The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain: Not a review
Be warned: Im not a natural reviewer/critic. Please excuse my un-professional naïve style below. It just some of my observation and not a review. If u havent seen the movie i wouldnt make much sense. Probably u would think im the official blurb writer for the movie. Dont stop there, watch the movie and come back here again.
`Amelie`. I had no idea about the movie except i knew it was nominated for Oscars in the best foreigh film category. As my previous experience with an oscar nominated foreign film, "No man's land": is still fresh and won my hearts many times over (btw it won the Oscars also. Our `Lagaan`, same year nomination, was a joke compared to it), i had high hopes for Amelie as well.
The first time i saw Amelie i missed more than an hour. Because of that i didnt understand most of the scenes. Amelie's father leaving for airport wasnt funny at all. The next door widow saying "...mountain climbers found proof that my husband loved me" didnt ring any bell. But the next time i saw it -from the start- for the same scenes and dialogues i went down on the grounds with laughter.
Combined with a stupendous performance from the lead actress and an orthodox cameraman the director has performed a miracle. I called the cameraman orthodox because the experience of him shows and it always follow the narration like in the old movies. Im not saying there wasnt variety, mind you, it had every shot from the book.
I have never seen so many close-ups in a single movie. Everytime a surprise is reveiled to the character or the viewer (which is a lot of time in Amelie) the camera does a close-up. The movement and the ken of the camera was a thing any cameraman would aspire for(cat disturbing the bead-blinds when Amelie is dreaming Neno coming into her house, Neno's hesitative motions: dipping his hand in the sugar.. at the cafe, Amelie melting after Neno leaves - the camera moved so well that i didnt even feel the movement). Not to mention the pan and the aperture - they were simply inspirng(Amelie throwing her pebbles collection into the pond in the evening time, the cafe scenes which are quite colorful). There are a few shots with strapped camera. And there were only two or three crane shots but still conventional(like Neno chasing someone and Amelie chasing Neno). All in all the cameraman get the oscar from me.
Coming to the story: the story is all screenplay. No shot is longer than 45 seconds. Almost 50% of the scenes has only Amelie in it. This tells a few things. That the editor had to do quite a job compiling. The dialogues had to be crisp and no monologue can be allowed. And as i said before a scene wouldnt make sense unless u get the connection from the previous scenes(the garden gnome's tour and Amelie's father leaving for the airport is wisely and sparingly kept in the screenplay). Almost all the characters (more than 20 people) in the film are devoted an almost equal time & attention in the screenplay.
The director `Jean-Pierre Jeunet` is a perfectionist. I am all praise for him. Every scene is very felt and then filmed. The artistry of him is overwhelming and it oozes in every shot. The visual representation is undenyable and has an upper hand and rather than the conversation between characters. You can understand whats happening even without the sub-titles since it is shown rather than told. The narrative way of telling a story is a risk since it needs a really resourceful script or a gripping story. Here it is the script itself that eliminted the risk totally. The narration had an extempore touch to it but it also provided mood. The entire movie reminds me of dominoes toppling show since the whole story is a huge collection of bits of trivial incidents (somehow attached to Amelie). It needs careful editing and scripting to make those bits interesting and engrossing. Full marks to the editor and the director for this.
If i had to list the top scenes i would have to write the entire screenplay, so i would refrain. But some aspects i liked, i can list..
1) Parfaite of emotions.
2) Cinemascope. Cinematography. (Every frame can pass for a greeting card)
3) Narrative style.
4) Camera tricks. (especially the black&white scenes, Amelie watching herself in the tv, the close-ups)
5) Leaves u with a sense of hope always. Never dismissive.
6) Joyfully sentimental.
7) Amelie's reactions.
8) Connectivity through scenes.
9) The album, especially the mystery man at the photo counters.
Score: 10/10
`Amelie`. I had no idea about the movie except i knew it was nominated for Oscars in the best foreigh film category. As my previous experience with an oscar nominated foreign film, "No man's land": is still fresh and won my hearts many times over (btw it won the Oscars also. Our `Lagaan`, same year nomination, was a joke compared to it), i had high hopes for Amelie as well.
The first time i saw Amelie i missed more than an hour. Because of that i didnt understand most of the scenes. Amelie's father leaving for airport wasnt funny at all. The next door widow saying "...mountain climbers found proof that my husband loved me" didnt ring any bell. But the next time i saw it -from the start- for the same scenes and dialogues i went down on the grounds with laughter.
Combined with a stupendous performance from the lead actress and an orthodox cameraman the director has performed a miracle. I called the cameraman orthodox because the experience of him shows and it always follow the narration like in the old movies. Im not saying there wasnt variety, mind you, it had every shot from the book.
I have never seen so many close-ups in a single movie. Everytime a surprise is reveiled to the character or the viewer (which is a lot of time in Amelie) the camera does a close-up. The movement and the ken of the camera was a thing any cameraman would aspire for(cat disturbing the bead-blinds when Amelie is dreaming Neno coming into her house, Neno's hesitative motions: dipping his hand in the sugar.. at the cafe, Amelie melting after Neno leaves - the camera moved so well that i didnt even feel the movement). Not to mention the pan and the aperture - they were simply inspirng(Amelie throwing her pebbles collection into the pond in the evening time, the cafe scenes which are quite colorful). There are a few shots with strapped camera. And there were only two or three crane shots but still conventional(like Neno chasing someone and Amelie chasing Neno). All in all the cameraman get the oscar from me.
Coming to the story: the story is all screenplay. No shot is longer than 45 seconds. Almost 50% of the scenes has only Amelie in it. This tells a few things. That the editor had to do quite a job compiling. The dialogues had to be crisp and no monologue can be allowed. And as i said before a scene wouldnt make sense unless u get the connection from the previous scenes(the garden gnome's tour and Amelie's father leaving for the airport is wisely and sparingly kept in the screenplay). Almost all the characters (more than 20 people) in the film are devoted an almost equal time & attention in the screenplay.
The director `Jean-Pierre Jeunet` is a perfectionist. I am all praise for him. Every scene is very felt and then filmed. The artistry of him is overwhelming and it oozes in every shot. The visual representation is undenyable and has an upper hand and rather than the conversation between characters. You can understand whats happening even without the sub-titles since it is shown rather than told. The narrative way of telling a story is a risk since it needs a really resourceful script or a gripping story. Here it is the script itself that eliminted the risk totally. The narration had an extempore touch to it but it also provided mood. The entire movie reminds me of dominoes toppling show since the whole story is a huge collection of bits of trivial incidents (somehow attached to Amelie). It needs careful editing and scripting to make those bits interesting and engrossing. Full marks to the editor and the director for this.
If i had to list the top scenes i would have to write the entire screenplay, so i would refrain. But some aspects i liked, i can list..
1) Parfaite of emotions.
2) Cinemascope. Cinematography. (Every frame can pass for a greeting card)
3) Narrative style.
4) Camera tricks. (especially the black&white scenes, Amelie watching herself in the tv, the close-ups)
5) Leaves u with a sense of hope always. Never dismissive.
6) Joyfully sentimental.
7) Amelie's reactions.
8) Connectivity through scenes.
9) The album, especially the mystery man at the photo counters.
Score: 10/10
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