Amélie was filmed in Montmartre, a hilly district to the north of Paris city.
This was a clean movie that some guy had uploaded in HD format on Youtube. I had flown through Paris many times before but have not actually spent any time in the city itself. I had been planning to go there sometime during the next 12 months. And it was in "preparation" for this tentative trip that I sought out French movies on a dreary New England Saturday a few weeks ago. Amélie was the first movie I decided to watch. Bad choice. I have yet to look for and watch another one.
Paris isn't simply a setting here. The city is delightfully in your face and quite a bit of daily life, as it happens in markets to train stations, can be seen. If any one has watched director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's other work (he directed one of my favorite movies of the 90s, Alien Resurrection), you will know he has a strong sense of visual style. This is clearly evident in the movie. The colors are rich and saturated and we are not bothered by issues like environmental pollution.
Amélie herself, as the radiant titular character, is a reflective and aware young woman who is quietly seeking the love of her life. After the second time watching this movie, it suddenly dawned on me as to why so many women, in their online profiles, mention it as an alltime favorite. The combination of the portrayal of both Paris and Amélie in this movie can be empowering in more ways than one. I have to admit that the movie did make me feel a bit embarrassed as to how I have sometimes responded to situations with the women in my life. I don't think that I will ever defer from taking a physical only interest in the occasional beauty that walks into my life. Reality is reality. But I figure I can go about it in a much more contemplative manner.
As in any really good movie, supporting characters are fleshed out well without being obvious in their performances. A couple of scenes, like when Amélie returns the oddball's (AKA Nino) album, seemed overly dramatical and is the kind of scene you typically would find in mainstream Indian movies. But I didn't draw an inference like that while watching the movie as what unfolded in each frame kept my senses glued to the screen.
I read one critic's view that the movie in its exaggeration of Parisian life does not do anything about representing the city's multi-cultural aspect. To put it bluntly, the critic voiced that no non-white actors were part of the cast. To which, Jeunet's response was that the character of Lucien was played by an actor with a Lebanese background. I thought both arguments were weak and probably unnecessary. The critic was being silly. Just look at how American filmmakers undermine the solidarity of both white and non-white races by attempting to be politically correct in movies and commercials. Sometimes not being politically correct can provide rewarding results. As for Jeunet, he need not have responded...and especially using the Lucien character as an example. Anyone who has seen the portrayal of the Lucien character would tend to agree with me.
The soundtrack is addictive and I have already made a playlist of it on Youtube while the audio CD and DVD are currently sitting in my Amazon wishlist. All in all, a terrific effort by Jeunet.
I give it quinze thumbs up!
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