Amelie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain)

Initial Reaction: *big smile*

Watching the movie Amelie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain) is similar to strolling along a bright sunny beach with a group of best friends while eating an ice cream cone and belly-laughing at the funniest joke you’ve ever heard. Or eating Thanksgiving dinner after your team has won the football game and you know they’re serving your favorite dessert. Or skipping through a field of daisies holding hands with the Easter bunny and singing like Julie Andrews. In any case, whatever your cup of tea may be, Amelie is thoroughly delightful and smile-inducing from start to finish.

The main character is Amelie Poulain, our heroine. She is a shy, socially-awkward young woman who is nevertheless incredibly sweet. Her life consists of her job as a waitress, visiting her father, observing the people around her intently, and dreaming of the many fantastic possibilities that the world holds. Amelie is completely captivating, and fascinates the audience with her childlike aura and unique approach to life.

In most ways her life is very ordinary, but all this changes when she stumbles across an old tin filled with children’s treasures in her apartment. When she realizes it belonged to a little boy who must have lived there years ago, she is overcome with a desire to return the treasures to their owner. She imagines the wonderful moment when he finds it, and thrills herself with the idea that she might make someone’s life better. After some detective work to find the man (now middle-aged) it belonged to, she is able to return the tin, and she is pleased with his reaction to being reunited with this long-misplaced piece of his past. At this crucial point, Amelie decides that she will devote herself to helping people around her. The scenarios that follow are sweet, hilarious, and surprising as she—for better or worse—gets involved in people’s lives to help, as well as punish those that steal happiness!

We follow our beloved heroine through all these escapades, and incidentally, through a developing romance as well. In a twist of fate, she manages to meet someone just as wonderfully odd as herself, but because she doesn’t really know how to interact with people, she gets pretty darn creative in trying to woo him. The whole thing is unbelievably funny and sweet, and she makes some interesting friends that help her along the way.

Rating: 20

This movie, as you might have guessed, is a French film. I will recommend (as I always do) getting the version with English subtitles. In my opinion, it takes so much away from the movie when you are unable to hear the characters’ true voices. And these characters are worth every second of screen time they have. Each one is perfect in his or her role. Some that stand out are Audrey Tautou (Amelie), Rufus (Raphael Poulain), and Isabelle Nanty (Georgette). The director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, did an excellent job. The plot moved smoothly, but still kept me thoroughly involved. There were an incredible amount of creative touches that made the movie complete and unique, a work of art. I can’t rave enough about this movie. If you are currently a member of TMBC and haven’t yet seen it, don’t see it without me! ;)

Excuse me, Partical Man, for using your “Iconic Lines” section, but I couldn’t resist.

Iconic Lines: “If Amélie chooses to live in a dream-world and remain an introverted young woman, she has every right to mess up her life!”

“With a prompter in every cellar window whispering comebacks, shy people would have the last laugh.”