Part of Swoon: A Love Series and Weekend Classics
Amélie (Audrey Tatou), the heroine of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s award-winning whimsical romance, is no ordinary young woman. A waitress in a Montmartre bar, Amélie observes people and lets her imagination roam free. One day, she suddenly finds her purpose in life: to solve other people’s problems. We follow her around a lovingly and vividly photographed Paris of saturated colors, as she engineers offbeat solutions to better her deserving co-workers, relatives and neighbors’ lives — among them the concierge who spends her day sipping port while communing with a stuffed dog; Georgette, the hypochondriac newsdealer; and the “glass man,” who lives vicariously through a Renoir reproduction. Amélie’s mission to help others is rudely interrupted when she meets a strange, off-beat young man, Nino Quincampoix (Mathieu Kassovitz), who captures her interest, and sets her on a mission to accomplish something for herself — in the most charming and complicated way possible.
“AMÉLIE is joie de vivre in a nougat.” —Rita Kempley, Washington Post “It is so hard to make a nimble, charming comedy. So hard to get the tone right and find actors who embody charm instead of impersonating it. It takes so much confidence to dance on the tightrope of whimsy. AMÉLIE takes those chances, and gets away with them. —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times “AMÉLIE, a sugar-rush of a movie, has what could be called meticulous clutter, a placement of imagery that covers every square centimeter of the screen. Mr. Jeunet's sense of humor gives the movie heart; his real affection for the medium can be seen in all the funny little curlicues and jottings around the action.” —Elvis Mitchell, New York Times
