Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1882 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-04-15
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

Video Description
DVD Special Features
English subtitles
Commentary by director Jean Pierre Jeunet
Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 6.1
Anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen 16:9

Synopsis
Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who glides through the streets of Paris as quietly as a mouse. With wide eyes and a tiny grin, she sees the world in a magical light, discovering minor miracles every day. A shy and reserved person whose favorite moments are spent alone skimming stones into the water, Amelie was raised by a pair of eccentrics who falsely diagnosed her with a heart problem at the age of six and so limited her exposure to the outside world. Now a free and independent woman, Amelie wears a bob that curls in every direction and dresses in red. With a job in a cafe and an aptitude for spying on her neighbors, Amelie entertains herself by enacting a series of homemade, kindhearted practical jokes. She returns a long-forgotten box of childhood knickknacks to its proper owner, she sends her father's garden troll on a trip around the world, and she creates a love connection at the cafe between the hypochondriac druggist and a beer-drinking grouch. But when the day is done, Amelie finds one stone unturned, and decides to work her magic on the quirky object of her affections, Nino Quincampoix (Matthieu Kassovitz), whom she has never met.
Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who codirected DELICATESSEN and THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN with Marc Caro) presents AMELIE, an aesthetically gorgeous and inventive film. The rich, glowing color scheme is offset by flashbacks in black and white archival footage that give short biographies of each character. A soft-spoken narrator guides viewers through this enlightening fairy tale, which sometimes speeds through the streets and other times drifts in slow motion. AMELIE is humorous, questioning, and strange, and it will change the lives of all who watch it, if only for a short while after leaving Amelie's world.

Customer Reviews

Magical, Delightful, (Insert any positive adjective here)
The fabulous tale of Amelie Poulain is a heart-warming story of a girl who chooses to go on a mission to bring a little happiness to the people in her life, without any thought to her own. Unlike more traditional 'feel-good' movies from overseas (particularly the US), however, "Amelie" is finely crafted and has a sense of panache and flair.

Jeunet's eye for spotting rare and beautiful moments that happen around us every day, doesn't miss a trick. In 'Amelie', he reminds us of the simple pleasures that we all enjoyed as children, and forgot about as we grew into adulthood. It is this theme, more than any other that repeats constantly during the film.

The people in Amelie's world are quirky and eccentric, yet set in typical mundane lives. Everyone has a hidden wonder beneath them, and in Amelie's quest, nobody is spared. Dreams are fulfilled, lovers are united, broken hearts mended and lost treasures are reconciled with their once-jaded owners, and the clever and intricate methods by which Amelie performs her tasks will leave you smiling from ear to ear.

For instance, a scene that will stay in my heart is when Amelie helps a blind man to cross the road. As she does so, she starts describing in vivid detail, the scenes surrounding them both as they walk down a busy Parisian street. Such a simple gesture, yet handled by Jeunet, it becomes a treasured moment. The scene only lasts 10-15 seconds, but will leave you feeling warm, and almost saddened at the everyday sights that you take for granted and never notice.

All in all, the acting (Audrey Tatou in particular), is amazing, the camerawork and direction is stunning (only to be expected of Jeunet's work, such as "Delicatessen" & "City of Lost Children") and the ideas behind the film are ingenious and yet very simple.

In a world where "Civilisation" is rapidly becoming just a tag-line for "Capitalism", and where the main rule seems to be "Look after number 1", "Amelie" really does do a great job of reminding us that there is a child inside us all, and that child still wants to play.

Amelie encapsulates the human potential for goodness
The film Amelie surpassed the cliche-ridden Rom-Com with its love of texture in life, its imaginative and wholly believable plot and characterisation.
More than mere 'feel-good' sentimentality, Amelie reached heights of humanness that are fundamental to realising authentic happiness in oneself and in and for others. The motif of being able to find wonder in the apparently mundane and commonplace was, for me, impossible to resist.
The cinematography was spectacular, the dialogue brilliant and the overall sense of joy in so-called ordinary life the film displayed, all contributed to a complete experience of film art at its best.
Amelie showed many aspects of our humanity, but revelled in those capacities that are beautiful and positive, without the attendant insincerity and improbability of tediously formulaic, so-called 'feel-good' movies.
Only a hardened cynic could fail to marvel at Amelie.

Tres beau.
A treasure of a film - a dreamlike suspended reality of a story.
I can't add more about the film that dozens of reviewrs havn't already mentioned , but I must point out the utterly beautiful cinematography of this film with gorgeous intense saturated colour and a 'hyper real' atmosphere in every shot. If you enjoy the 'lomo' style of photography you'll adore every shot of this movie - the whole film is a lomograph. The soundtrack is perfect also, matching the spirit of the film and complimenting every moment perfectly.

I must say I'm shocked by reviewers who could give this only one star, and I find it somewhat depressing. What a grey, dull, cynical world they must live in, where belief cannot be suspended for a moment and one must be locked forever into a hard unchanging reality.

As the film says, 'the times are hard for dreamers.'