Amelie

Amelie, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet takes us on an alienating tour of the city, the film due to it being in French is almost similar to a silent films as the visuals of the film mainly speak for itself. Amelie had a peculiar upbringing ostracised by her family with two strange parents, one who could not handle the pressure of life and the other a man with no social skills, the journey of the mother is a twisted tail the fleet of a women’s suicide impacts on Amelie’s life, this theme of fleeting life can be seen through the film as we begin to understands the films message of life is to short.

There are different segments to this strange French comedy, the childhood, her loneliness and the quest for live. The childhood segment is very isolating for Amelie she is home schooled due to a heart defect (which doesn’t exist the monthly check ups by her father make her heart pound as she craves a hug from her father) , which also means that Amelie never got to travel, her only friend the goldfish tried to commit suicide which leads to her mothers death. this odd an twisted tale makes us realise that Amelie is a reflection of loneliness and isolation throughout the film we see extreme close ups of Amelie as she tries to fill up the screen to distract the audience from how alone she truly is.

The one thing that is a prominent feature is the non diegetic sound of the voice over, the man who narrates over Amelie’s life acts almost as her conscience, at the start of the film the narrator (André Dussollier) mainly focusses on other peoples life’s rather than Amelie’s, we see the likes and the dislikes of everyone around her but Amelie’s introduction is subtle rather than she likes this and dislikes this. Amelie enjoys skipping stones, she views love like life’s little pleasures, the strange voice over of the film makes it seem like a fairy-tale where almost anything could happen, I suppose the film Amelie fits quite well with a heroine fairy-tale, her name is the title of the film like the Disney films, snow white and sleeping beauty, but apart from there fairy tales Amelie is on a strange lonely quest of love.

The sound within Amelie is classical French music that appears to let the audience know when something is about to occur. scores happen within a lot films, I like the idea of having a specific set of music that ties in with the film for example even if you haven’t watched the godfather you know the godfather music.

The reason Amelie’s is within my Art of film section is because the crafting of the film is not like a simple blockbuster with a captivating storyline that we have all heard over and over again, Amelie captures the strange ways we all have within us and each shots is composed to allow us into Amelie’s way of life and her way of thinking. I was honestly so captivated by this film and maybe I was a little bit to into this film, but I can see the influence this will have on the way I make my own short film I can now appreciate that yes you need a good storyline but the cinematography that is artful and unique is also extremely important to create a beautiful film.

 

 

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