REVIEW: DVD Release: Amelie

Film: Amelie
Release date: 15th April 2002
Certificate: 15
Running time: 116 mins
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Dominique Pinon,
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD
Country: France

Rejected by the Cannes Film Festival for being “uninteresting,” but welcomed by the hearts of the French and Francophile alike, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie is a rare exception to the rulebook of foreign cinema. Despite the original setback, the whimsical story of a lonely Parisian waitress has gone on to be nominated for five academy awards and won the Cesar for Best Film.

A departure from Jeunet’s cannibalistic black comedy Delicatessen, Amelie details the life of shy waitress, Amelie Poulain (Tautou), who, rather than drunkenly gallivanting about town every weekend like most girls her age, prefers a simpler existence filled with simple pleasures, such as skimming stones, immersing her hands into sacks of grain and cracking the crust of her crème brulee.

In shock from the death of Princess Diana, Amelie inadvertently discovers a childhood box of treasures belonging to her apartment’s previous tenant and attempts to return it to the original owner. Glowing from her good deed of the day, she is inspired to carry out unselfish acts for family, friends and even strangers. These include the exploits of a garden gnome to awaken her father’s inner globetrotter, seeing for the blind, and an act of revenge towards the local fruit seller causing him to literally go bananas.

Isolated from a young age due to a wrongly diagnosed heart defect, Amelie feels comfortable within her sheltered life yet due to the superhuman responsibility undertaken, she begins to desire the love and friendship of another. However, unbeknownst to Amelie, as she watches the world from the outside looking in, a kindred spirit is observing her actions. Known as ‘the glass man’ due to his brittle bones, Amelie befriends the wise and short fused Mr Dufayel who has painted Renoir’s famous work ‘Le Déjeuner Des Canotiers’ on multiple occasions, yet is never satisfied with the end result. Through his dedication to painting the image perfectly and their own philosophical discussions about the lives of it’s inhabitants, Amelie begins to reassess her life, and gain the courage to speak to quirky photo booth rejects collector, Nino…


With his previous outings containing darker elements, Jeunet’s Amelie is a refreshing take on love, life and friendship, leaving the film to be difficult to label; an aspect that probably contributed to the reasons it wasn’t allowed to enter the Cannes Film Festival. However, this is exactly what makes the film charming and endearing without the sugar coating often added to plots containing elements of romance.

Whilst, to some, the lead character may seem perfect on paper, the combination of Jeunet’s direction and Tautou’s performance provides an honest portrayal of an introvert with the character’s subtle cracks visible to the audience. Audrey Tautou’s quietly moving performance transforms Amelie into someone who is relatable to audiences despite the great lengths she goes to commit acts of kindness for others.

Narrated by the haunting piano of Yann Tierson, the lead character’s loneliness is felt even when surrounded by large groups of people, whereas in contrast, the happier aspects of the soundtrack are what some may perceive as francophone music adhering almost to a stereotype.

Jeunet’s vision of Amelie’s world is dominated by the colours green and red that, although at first puzzling, creates a unique trademark aesthetic that has since been imitated, most famously by the TV series Pushing Daisies. Not that this is a negative aspect of the film - in fact, the effect is quite the opposite, and separates Amelie’s home from the trite tourist hubbub so often associated and portrayed in Parisian set films.


Whilst being quietly and at times daringly comic, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie is a film of poignancy, wit and intelligence, yet still keeps a certain amount of simplicity in tact without seeming too pretentious. A film that will have you re-evaluating your own life and relationships, Amelie will be with you long after the end credits have rolled. SR

REVIEW: DVD Release: Amelie

Film: Amelie
Release date: 15th April 2002
Certificate: 15
Running time: 116 mins
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Dominique Pinon,
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD
Country: France

After a so-so Hollywood detour with Alien: Resurrection, Jean-Pierre Jeunet regained the favour won with such visionary works as Delicatessen and The City Of Lost Children, with this worldwide smash hit.

Amelie Poulain lives a solitary and sheltered childhood with few friends for company. She is educated at home whilst her father works as a doctor, and has precious little time for his only child.

Her mother dies when she is very young and, as a result of her lonely surroundings, Amelie begins to retreat more and more into her own mind for solace, where she spends most of her time in a dream world instead of facing the reality around her.

Years later, in her early twenties, Amelie moves to Paris and starts working as a waitress at the Two Windmills Café. The adult Amelie is an imaginative but introverted young woman, who lives a quiet and isolated life.

After a string of coincidences lead her to find a box hidden in her apartment, she develops an insatiable desire to help others. Due to her introverted nature, she chooses not to help people openly; instead she sets up intricate plans and trails and watches from a distance as they are touched by her actions. But when Amelie finds she is falling in love, she realises that the hardest person to help is herself…


There is more than a touch of fairytale to this charming story, even down to Jeunet’s picturesque portrayal of the city of Paris. But the main credit has to go to Audrey Tautou, who makes the character of Amelie completely her own, depicting the contrastingly innocent and mischievous nature of Amelie perfectly. With this film, she shot to fame not just in France but worldwide, and deservedly so. Given her career and performances since, it seems this role was tailor made, with the depth of perception she brought.

Although the story itself is a fairly simple one, which anybody can relate to and understand, and it is told eloquently and imaginatively. The side storylines of the characters in Amelie’s life – her work colleagues, parents and neighbours – often add comic value without taking away from the focus of the tale. Instead, they provide us with a backdrop to Amelie’s ventures; first as she goes about trying to improve other people’s lives, and later as she turns to seducing one man in particular (Mathieu Kassovitz) in order to enhance her own.

The filmmakers encourage us to pay attention to detail, as it reveals people’s small quirks and habits, which generally go unnoticed by society. Amelie is a firm believer in life’s small pleasures, and she encourages the audience to consider those little things in our life that brighten up our day. As each of the main characters is introduced, the narrative voice-over provides us with titbits of information about the character’s personality, including their ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’, which help in turn to give us a sense of intimacy, as we begin to understand how these people work. It is that beauty in the small details, even though it may not always be visible to the naked eye that makes this film so precious.

A combination of comedy genius, witty one-liners (“She liked to spread her legs, but only on silk”), a hint of fantasy and a touching sentiment, make this a rare success in the blending of comedy and romance.


Whimsical and life affirming, Amelie is a unique experience which shouldn’t be missed. A rare movie gem. EW