I know I really may sound like a party-pooper but I just didn't find this film all that great. However, the lighting is gorgeous and the guy should have definitely got an Oscar for that. Audrey Tautou as Amelie is perfect (her talent was already perceivable in "Venus Beaute (Institut)" despite her small part in the movie), and Jeunet's touch is there - maybe a bit too much actually, given how reminiscent it is of his cinematography on the City Of Lost Children (not to say identical).
There are also numerous cultural references for which I'm dying to see how they were translated into other languages, and the surprising presence of comedians who are well-known to the French audience to add to the fun (Yolande Moreau, Jamel Debbouze, Ticky Holgado, ...).
On the commented version of the DVD (at least the French pressing), Jean-Pierre Jeunet makes references to Frank Capra (the scene in the bar between Amelie and Nino), Wim Wenders (the man and the box in the phone booth) and Sergio Leone (the shot of Amelie in the train station) - the problem is that the same kind of scenes shot by these directors have an intensity that is light-years away from what I felt watching "Amelie Poulain". The commentary is actually concluded by the filmmaker stating that he couldn't care less for the anachronisms in the film.
Overall, you get an arty comedy directed to mass audiences with a very thin plot that everyone can understand without thinking too hard, and a good cast performing below their usual abilities. The whole wrapped up in a fairytailish package that, even if it is cute and without much pretense, still keeps me wondering if it is uplifting enough to come out of the movie theater with a big smile on your face, and the will to change the world like so many people seem to experience after watching this film.
There are also numerous cultural references for which I'm dying to see how they were translated into other languages, and the surprising presence of comedians who are well-known to the French audience to add to the fun (Yolande Moreau, Jamel Debbouze, Ticky Holgado, ...).
On the commented version of the DVD (at least the French pressing), Jean-Pierre Jeunet makes references to Frank Capra (the scene in the bar between Amelie and Nino), Wim Wenders (the man and the box in the phone booth) and Sergio Leone (the shot of Amelie in the train station) - the problem is that the same kind of scenes shot by these directors have an intensity that is light-years away from what I felt watching "Amelie Poulain". The commentary is actually concluded by the filmmaker stating that he couldn't care less for the anachronisms in the film.
Overall, you get an arty comedy directed to mass audiences with a very thin plot that everyone can understand without thinking too hard, and a good cast performing below their usual abilities. The whole wrapped up in a fairytailish package that, even if it is cute and without much pretense, still keeps me wondering if it is uplifting enough to come out of the movie theater with a big smile on your face, and the will to change the world like so many people seem to experience after watching this film.