The Fabulous Amélie From Montmartre, A Movie For Dreamers

Since its premiere in 2001, the fabulous Amélie from Montmartre has been on the rise as an icon of French cinema. It is a kind of myth in the French capital. Fans of the film actually go there year after year to see the movie locations.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet gave the world a truly unusual romantic comedy. It is charming and has an unmistakable personality in general. Who can forget the soundtrack by Yann Tiersen? Or the garden gnomes, the Saint-Martin canal and the café where Amélie works? They are all memorable to the audience.

Amélie is an adorable and bizarre character who stole everyone’s heart at the beginning of the millennium. A character who, as the advertising posters for the film point out, is there to change people’s lives.

The beauty of the pictures and the attention to detail welcome you to a modern adventure. Every day seems magical in it. The strange and the ordinary merge. Above all, there is a somewhat peculiar, yet captivating love story in it. The fabulous Amélie from Montmartre  is creative and original, so the film set a precedent.

A lonely childhood

As is usually the case in stories and in the most archetypal construction of the hero, Amélie is presented from the beginning. It’s from her childhood. In fact, viewers get to see a rather dark past and a lonely childhood, even if it is with comic undertones, just as it happens with most heroes. Thus, Jeunet introduces the heroine as the only daughter of a married couple who did not notice her.

In the same way, it is an omniscient narrator. Therefore, you are invited by a voice that knows the lives of the characters well, to discover them through their peculiarities.

This narrator guides the viewer through a girl’s lonely childhood. She is forced to stay home due to a misdiagnosis. Then she tragically loses her mother. In the face of so much sadness, little Amélie seeks refuge in a peculiar imaginary world.

This presentation will help you understand the adult Amélie a little better. She is a young woman who, despite living in Paris and working as a waitress, maintains her characteristic childhood traits. Amélie is introverted and extraordinarily dreamy and her life changes when she listens to the news of Princess Diana’s tragic accident.

This news is there as a kind of irony to present how Amélie, to her surprise, finds a child’s treasure in her Montmartre apartment.

The discovery inspires lonely Amélie’s ultimate goal: to help others. In her quest to find the owner of the metal box that has been hidden in her apartment for 40 years, she discovers that the best way to find happiness is to improve the lives of those around her.

The presence of love

The film is not just about altruism, but also about love. In this way, the viewer can see it in different directions. One of the most important questions that arose before watching the film again was how it survived the passage of time. Many stories are not so timeless.

Thus, The Fabulous Amélie from Montmartre , like many of the romantic comedies of the early 2000s, is precisely about showing an absolutely mythical idea of ​​romantic love. An idealization that continues to be present in cinemas. In fact, it can be said that this industry has contributed enormously to creating an image that feeds many fantasies.

The central love appears in Amélie’s connection to Nino, a young man she meets by chance. The audience gradually discovers more information about him. The love she feels for him is a kind of fantasy that resembles a fairy tale.

One can scold her for this irrational infatuation and even see a character that is quite disturbing if you think about it. However, you will ignore these details and be carried away by the magic of her story.

After all, The Fabulous Amélie from Montmartre is a film with a lot of charm and detail. In short, even if the romantic love story is not real, it is best to enjoy it. So forget the current context and understand it for what it is: A modern adventure.

Joseph

However , it is a story you can question. It’s about Joseph’s character when he becomes obsessed with one of Amélie’s colleagues.

The film makes him seem like a persecutor, and Amélie, to help her friend, takes revenge. But it is not an act of bad revenge, instead she conspires to bring them together. The problem is solved humorously, and although times have changed, the film is as enjoyable as it was when it first premiered.

In addition to these stories where love prevails, Amélie soon realizes that no love is more important than her own. In this sense, the protagonist becomes aware that her desire to help others is meaningless if she does not help herself. This may be the greatest act of love you will see in the movie.

The fabulous Amélie from Montmartre, a carefully planned scene

In The Fabulous Amélie from Montmartre , everything seems sweet, but the young woman does not hesitate to show strength when needed. Behind the shy smile is a young woman who, in the face of injustice, wants to act in a vengeful and even childish way. Do not forget that Amélie is a dreamer who seems to live a fantasy world. She is a young woman who has deep contact with her inner child.

All this is reflected in the staging, as mentioned in the first lines. The soundtrack is the key to this imagination. It’s like you saw it through her eyes. It is a feeling of being in front of something magical and imaginary, despite the fact that it takes place in the real world, in Paris.

The use of colors, decor and even costumes reveals details about the whole frame. You can predict the personality of each of them by looking at their homes, clothes and movements. The photography is well done and the resulting images are really beautiful.

As you can see, the movie is an atypical romantic comedy. The main character lives his own imagination and helps others without seeing her. The setting is the key to understanding this whole world that Amélie dreams of. The narrator’s voice is also shown in important moments to reveal certain peculiarities of the characters.

Concluding notes on The Fabulous Amélie of Montmartre

The fabulous Amélie from Montmartre became a hit because it is very creative and original. In fact, it is the French film that has earned the second most, surpassed by The Intouchables (Nakache, 2011). Similarly, it won almost every award at the 27th Cérémonie des César , achieved two BAFTAs, and also several Oscar nominations.

This is without a doubt one of the best romantic comedies with fantasy undertones. It is one of the most popular French films in history. Amélie conquered the audience because of her sweetness, but also because of her revenge. Somehow it fulfilled what the posters said about it by changing some lives. This is because it invites the audience to look at the world from a different perspective.