical exam. Here, Amelie would get so excited to actually talk to her father that when he examined her, her heart would be beating very fast. Thinking she had a heart problem, she was kept home from school and taught by her schoolmistress mother, until she was killed in a bizarre church accident. With all this time at home and no interaction with any other children, Amelie became a dreamer, inventing friends and realities to keep herself from been lonely. Seven years after mother's death she moved to Paris and became a waitress, still keeping herself to herself and still dreaming. This all changed in September 1997, when upon hearing that Princess Diana had been killed in a tragic road accident, she dropped the top of her shampoo bottle. The round top rolled to the wall and broke off a tile, revealing a secret hiding place. In this place was an old tin box, holding the precious childhood processions of a mystery man. Amelie decided to make it her goal to find the owner of the box and bring a little happiness back into his life. Looking around, she realised that she could also help many other people with their problems, all this time forgetting about her own.
From director Jean Pierre Jeunet (The Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children and Alien Resurrection) comes a delightful movie about how one person can affect so many others. Yes it is French, yes it has subtitles, but this does not matter when the movie is this good. Full of quirky, off the wall humour, the film is just a joy to watch. Seeing Amelie's innocent view of the world unfold on screen is both entertaining and extremely funny. A narrator, who tells you about Amelie's and all the other character's backgrounds, ushers the movie along. This works very well, as the characters themselves has very little dialogue. This doesn't mean the performances are limited, the extremely beautiful Audrey Tautou, who plays Amelie, can express more in a look towards camera than many lesser performers can do with a whole monologue. This is a must see movie and a refreshing change from the standard Hollywood fair or the usual British movie involving some type of criminal element. Fresh, very funny, charming and quite possibly the best 'Feel-good' movie to come along is a very long time.
Audio commentary by director Jean Pierre Jeunet, Dolby Digital 5.1, Interactive menu & Scene access
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