Flore's Thoughts

directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Sometimes I like watching a movie I’ve seen years back because I am curious to find out if I still like it. So, today I decided to watch Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain. And yes, I still like it

Amélie grew up in a rather cold family environment. Her mother died when she was little and her father touched her only for the monthly check-ups. She didn’t have friends and her only dream was to make enough money so she could leave their home and live by herself.

After many years, we find her working as a waitress and living alone in the city. One day, after finding an old box filled with memories she decides to find the owner and return the mystery box. That was the day when Amélie found her destiny. From that day on she started planning and scheming to help people around her. It would be nice if more people would do nice things for others, try to help them in any way they can, wouldn’t it?

In the middle of her adventure she falls in love with a guy named Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), who is working at a sex shop/video store and a ghost train in the amusement park. She decides to play a little “hide-and-seek” game with Nino instead of just meeting face to face, but they end up together eventually

You know, I wonder, are there people who actually do that? Play little games like that to get someone’s attention? Maybe they are, who knows.

It’s funny, romantic and a bit weird. I love the colors and images. I like Amelie’s character, though I really like the actress that plays her too – Audrey Tatou. She has this pretty, innocent face that makes her look adorable. I also like Nino’s hobby – collecting thrown away photos from photo boots and putting them all together in a catalog. I always found observing people as interesting – looking at their faces, gestures, listening to their voice and looking at their photos.

Memorable scenes:

Narrator: Amélie still seeks solitude. She amuses herself with silly questions about the world below, such as “How many people are having an orgasm right now?”
[scenes of various orgasms taking place]
Amélie: Fifteen.

Amélie: [to blind man] Let me help you. Step down. Here we go! The drum major’s widow! She’s worn his coat since the day he died. The horse’s head has lost an ear! That’s the florist laughing. He has crinkly eyes. In the bakery window, lollipops. Smell that! They’re giving out melon slices! Sugarplum, ice cream! We’re passing the park butcher. Ham, 79 francs. Spareribs, 45! Now the cheese shop. Picadors are 12.90. Cabecaus 23.50. A baby’s watching a dog that’s watching the chickens. Now we’re at the kiosk by the metro. I’ll leave you here. Bye!

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 10th, 2010 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Film. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.