Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie,
(original French title Le Fabuleux
Destin d'Amélie Poulain) is a film that blends together fantasy and
reality. The film follows
Amélie, the main character, as she goes about her everyday routine in the
charming city of Paris. The
mise-en-scene of the film illustrates the dramatic changes Amélie brings to certain
individuals. Through its
unconventional, quirky depiction of characters, pervasive non-diegetic sound,
and unusual camera work, Amélie completely engages the audience
with its dream-like visuals. With
his precise and distinct vignettes, fantastical use of color, and detailed and
enhancing set, Jeunet encourages the audience to give more meaning to the
seemingly insignificant things in life.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90 %
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| Image from http://scarebearwendy.blogspot.com/2009/11/fabulous-destiny-of-Amélie-poulain.html |
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| Screen Shot Image |
Art: Props
Throughout the film, Jeunet
uses interesting props to demonstrate that the seemingly insignificant things
in life are what matter.
This tin box was found
behind a loose tile in her bathroom. It contains childhood artifacts belonging
to a tenant that lived in Amélie’s apartment before her. She makes it her
mission to return the box to her owner. When she does this, she changes this
stranger’s life forever.
This cute little gnome
played a quirky role in the film. Amélie
gave the gnome to her flight attendant friend who took pictures of the gnome at
various famous sites all around the world. Her friend sent the pictures anonymously to Amélie’s father,
allowing him to travel vicariously through the gnome.
Amélie constructs a letter
for her concierge Mrs. Wellss.
After being completely heartbroken over her husband’s discrepancies,
Mrs. Wells is overjoyed when she receives this love letter. Amélie pretends the letter got lost in
the mail, but in reality she was the one to send it.
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| All Images are Screen Shots |
Design: Saturated Color
Amélie is a film of
saturated colors, specifically green and red. The entire movie is like a
beautiful picture book with its picturesque imagery and vibrant color
palette. The character’s costumes
and the film’s set all blend together making it a very cool and interesting
reality. Because the film is
predominately red in color, it inspired me to find pictures of red dominated
interiors. Take a look:
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| All 4 Images from Alkemie.blogspot.com |
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| Image from Jubella.com |
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| Image from thedecorologist.com |
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| Image from elledecor.com |
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| Image from apartmenttherapy.com |
My Likes:
While researching, I came across
a really cute and unique blog, “Inspired by Amélie.” This blog is devoted to encouraging
bloggers to discover the small details in life that sometimes go unnoticed, but
are present in the film. The blog
creates several challenges, such as creating letters like Amélie’s love letter
in the film. By participating in
these activities, people are extending Jeunet’s message to the greater
community that lies beyond the reality of the film.
