Amelie Movie Review. French Foriegn Film audrey tautou cinema imagination child paris heart love

GIFT IDEAS

AMELIE
Stars: Audrey Tautou, Matthieu Kassovitz, Rufus,
Rated: R
(France/subtitled)
Score: 9.5/10

"Amelie" is a stunning film that is rich with imagination. While visually exciting it does not become distracting in it's style, you don't just see the film you feel it. Amelie is a young waitress living in Paris who, as we see in a brief synopsis of her childhood, never received much physical attention from her parents. Because her parents thought she had a heart defect (her one monthly physical from her father was the only source of close contact she got..thus making her heart race) she was homeschooled and never had friends.She turned inward and developed a vivid imagination that she made part of her reality. But as an adult she still feels different, invisible in the crowd...yet she finds pleasure in the simple things in life. She still see's the world as a child might. And yet Amelie does not know how to reach out and relate to others, she feels more like an observer.

One day she finds a box of childhood treasures that begins the process of an extrordinary change of events that affect those around her, and ultimately Amelie herself. Upon returning the box to it's owner she finds that she not only did a good thing, but that she managed to reach out in an indirect way and touch someone...enough to change their life. This intrigues her, and with this new way of connecting with others - she sets forth to be a do-gooder. To reward those around her. She also has some fun tormenting the local grocer who spends his time belittling his slow-witted employee, by sneaking into his apartment and doing some mischevious things.

There is an old recluse who lives near her, who's bones are so brittle that he cannot go outside or touch others. He paints, and a certain image on his canvass that he cannot seem to understand becomes symbolic becuase it is much like Amelie. She has spent her life being an observer never knowing how to connect to others. And while she has taken up this new mission to be a sort of annonymous heroine...her own life is the one that is neglected. She hasn't the courage to seek her own destiny by pursuing love. He warns that if she doesn't take care and bring love in her life, that she could grow old with a heart as brittle as his bones.

Then she see's Nino, a strange young man whom she feels a certain affinity with. It doesn't take long before she falls for him. Amelie is shy and tho she dreams of love and happiness she can't bring herself to do the impossible: Meet him, talk to him. In her childhood her father never gave her a touch, except once a year during a physical exam. Because of being deprived of his affection, her heart would race and he diagnosed her with a heart defect. A revealing scene later in life shows Nino seeming to stare right through her, and the audience see's inside Amelie as her heart begins to race uncontrollably. The simple idea of him puts her in a frenzy, she is in love but cannot act on it. She never had anyone that she loved properly show her how to love in return, so she begins a cat and mouse came with him. She was very content with the simple pleasures in life to substitute for lack of her love life. She doesn't seem to have been ruined by the cruel world. But in the end Amelie craves the touch of another, she wants a love of her own.

She leaves him clues that peak his curiosity, he is different himself, but he is so intrigued by this mystery woman that he wants deseperately to find her. "Amelie" is a sweet movie, with a very humerous narrative. It allows us to see her imagination, and visually how she feels at times. It's a charming film full of life, and Amelie has a spark that makes it impossible to not love her.
Recommended. One of the best films of the year!

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