Amélie Review: A Bizarre Work of Art
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Amélie
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
8
Where to Watch Amélie?
No.99 on the Top 100 list, Amélie is a French film released in 2001. The movie follows Amélie as she grows up and learns how she fits into society. She’s an introvert and enjoys being by herself, but she continues to try and make others happy. Most of this is done in the background, avoiding as much personal attention as possible.
The movie plays like a drama, focusing on Amélie and the world around her. A large emphasis is placed on the characters and their development. I really enjoyed that aspect of this movie. The characters are odd, they have quirks, but they feel real. They aren’t all shiny and perfect, and that adds some authenticity to the things that occur to these people. The entire cast did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life, and the writing was great.
Amélie and Lucien are my two favourite characters. Amélie is a heartwarming character. She’s experienced a lot of hardship early in life, which has pushed her into reclusion, but she isn’t bitter. The world scares her, but she still wants good things for the people around her. Watching her actively try to improve the lives of her friends and acquaintances from a distance was interesting, and it made the ending really pay off. When you care for the characters, it makes their successes hold some weight.

Lucien on the other hand is a young man that works at the market. He’s treated poorly by his boss, and he is seen as an ‘airhead’. Lucien sees the beauty in everything, looking for artistic inspiration in even the simplest of fruits.
This makes him a slow cashier, but an interesting one. Like Amélie, he is misunderstood by those around him and I think that endears him with the audience. He shows his true colours with Raymond later in the movie, further developing the interesting character and explaining why he’s starstruck by different plants.
The downside to this character-based approach is the slow story that comes along with it. There’s a lot of character development that occurs over the first half of this movie, but it is slow. So slow. I love the payoff, and the ending is really good, but it is a drag to get there. That might be exactly what you are looking for, in which case this might be a 10/10. But for myself, I really enjoy an engaging story, so Amélie fell short.
The second half of the movie is where the romance starts to kick up a notch, which adds some intrigue to the story. The best part about the plot of Amélie has to be all of the weird things that occur. We’ve got paintings talking, pictures talking, and a pile of other oddities. It may not create a fully competent, 2-hour story, but it definitely adds some intrigue to the movie.
Speaking of the oddities of this movie, I really enjoy the cinematography. The different camera angles, transitions, and visual effects were really well done. There’s a specific vibe Jean-Pierre Jeunet was looking for, and I think he captured it.
All of the oddities are meant to represent the inside of Amélie or Nino’s mind, and I think it worked magically. The weird visuals give the audience a more in-depth look into what’s going on inside our characters’ minds without having to spell it all out.

The one other caveat that may turn you away from Amélie is the French dialogue. All three of us here at Prairie Grown Reviews speak French, so it’s not really a concern on our end, but any movie not in your native tongue can be difficult to watch.
That being said, the subtitles are good and I would recommend watching this in the original language. If you do happen to watch it in English, it’s not a super fast movie, so you don’t risk losing anything in the translation, and the meaning comes across regardless of the language.
All in all, Amélie is an interesting movie. I took on this top 100 challenge to expand my knowledge of unique movies, and I would definitely put this in that category. It’s funny, it’s heartwarming, and it’s fun.
The plot is fairly slow, and I probably wouldn’t watch it again, but it is a good watch the first time around. Don’t let the French scare you, go give Amélie a watch. For those of you following along with the Top 100 list, coming next is Snatch.