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Released in 2001, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain), or Amélie, as it is known in the English-speaking world, is a quirky French romantic comedy, or a modern fairy tale, starring Audrey Tautou. It draws on the attractions of the touristic parts of Paris (Montmartre) in which most of it takes place, in a somewhat idealized depiction of contemporary Parisian life.
The film is also known for its creative use of computer-generated imagery.
The film was originally released in France in April, 2001. It was released in Britain in October of that year, and in the USA in November. The film's American distributor is Miramax.
Alternate titles
- In English-speaking countries, the film was officially released as Amélie from Montmartre. However, this rather tongue-twisting title was rarely used in publicity, and the film became known simply as Amélie.
Cast and crew
Co-written with Guillaume Laurant by its director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the film stars:
Synopsis
Amélie is the story about a girl who grows up isolated from other children. Her mother dies when she is young. Her father, a doctor, never hugs her. He only touches her to check on her heart, and this rare thrill causes her heart to race. As a result, her father believes she has a heart condition and keeps her away from other children while she grows up. Left to amuse herself, she develops an unusually active imagination.
Amélie grows up and becomes a waitress in a small Montmartre café run by a former circus performer. By age 22, life for Amélie is simple. She enjoys small pleasures like cracking crème brûlées with a teaspoon, going for walks in the Paris sunshine observing people, skipping stones across St. Martin's Canal, and letting her imagination roam free. One day, behind a loose bathroom tile she finds an old metal box of childhood memorabilia hidden by a boy who lived in her apartment decades past. She resolves to track down the now-grownup man who put it there and return it to him. If she finds him and it makes him glad, she will devote her life to goodness; if not, too bad.
After a bit of detective work she tracks him down—Bretodeau (not Bredoteau)—and places the box in a phone booth. When he passes by, she rings the number to get him into the booth. He opens the box and has an epiphany as long-forgotten childhood memories come flooding back. She trails him to a nearby bar and observes him but does not reveal herself. When she sees the positive effect she had on him, she resolves from that moment on to do good in the life of other people, including her father, her co-workers, the concierge of her building, and Lucien, the boy who works at the neighborhood vegetable stand.
But while she's looking after others, who's looking after Amélie?
Criticism
The film was a critical and commercial success, but it was attacked by critics such as Serge Kaganski of les Inrockuptibles for its depiction of a largely unrealistic and picturesque vision of contemporary French society, a postcard universe of a bygone France with few people from ethnic minorities — some kind of latent lepénisme. [1] (http://www.chez.com/dubreucq/amelie/presse/presse.html#Lib%E93) Montmartre is an ethnically diverse area that includes many Afro-French residents, none of whom are visible in the film. If the director was trying to create an idyllic vision of a perfect Paris, the critics argued, he seemed to think that it was necessary to remove all black people from the scene in order to do so.
Others, such as David Martin-Castelnau and Guillaume Bigot, contended that such criticism was unwarranted and was rather the sign of a sick contempt of some of the "elite" for the common people represented in the movie. [2] (http://www.chez.com/dubreucq/amelie/presse/presse.html#Lib%E92) Jean-Pierre Jeunet responded to the criticisms by pointing out that Jamel Debbouze, who plays Lucien, is of North African origin.
Awards
The film was a critical and box office success, gaining wide play internationally as well. It was nominated for five Academy Awards:
In 2002, in France, it won the César Award for:
The film has been selected by the New York Times as one of the "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made."
Trivia
- The tagline was "She'll change your life..." (in French, "Elle va te changer la vie...").
- Jeunet originally wrote the role of Amélie for the British actress Emily Watson; in the original draft, Amélie's father was an Englishman living in London. However, Watson's French was not strong, and when she became unavailable to shoot the film, owing to a conflict with the filming of Gosford Park, Jeunet rewrote the screenplay for a French actress. Audrey Tautou was the first actress he auditioned.
Related topics
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