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Jose Porras
ID 20319077
FREN 2323

The Whimsical World View of Amélie Poulain

Known in America as Amélie and in France as Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain a

French rom-com released in 2001 and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. It was written by

Guillaume Laurant, and Amélie’s role interpreted by Audrey Tautou with a screen time of two

hours and two minutes. The film is like that odd person that was born in a sea of creativity, it

fidgets in every trivial aspect of life and makes it seem like a world of possibilities which is

something as society we neglect/take for granted, the imagery creates a different way of living

life. All of this trivial events happen at the same time, like a homologous of people’s lives. The

stories of the people around us happened at the same time that ours is developing, however, we

tend to be self-centered and never wonder or stop to think of what happens to other like us, or the

similarities shared. Amélie’s freedom is evident throughout the film as she goes around Paris,

like it is an extension of hers, watching the lives of people around her and meddling with them.

The plot of the film generates a craving for what is random, normal, trivial, unexpected.

Amelie’s smile and wonder for the daily is contagious, and stimulates that feeling of butterflies

in the tummy that each of us possesses when we are full of wonder, joy, and youth. Amelie is a

grownup that lives life at her own terms, having wonder, creativity and playfulness as her fuel in

life. The actress Audrey Tautou portrays perfectly Amelie’s traits with only her whimsical smile

and mischievous eyes. The director also had something to do with the screenplay which is

exquisite as it portrays Amélie’s life with the help of the narrator who makes us see the world

how she sees it. Sex life is really present in the plot, and it can be more obvious to a person that
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is not from France or Europe, because of the taboos that orbit around sex and eroticism.

However, in France sex is seen as natural, just another aspect of someone’s life.

The photography of the film is based on a green-gold-red palette of aesthetics which

depict the nature of every character. For instance, Amélie is always surrounded by greenish

backgrounds or burgundy clothes that somewhat depict her personality, she is very expressive

with her eyes and smile, but not with her words. Amélie goes through every day as if she was an

spectator instead of the main character of her own life. She goes around the city getting involved

in other people’s lives without them having notice. One example of this is when she makes her

co-worker get involved romantically with one of the customers. She even meddles with her

father’s mind, in an effort to make him battle his depression. Amélie sends her father pastcards

from his garden gnome. However, one of the most humoristic parts of the film is when she

meddles with her neighbor’s daily life as a form of punishment because he is extremely rude to a

worker at the corner vegetable shop. It is not until she meets, who we later discover to be, the

love of her life that she starts to meddle with her own life. Amélie avoided paying attention to

reality around her. A person who is as peculiar as her, and whom she feels connected with

instantly after finding his intriguing photo album full of a collection of rejected photos from the

photo booth at the metro station. Amélie uses the photo album to lure him to play her game of

falling in love with her; at this point in the film she is focused, for the first time, on making

herself happy. He goes around Montmartre, even to her workplace at the coffee shop, looking for

her and playing her game. He is like that “other half” that people are always seeking, he is as

quirky as her.

The film overall is a must watch, however, as everything it has strengths and weaknesses.

It is a romantic comedy, therefore a considerable part of the film revolves around the love story
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and that is something that if avoided wouldn’t have affected the film in a negative way.

However, it possesses a quite refreshing and relatable plot, and the photography and aesthetics

are beautiful. One of the more delightful scenes throughout the film is when the narrator is

describing Amélie and what she likes and dislikes, she puts her hands in a sack of red beans

which gives her satisfaction. As a spectator one can feel and relate to the satisfaction portrayed

when Amélie places her hand amongst the beans. The most important reason for watching Le

fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain is that it will make the spectator wish they could live life a

little slower and bask in the complexities that make every day possible.
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Bibliography
Amélie movie
https://www.netflix.com/watch/60022048?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2C3f672cff452a95
58be5aa5a38f383ba145c40980%3A6f9ed75f9f4fe4ea21aa2f2483c0bb5b4d194053
Color Meanings. Color Symbolism in Movies: What do Colors Mean in Movies? 19 October
2017. Electronic. https://www.color-meanings.com/color-symbolism-in-movies-what-do-colors-
mean-in-movies/
Amélie Wikipedia Page. n.d. Electronic. 19 October 2017.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%A9lie