Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writers:

Guillaume Laurant (scenario) and
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (scenario) ...

Release Date:

25 April 2001 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

One person can change your life forever.

Plot:

Amelie, an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, decides to help those around her and along the way, discovers love.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Waitress | Garden Gnome | Happiness | Hypochondriac

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 51 wins & 46 nominations

Cast

Audrey Tautou	...	Amélie Poulain
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Nino Quincampoix
Rufus	...	Raphaël Poulain
Lorella Cravotta	...	Amandine Poulain
Serge Merlin	...	Raymond Dufayel
Jamel Debbouze	...	Lucien
Clotilde Mollet	...	Gina
Claire Maurier	...	Madame Suzanne - la patronne du café
Isabelle Nanty	...	Georgette
Dominique Pinon	...	Joseph
Artus de Penguern	...	Hipolito
Yolande Moreau	...	Madeleine Wallace
Urbain Cancelier	...	Collignon
Maurice Bénichou	...	Dominique Bretodeau
Michel Robin	...	Mr. Collignon

Also Known As:

Amélie (France) (working title) (International: English title) (USA)
Amelie (Australia) (UK)
Amélie des Abbesses (France) (working title)
Amelie from Montmartre (International: English title)
Amelie of Montmartre (International: English title) (festival title)
Die fabelhafte Welt der Amelie (Germany)
The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain (USA) (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content.

Runtime:

122 min | France:129 min

Country:

France | Germany

Language:

French

Colour:

Black and White | Colour (Duboicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Malaysia:18PL | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Hungary:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A)

Filming Locations:

Abbesses, Paris 18, Paris, France

Company:

Claudie Ossard Productions

Trivia:

Some of the locations in the film can be found in Montmartre. The café "Les 2 Moulins" can be found at the beginning of Rue Lepic and the vegetable/fruit store "Collignon" at 56 Rue des Trois Frères.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The first time Joseph is talking to Georgette at her cigarette stand, parts of her dress are blue, and other parts are color corrected to that sepia effect applied to most of the rest of the scene.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Les poupées russes (2005)

Soundtrack:

Comptine d'Un Autre Été: L'après Midi

Best Gift from France Since Statue of Liberty

-If one needs more proof why foreign films are superior to American crap then look no further this gem. it's beautiful, magical, funny, sad, and wonderfully romantic

-Amelie tells the story of a girl with a highly active imagination. statues come to life, TV's can talk to her and pictures can move around. Her mom dies in a semi-hilarious scene which means she has to spend the rest of her life with her dad. Her dad is a very distant man that seldom shows affection. he's not a bad father by any chance, in fact he loves her daughter more than anything in the world, but he just dosen't know how to express his love for her properly so he becomes a bit distant from him This leads to Amelie having to retreat into her imagination to find people to talk to since her dad won't. she makes up imaginary friends to play with and keeps herself entertained by over imagining what she sees in everyday life

-the movie really begins about 20 mins. into the story. She discovers through TV that princess DI has died in a car crash and so shocked by it that she drops a marble in her hand. the marble rolls in the bathroom till it hits a wall. she pushes aside the tiny wall to discover that it's where a little boy hid his toy a long time ago. so she decides to return it to him, and when the boy whose now a man finds it he's so grateful that he begins to cry. this leaves Amelie feeling so happy that she decides to spend the rest of her life doing good deeds to those who deserve it. she helps out a grocer whose been emotionally abused by his manager, helps a blind man cross the street whiles describing everything in sight, and she reunites a weeping widow with her husband through a letter. as things move along she meets a guy that she falls in love with and the entire 4th act of the movie basically shows how the two of them get together

-french director Jean-Pierre Jeunet brings a unique visual style to this movie. it's almost as if you're watching the movie through a dream. it also one of the best cinematography ever to be committed on film. the beautiful Audrey Tatou plays the title character and the supporting cast also do an amazing job. this is one of those movies that leave you in a good mood after you watch it. plus it will leave you in stitches from laughing so hard. the "Orgasm Montage" has to be one of the funniest scenes in cinema history and that is one of the many reason why this movie is awesome

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED