Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writers:

Guillaume Laurant (scenario) and
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (scenario) ...

Release Date:

25 April 2001 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

One person can change your life forever.

Plot:

Amelie, an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, decides to help those around her and along the way, discovers love.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Waitress | Garden Gnome | Happiness | Hypochondriac

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 51 wins & 46 nominations

Cast

Audrey Tautou	...	Amélie Poulain
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Nino Quincampoix
Rufus	...	Raphaël Poulain
Lorella Cravotta	...	Amandine Poulain
Serge Merlin	...	Raymond Dufayel
Jamel Debbouze	...	Lucien
Clotilde Mollet	...	Gina
Claire Maurier	...	Madame Suzanne - la patronne du café
Isabelle Nanty	...	Georgette
Dominique Pinon	...	Joseph
Artus de Penguern	...	Hipolito
Yolande Moreau	...	Madeleine Wallace
Urbain Cancelier	...	Collignon
Maurice Bénichou	...	Dominique Bretodeau
Michel Robin	...	Mr. Collignon

Also Known As:

Amélie (France) (working title) (International: English title) (USA)
Amelie (Australia) (UK)
Amélie des Abbesses (France) (working title)
Amelie from Montmartre (International: English title)
Amelie of Montmartre (International: English title) (festival title)
Die fabelhafte Welt der Amelie (Germany)
The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain (USA) (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content.

Runtime:

122 min | France:129 min

Country:

France | Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White | Color (Duboicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Malaysia:18PL | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Hungary:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A)

Filming Locations:

Abbesses, Paris 18, Paris, France

Company:

Claudie Ossard Productions

Trivia:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet originally wanted Michael Nyman to score the film, but was unable to get him. Someone then gave Jeunet a CD by 'Yann Tiersen (I)', who composes in a similar minimalist style, but with an extremely quirky, eclectic mix of instruments. Jeunet fell in love with the music and scored the film largely with existing pieces by Tiersen, for which he bought the rights. In addition, Tiersen wrote an original main theme, "La Valse d'Amelie," which was recorded in numerous variations and used throughout the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time Amélie goes to cause mischief in the grocer's apartment, there is a shot of her hand unlocking the door. The sleeve of her shirt in that shot is different from that of the shirt she is wearing inside.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Les poupées russes (2005)

Soundtrack:

La Noyée

A hilarious, warm movie in a world all its own.

Not a lot of movies create their own sort of universe. Some that come to mind include "The Wizard of Oz", "American Beauty" and "Vertigo." These movies are so distinct and original that they seem to have created there own spot in the universe, untouchable by anything else. You can add "le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" to that list.

Here is a film so original, so funny, and so warm that it left me with smiling for hours and the people on the sidewalk thinking I was crazy. Yes it is heart warming, but not in the phony Wal-Mart commercial sense; but in the sense of how good you feel when laughing with a dear, dear friend.

The film tells the story of French waitress Amélie (Audrey Tautou.) She is in her early twenties, lead a gloomy childhood and is missing something in her life until hearing of the Death of Princess Diana causes her to drop the cap of a bottle which rolls along the floor and dislodges a tile on her bathroom wall. What she finds behind that tile leads her to the decision that she is going to do what she can to make the people around her happier by whatever means possible.

Amélie goes about this with great success. One particularly wonderful scene shows Amélie helping a blind man across the street and rapidly describing what's happening around them to give him a picture of the world he doesn't get to see. This is only one in a mountain of selfless deeds she does to make people happy.

As she continues enriching the lives around her, Amélie becomes challenged with the fact that if she only helps others anonymously, she may live her life alone and without the happiness she brings others.

Amélie's conflict is what rounds out the picture and makes it complete. The movie is deep and takes Amélie's inner struggle seriously, but it's never heavy. Brilliantly hilarious, "Amélie" has a wonderfully funny script and is brought to life in visual splendor by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Alien: Resurrection", of all things) and has at its center Audrey Tatou giving one of the warmest, most sincere and funniest performances you'll see this year.

I can't tell you how much I love this movie. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps and I can't wait to see it again. SEE IT IN THE THEATRE IF YOU CAN! This may be the year's best picture and is not to be missed.