Amelie

Amelie

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Amelie” is a light-hearted fantasy film that can be considered as a candy. The main character of this movie is a young woman who has had a sad childhood but now she brings hope to the needy and happiness to herself. It makes you feel good when you watch it, and even after you think about it later, it still brings smile on your face.

Audrey Tautou plays the title role she is a little girl who doesn’t get any affection from her father (who happens to be doctor) except during medical check-ups where he touches only those parts of her body which cause her heart rate to increase so much that he thinks she must have some kind illness or something wrong with her health altogether. She dies when she jumps off Notre Dame cathedral towers committing successful suicide attempt at least according to what they say happened there while telling us bits about the plot for this movie.

As an adult Amelie becomes lonelier than ever before working as waitress in small café located around street corner somewhere in Parisian neighborhood far away from tourist paths. And then one day everything changes after death announcement regarding Lady Di’s demise shocks entire world including our protagonist who drops bottle cap because of such news which then causes brick fall out from wall outside her apartment revealing hidden behind layers of years rusty old tin box containing boy’s treasures buried long time ago into its hiding place by some other kid living here many moons back gone missing forgotten vanished without trace forevermore never seen again no matter how hard we try searching him down through telephone books archives newspapers microfilms etcetera.

The first time I got wind of “Amelie” was back at last year’s Cannes Film Festival where it wasn’t selected among Official Competition entries causing quite stir among critics and audiences alike with latter showing their appreciation more loudly than former silent protestations against decision makers’ lack seriousness given subject matter presented within said picture. It went on to win audience awards at Edinburgh, Toronto Chicago film festivals; currently IMDb ranks it as 54th best all time movie ever made but still hasn’t opened US yet.

I don’t know about “Amelie” being ranked higher than either Coen brothers’ masterpiece or silent era comedy classic starring Buster Keaton because those two works are such great examples of what cinema can do when done right by talented individuals who truly understand medium’s potential for greatness as an art form but what this ranking does represent is immediate gratification received from watching movie that exudes nothing else but optimism combined with fun wrapped up in visual splendor set against backdrop like Paris where even rain won’t dampen one’s spirits let alone put them out altogether since everything looks so beautiful even during bad weather conditions anyway.

After finding the box and making its owner happy, Amelie begins to do other good deeds: for example, painting a word picture of a crowded street for a blind person and pretending to discover long-lost love letters to her concierge from her dead husband, who probably didn’t send her anything more than a lottery ticket. Then she meets Nino (director Mathieu Kassovitz), who works unenthusiastically in a pornography store and cares only about his hobby collecting people’s discarded pictures from train-station photo booths and turning them into failed-expression collages.

She likes him so much that one day when she sees him at her cafe, she dissolves. Literally. Into water. She wants him, but some pixie quirk prevents her from going about anything directly; success is not fulfilling unless it is accidental. There must be times when he wonders if he is being blessed or stalked.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet makes films of astonishing visual invention but impenetrable narrative (“Delicatessen,” “The City of Lost Children”). He did Hollywood’s “Alien: Resurrection” (1997) by putting it, I wrote, “in what looks like a large empty hanger filled with prefabricated steel warehouse parts.” With “Amelie,” he has broken free of rust and clutter and made a movie so airy and bright, it seems cured.

The film contains great individual shots and ideas; one of the best comes when Amelie stands high on the terrace of Montmartre and wonders how many people in Paris are having orgasms at this exact moment 15, we see, in a quick montage of comic blisses. It is this innocent sequence plus an equally harmless childbirth scene that caused the ratings board to give it an undeserved R (in Norway it was approved for everyone over 11).

It is so hard to make a nimble, charming comedy. So hard to get the tone right and find actors who embody charm instead of merely impersonating it. It takes such confidence to dance on the tightrope of whimsy. “Amelie” takes those chances, and gets away with them.

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