Amelie

Amelie

"Amélie is looking for love, and perhaps for the meaning of life in general. We see her grow up in an original if slightly dysfunctional family. Now a waitress in central Paris, she interacts curiously with her neighbors and customers, as well as a mysterious Photomaton-image collector and one of his even more mysterious photo subjects. Little by little, Amélie realizes that the way to happiness (and yet more subtle humor) requires her to take her own initiative and reach out to others."

4.5 Stars

If I had to describe this movie in two words, it would be “Wonderfully Weird” because that pretty much sums it up. I haven’t seen a movie make so much out of just the simple pleasures of life in a long time. The director really does a great job of seamlessly intertwining the simplicity of the real world to the fantasy world that Amelie has created in her head. But I think one of the best things about the movie is that it doesn’t take the daydream aspect too far. True, there are some strange fantasy sequences here or there, but they don’t overpower the story SO much that you forget what the film is really all about . . . taking chances.

Like many of us, Amelie watches television, movies, and most importantly the lives of other people. She becomes very interested in how people react to situations and, in turn, each other. She maintains a childlike curiosity of the human condition and how it perpetually defies predictability. Amelie also take on a personal mission to better the lives of those around her through both direct and indirect contact. But, as the movie goes on, we start to realize how sad she may really be inside. While she is always surrounded by people, she never truly seems to be connected to any of them. When it comes to relationships she really plays the role of observer more than participant.

This longing for contact manifests itself through the games she plays with a man whose scrapbook she has found. She is in love with him (or at least the idea of him) and decides to engage in a playfully romantic game to learn more about him and hopefully bring herself closer to actually making a true human connection. She tries to convince herself that she is being brave and taking risks that other people wouldn’t dare take, but she is really just fooling herself. I say that because when it finally comes time for the wild goose chase to meet its end, she balks. She hasn’t built up the courage to finally put herself out there and, just like the metaphorical “girl with the glass of water” that her shut-in neighbor struggles to paint, she acts cowardly.

I don’t blame her, though. The reason she acts cowardly is the same reason that most of us might act the same way, because we don’t want to be let down. While the lives of the people around her really shouldn’t be described as sad, they are (for lack of a better word) real. They aren’t like the fantasies she has. The lives are real and are subject to all the disappointments and heart breaks that are a part of life. And that is what scares her most, that when the bubble bursts, will what is left be enough? Luckily her shut-in neighbor gives one final piece of advice and makes her realize that if her heart is never subject to BOTH the joy and pain of love, then it will become just as dry and brittle as his old body.

Now, this movie is visually dazzling and the music does a lot to support the fantasyland motif, but I take something different away from the film. For me, it makes you feel good about believing in the hope of true love. Now, that’s not to say that Amelie necessarily found it. The movie ends where most romantic films do, with a picturesque montage of the happy couple. And you really hope that they ended up staying together for a long time and had a great life, but there is no way to be sure of that. Then again, that’s life and no one can ever really know. That’s why I think this film is saying that it is important to continue to have that hope. Things may not always end up the way we dreamed or planned, but if we continue to put ourselves out there, then hopefully we will eventually get what we need.


Robyn's Response
5 Stars

I love this movie. This movie provides everything the movie-going experience should: visually and musically beautiful, with a unique storytelling style and characters you can't help but fall in love with. Todd said it best when he wrote that this movie does so much with the simple pleasures in life.