Amelie- no spoilers at ALL
I've never seen a movie with so much green. That was my first(and most enduring) thought upon watching this film, which I've wanted to watch for a while(specifically, ever seen noticing
koalathebear's wonderful mood theme from it). And oh my, but it's a art/cult film classic for a reason...it was delightfully quirky and beautiful, by turns funny, sad, magical, and odd, but mostly creative and absolutely infused with a sense of the wonder about life - its simple things and people - that we only feel in childhood and lose so soon. Glorious production values also helped; there were so many warm colors in the film that I am now possessed by the desire to either move to France or completely redo my room - I have noticed indeed how horribly white and bare American homes tend to be compared to other countries. Amelie's kitchen is all a warm, bright red, including the kitchen table and chairs(can you imagine that in an American kitchen?) and pretty much everything else is green..Similarly her raincoat is bright red and she possesses a red-and-white-polka-dotted umbrella which I can only envy helplessly. It was a bit like a painting actually - the entire movie a succession of glowing pictures)although some dark of course.
Did I mention the romance? Yum. Never seen anything quite like it, and although I did think a few times that it approached scary stalker - territory it was still marvellous, especially the end. Such tenderness. And such an odd love scene. :) I also LOVED Amelie-her character, that is. A bit of Anne Shirley, a lot of dreamer, throw in a pixie face, a lot of mischief, a lonely, introverted waitress and the body of a French model and you have Amelie Poulain, the heroine of our tragicomic fairy-story. Er. Just discovered on Rotten Tomatoes that not only was it nominated for 5 Academy Awards(no big surprise there, I only wish it had actually won one) but that it was classified as a comedy. ?? I admit it was quite funny at times, even often, but in my opinion it was in no way a comedy.
But the best thing about the film was undoubtedly Audrey Tatou. I've never seen her in a film before and was completely blown away. She has the luminous grace and delicate expressiveness of Meryl Streep to an extent that I've never seen before, and such a piquant face. :) I loved watching the small changes in her expression. Planning on getting A Very Long Engagement immediately. Definitely oddball film but just as definitely completely magical - reminded me of Finding Neverland(another movie I love) more than once, particularly in the dissolving-raindrops scene. This will definitely be a week of art films - Amelie tonight, I'm feeling Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(also for the first time) sometime soon, and then I've always wanted to see Run Lola Run.
One last note -
koalathebear's wonderful mood theme from it). And oh my, but it's a art/cult film classic for a reason...it was delightfully quirky and beautiful, by turns funny, sad, magical, and odd, but mostly creative and absolutely infused with a sense of the wonder about life - its simple things and people - that we only feel in childhood and lose so soon. Glorious production values also helped; there were so many warm colors in the film that I am now possessed by the desire to either move to France or completely redo my room - I have noticed indeed how horribly white and bare American homes tend to be compared to other countries. Amelie's kitchen is all a warm, bright red, including the kitchen table and chairs(can you imagine that in an American kitchen?) and pretty much everything else is green..Similarly her raincoat is bright red and she possesses a red-and-white-polka-dotted umbrella which I can only envy helplessly. It was a bit like a painting actually - the entire movie a succession of glowing pictures)although some dark of course.
Did I mention the romance? Yum. Never seen anything quite like it, and although I did think a few times that it approached scary stalker - territory it was still marvellous, especially the end. Such tenderness. And such an odd love scene. :) I also LOVED Amelie-her character, that is. A bit of Anne Shirley, a lot of dreamer, throw in a pixie face, a lot of mischief, a lonely, introverted waitress and the body of a French model and you have Amelie Poulain, the heroine of our tragicomic fairy-story. Er. Just discovered on Rotten Tomatoes that not only was it nominated for 5 Academy Awards(no big surprise there, I only wish it had actually won one) but that it was classified as a comedy. ?? I admit it was quite funny at times, even often, but in my opinion it was in no way a comedy.
But the best thing about the film was undoubtedly Audrey Tatou. I've never seen her in a film before and was completely blown away. She has the luminous grace and delicate expressiveness of Meryl Streep to an extent that I've never seen before, and such a piquant face. :) I loved watching the small changes in her expression. Planning on getting A Very Long Engagement immediately. Definitely oddball film but just as definitely completely magical - reminded me of Finding Neverland(another movie I love) more than once, particularly in the dissolving-raindrops scene. This will definitely be a week of art films - Amelie tonight, I'm feeling Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(also for the first time) sometime soon, and then I've always wanted to see Run Lola Run.
One last note -