Amelie (DVD)

* Please note: This review originally appeared on www.dooyoo.co.uk under my dooyoo alias dlb74 *

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When Amélie was released in the U.K. on October 5th 2001, (following it's U.K. debut at the Edinburgh Film Festival on August 12th 2001) it became one of the most successful foreign language films on general release. This was very surprising given that it was released in its native French ...
...always found personally, having seen the film something in the region of three times on the big screen was that it couldn't have been released at a better time. By this, I'm not referring to any clever marketing ploys by the film studio - but something completely different altogether.

At a point when the terror attacks on 9/11 were still nightmarishly fresh in the minds of everyone in the world, the television was a barrage of frightening ... more

* Please note: This review originally appeared on www.dooyoo.co.uk under my dooyoo alias dlb74 *

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When Amélie was released in the U.K. on October 5th 2001, (following it's U.K. debut at the Edinburgh Film Festival on August 12th 2001) it became one of the most successful foreign language films on general release. This was very surprising given that it was released in its native French language and subtitled in English.

What I always found personally, having seen the film something in the region of three times on the big screen was that it couldn't have been released at a better time. By this, I'm not referring to any clever marketing ploys by the film studio - but something completely different altogether.

At a point when the terror attacks on 9/11 were still nightmarishly fresh in the minds of everyone in the world, the television was a barrage of frightening stories and images. Amélie came as a breath of fresh air and cinema audiences who went to see it were able to forget about the troubled world in which we live for a few hours - and actually get the feeling that there was still good in the world. For a film to convey this feeling at such a troubled point in history is nothing short of incredible.

What follows is a review of the (U.K. Region 2) 2 Disc DVD edition of Amélie released through Momentum. It is also available as a 1 Disc edition.

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Please note: The following section contains only basic story information that I have strived to keep as spoiler-free as possible whilst giving you, the reader an idea of the flavour of this wonderful movie.

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THE PLOT:

As a child, Amélie Poulain had something of a unusual childhood. Though the opening credits is accompanied by footage of Amélie as a child enjoying some simple little pleasures in a child's life - from such things peeling paper glue from her finger tip to spinning a coin.

We discover that Amelie's parents were a little different - with their strange ticks that had an influence on who she would become as an adult. Though both her parents love her dearly, her father, an ex-army doctor, is not a man who gives much in the way of physical contact - with the exception of a monthly medical check. The problem with this is that this rare moment of contact with her father makes Amelie's heart race - and makes him think that she has a heart condition.

As a result, Amélie is declared unfit for school and is taught at home by her schoolmistress mother. Amélie is forced to use her over-active imagination to keep herself happy - with many flights of fancy - such as LP records being made in a similar way to pancakes.

Amélie has one friend in her lonely childhood. Her goldfish, Blubber. Unfortunately, the family environment has made Blubber suicidal who has repeated attempts to jump out of his bowl and onto the floor. The fish's attempts to take his own life shatter the nerves of Amelie's mother - who decides that he must go. They take him to a river and release him. This is a genuinely touching scene as Amélie watches helplessly and heartbroken as we see Blubber beneath the surface of the water - before being lost among rain drops that have started to fall - almost reflecting Amelie's feeling of loss for him. Beautiful.

Following the death of Amelie's mother in a darkly comical freak accident at Notre Dame Cathedral, her father becomes a social recluse. He builds a miniature shrine for his dead wife in the garden in which to house her ashes.

After this point in the story, we see Amélie as an adult, living home and working at The Two Windmills café. In her life now, she is surrounded by more delightful and odd characters than you could shake a French stick at.

One fateful night, Amélie is shocked with the breaking news of the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed in Paris. This shock revelation leads to her finding a small hidden box full of bits and pieces hidden by a little boy forty years previous. Amélie then decides that she will try to find out who this personal treasure belongs to and intends to reunite him with it if at all possible. With this new mindset, Amélie takes it upon herself to help more people and right wrongs.

At weekends, Amélie visits her father and tries to persuade him to change his ways and travel - as it is something he has never done. Having had no luck in convincing him to escape the confines of the house, Amélie takes matters into her own hands. Temporarily stealing a garden gnome from the shrine to her mother, Amélie hatches a plan that involves a friend who is an air-hostess for whom she looks after her cat while she's away. The question is: will her plan work?

Her strange but compelling journey leads her unwittingly to falling for Nino, a strange young man who spends his spare time fishing under photo booths for discarded photos and putting them into a bizarre photo album. We also discover that his career choices are as strange as his hobbies as he works part-time at a sex shop and part-time as a skeleton on a ghost train ride at a fun fair! I'm not sure which job would be the most fun!

Amélie's father tells her upon one of her next visits to him that someone has stolen his garden gnome. Faking surprise at this revelation, Amélie asks him who could do such a thing… and why? Her father then brings out a letter he has received. It has a photo with it that shows the gnome apparently sight-seeing in some far off places such as Moscow! More of these mysterious letters are to follow…

With all her attempts to make others happy, will Amélie herself be blessed with the happiness that she has been missing her entire life?

The only way you will find out about the fabulous destiny of Amélie Poulain is by watching this beautiful fairy tale for adults. It is something that will warm the cockles of your heart… and if it doesn't… well, you might want to get a check-up with your doctor to make sure you have a heart at all!

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THE ACTING:

The acting in Amélie is absolutely outstanding. Audrey Tautou is charming as the Amélie and leaves you feeling transfixed at her simple beauty - with the most beautiful, big doe-eyes since Audrey Hepburn. This was the first film I had ever seen her in and couldn't help falling for her myself in some way. She is very well known now after having starred in The Da Vinci Code - but her talents as an actress are far more obvious in this film.

Every character is incredibly convincing and seems grounded in reality - no matter how odd they are.

What's really surprising is how understated the sense of humour is in the film. There are so many incredibly funny pieces of dialogue which run alongside the emotion element of the story seamlessly.

Joseph: "You're gorgeous when you blush. Like a wild flower."
Georgette: (Shaking her head) "It's my dyspepsia."

In other words, the script is nigh on perfect as it has everything you would want in a film such as this: humour, emotion and a sense of romance and love that we all must surely hope to find in our lives. This allows us to completely identify with the character of Amélie and what she must be feeling throughout her story.

There is such an amazing array of personalities on display in this film and you can't help but to want to know so much more about them. Not only where they came from but where they go and what they do once the end credits have finished rolling.

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THE SPECIAL EFFECTS:

There aren't many effects to speak of in Amélie - or at least very few that jump out at you as effects. Most of them are so incredibly subtle, the chances are you will never know that you just watched a special effect. Because of this, they never once take away an ounce of enjoyment from your viewing of the movie.

For example, Amélie has a habit of picking up flat stones when she sees them as one of her favourite pastimes is skimming stones on the Canal Saint-Martin. The problem with this is that Audrey Tautou was apparently not very good a skimming stones across the water, so the stones flitting across the canal are created with an incredibly subtle use of computer graphics wizardry.

Other effects are to convey Amélie's imagination and emotions at many points from her childhood to adult life. All of these are very subtle and some are very striking but beautiful (Amélie taking photographs of clouds as a child is a breathtaking example… I am not going to say any more on this scene. If you know the film, no doubt you will know the scene I am referring to… if you haven't seen the film, I feel quite sure you will love this scene).

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THE MUSIC:

The music in Amélie deserves a review all of its own. It really is that good. Yann Tiersen has created an absolutely beautiful aural masterpiece to accompany the onscreen imagery.

Comprised of a lot of incredibly relaxing piano pieces with some accordion accompaniment, the music is a perfect partner to this wonderful film. It's just one of those soundtracks that you can listen to and quite happily lie on your bed or couch, close your eyes and have some truly serene thoughts. The style reminds me very much of Philip Glass' music (which I also very much recommend) and makes me think that there is pure emotion running through the music. Absolute genius… I love it!

The CD soundtrack is well worth investing in - particularly if you know the film well and loved the music when you watched it.

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MY HISTORY WITH THIS FILM:

As I said at the top of this op, I think I saw Amélie in the cinema about three times or thereabouts. It just came along at a moment where I and countless others needed their spirits lifted. The fact that the film managed to do just that at such a dark time speaks volumes as to how good it is. There's no violence in it… just a great sense of humour, innocence and romance. Just what the doctor ordered.

It was also one of the rare times when I managed to convince my dad to come along to the cinema with me to see a film! Somewhat like Amélie's father, my dad isn't a hugely social animal and the fact I managed to get him surgically removed from the house for a few hours was a accomplishment in itself!

I've only ever managed to convince my dad a handful of times to join me at the cinema. I can count the films we have seen at the cinema together on one hand:

Final Destination (2000) (which he really liked!), Amélie (2001) and Star Wars: Episode II: Attack Of The Clones (2002) (which he found okay, I think but I loved it anyway… for all my sins!)… Prior to those films, the last film my dad had seen was Ghostbusters all the way back in 1984 - so you can see why this was a big deal to me!

My dad certainly isn't a 'culture-vulture' and I thought he would hate every second of being dragged out to see a subtitled French flick… but how wrong could I be? He loved it! Laughing at the funny bits and possibly just glad to get away from the TV media overload too, I should imagine.

To summarise this section, all I can say is that if my dad loves this film, anyone can! Need I say more?

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THE DVD:

As I said earlier, Amélie is available in both 1 or 2 disc versions. The 1 disc edition is identical to disc 2 of the 2 disc edition. I actually bought the 1 disc version originally and was dismayed to find that the 2 disc version had only been held back temporarily and was released mere months later.

I only upgraded to the 2 disc edition a few months ago - and passed on my much-loved 1 disc version to my much-loved girlfriend as we aren't blessed with seeing each other outside of most weekends for the time-being and wanted to give her something that she could watch and smile over when she has 'one of those days' and maybe even misses me a smidge (for all her sins!)…

Anyway… getting back on topic before I drift off any further…

The presentation of Amélie on DVD is absolutely gorgeous - with a very crisp picture transfer that allows all the glorious detail of Amélie's Paris to shine through… and it looks fantastic!

The sound is great too… It doesn't overwork the speakers but is absolutely ideal for the film. Subtle but great - as with the film itself and so many other elements of it therein.

FEATURE RUN TIME:
122 Minutes

PRESENTATION RATIO:
2.35:1 Anamorphic PAL

AVAILABLE LANGUAGES:
French Dolby Digital 5.1
French DTS 5.1

Personally, I am delighted that a dubbed version of the film is not included (I am not even sure if a dubbed version exists) as to do so would easily strip the film of it's own unique personality. Dubbed versions of foreign movies are rarely watchable and mostly unintentionally hilarious - particularly if they are dubbed in cheesy American accents!

EXTRAS:

The main menu to the extras disc has four options, THE CAFÉ, THE CANAL, THE STATION and SUBTITLES (the latter of which I won't expand upon for obvious reasons).

THE CAFÉ

AUDREY TAUTOU'S FUNNY FACES: (2 Minutes 7 Seconds)

This is a collection of outtakes from the filming of Amélie which shows Audrey Tautou's amusing facial expressions and reactions to her fluffing lines and accidentally burping etc in a way that makes her look so cute it ought to be illegal! The collection of outtakes also has Tautou showing more emotional range and character than she was able to on The Da Vinci Code…

MULTI ANGLE SCRIPT TO SCREEN:

This is a brief section that shows two scenes from the film running in a reduced size beneath the original storyboard sketches. As a cartoonist and having made some video productions in the past that involved me having to storyboard them, it's always interesting to see what storyboards for big films looked like. The two scenes in this section are:

JOSEPH AND GEORGETTE: (1 Minute 1 Second)

The funny scene where Joseph and Georgette have a noisy encounter in the toilets of The Two Windmills.

GHOST TRAIN: (53 Seconds)

Having found out that Nino works on the ghost train, Amélie boards the train and has her first intimate moment with him. Not quite your usual first intimate moment though…

BEHIND THE SCENES STILLS:

This section has some nice photos from the making of the film - but as there are only 15 of them, you'll be through this section in the blink of an eye.

THE CANAL

Q&A WITH DIRECTOR AND CAST (5 Minutes 55 Seconds)

This is a fairly intriguing piece with the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Audrey Tautou, Jamel Debouze and Matthew Kasovitz answering questions on a stage in front of a cinema audience. Like the movie itself, this segment is also in French but is subtitled in English.

INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTOR: (20 Minutes 44 Seconds)

This is an interesting and insightful interview with the director of Amélie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. In it he tells of the initial problems they had getting the film off the ground in the first place - right down to coming up with a name they were happy with. In its native French, the film is called 'Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amélie Poulain' which pretty much translates as 'The Fabulous Destiny Of Amélie Poulin' which is very appropriate after hearing the director talk about pitfalls that they suffered that ultimately went in favour of the movie.

SCREEN TESTS: (6 Minutes 25 Seconds)

These show Audrey Tautou and other members of the cast in their initial screen tests that would win them their roles. Right away, you can see there's something special about Audrey Tautou - her huge, dark eyes look like chocolate buttons… BUT… she does look a little too thin for my liking in this footage. It's nice for a girl to have a little flesh on her bones after all!

MAKING OF HOME VIDEO (12 Minutes 45 Seconds)

This is a really cool little segment that mainly follow Jean-Pierre Jeunet around the sets while he's making the film. It's very insightful as it shows lots of extras being photographed for Nino's photo album - and with a few of them, you recognise them from instantly from the film - and others that you don't. It makes you wonder if you've either just missed their photos on previous viewings or if their photos were used at all.

The other bit of this I found really funny was showing them filming lots of different couples pretending to have sex and reaching orgasm. The reason for this is a point in the film where Amélie, even as an adult wonders trivial little things… like how many couples in the world are having orgasms at the point she thinks of this. The answer is 15. Obviously!

THE STATION

TEASERS: (2 Minutes 1 Second)

A collection of small teasers for the film. They have the feel and look of TV spots but can't say for sure if that is the case. They're all nicely put together and perfectly match the atmosphere of the film itself.

TRAILER: (1 Minute 40 Seconds)

Presumably the original theatrical trailer in France. It's a great little trailer. If I didn't already love this film and saw this trailer, it would definitely make me want to see it! The editing is just great!

A sort of hidden extra is accessible on this screen if you click on the image of the gnome underneath the link back to the main menu:

This silly but fun extra shows the gnome's travel photos! How bizarre!

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MY CONCLUSION:

An absolutely amazing feel good movie with some very interesting making of footage. If you haven't seen this film yet, I whole-heartedly recommend it and suggest you check it out if you get the chance to do so! Even if you're not normally into foreign subtitled movies, this one may surprise you. Perhaps Amélie will change your life too.

Thank you for reading this! (Merci beaucoup!!!)

Au revoir!

Derek 

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