Amelie - A User's Manual To Life

                                We, human beings always reassess the credentials for our continued existence in this world. The news in the TV and the history, shows mankind's darkest hours, hatred, and violence, which lends credence to those who argue that the species has outlived its usefulness. We tend to follow trends and are often irritated by any change in patterns other than those which suit over convictions.  

                             The magic is gone, beaten out of us by the one-two punch of adulthood and responsibility, and there are times when we’d trade everything we hold dear for a single reason to believe. When it becomes too much to bear this madness, there is movie for you to help named "Amelie." Jean-Pierre Jeunet's rich 2001 film was a massive art-cinema hit in its day, and a modern fairy-tale. Eleven years on, Amelie's charms are still a saccharrine, but what comes across most powerfully is Jeunet's athletic, playful directing style, and effects.

Plot

    Amelie is about Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tatou), a young woman who has spent most of her life existing in the background. As a child, she was discouraged from having friends by her neurotic mother and emotionally distant father. As an adult, she works as a waitress in a café and spends her nights alone in her small apartment. She has no boyfriend, no confidantes, and no real sense of purpose in life. But all that is about to change.

                 Amélie, discovers a box hidden away in her apartment containing a boy's treasured possessions. She decides to return these to the owner. With a little help from Dufayel, an elderly painter, she tracks the now middle-aged man down and savors the tearful moment of his reunion with the past. Rejuvenated by this act of kindness, Amélie vows to do more good works. In the process, she encounters Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), who may be her soulmate - if she can ever find the courage to talk to him face-to-face and admit her feelings for him. And, she begins formulating an elaborate, enchanting ploy to compel the equally offbeat guy to seek her out. 

 Analysis

      Mr. Jeunet has made his own Paris through sets and computer-generated art for ''Amélie.'' Jeunet uses the city as a character than a mere backdrop. The screenplay he co-wrote with Guillaume Laurant has sparkle, fizz, and incredible ingenuity. From the magical opening to the enchanting closing scenes, Amélie is something special — a way to lift your spirits! Amelie uses odd camera angles, quick edits, and other "tricks" to keep the movie visually dynamic. 

               Amelie features an exceptional cast, with a laudable effort from Audrey Tatou. Her expressive eyes and impish smile are endearing, adding credibility to her status as a mischievous angel of the dispossessed. Special mention should go to Rufus as Amélie’s widowed and housebound father and Mathieu Kassovitz  with a predilection for collecting discarded passport photos. 

                  During one of her good deeds , Amelie walks a blind man across a busy street. She decides to make his day by briskly navigating him down the whole block, describing with rapid relish everything she can along the way -- what people are wearing, prices of fruit at a market, a baby watching a dog watching chicken in a shop window. It is just this flood of flavorful little details that drives the story and makes this movie such an exquisite joy. 

                  It’s an emotional roller-coaster ride, juxtaposing thought-provoking meditations on the simple pleasures of everyday existence.  There’s no assurances of a better tomorrow, but it subscribes to the notion that there is always a reason to go on living. “Times are hard for dreamers,” one character in the movie uttered. But Jeunet uncovered the blissfully supernatural feeling that beautiful discoveries lie around the corner for everyone, every day.

              Watch 'Amelie' to renew your connection with life's simple pleasures

Trailer

 Amelie - Imdb

             
Amelie lost the 'Best Foreign Film Oscar' along with 'Lagaan' to the war drama, 'No Man's Land.'