amelie movie review new york times

Jean-Pierre Jeunet ‘s “Amelie” is a delicious pastry of a movie, a lighthearted fantasy in which a winsome heroine overcomes a sad childhood and grows up to bring cheer to the needful and joy to herself. You see it, and later when you think about it, you smile. Audrey Tautou , a fresh-faced waif who looks like she knows a secret and can’t keep it, plays the title role, as a little girl who grows up starving for affection. Her father, a doctor, gives her no hugs or kisses and touches her only during checkups–which makes her heart beat so fast he thinks she is sickly. Her mother dies as the result of a successful suicide leap off the towers of Notre Dame, a statement which reveals less of the plot than you think it does.

Amelie grows up lonely and alone, a waitress in a corner bistro, until one day the death of Princess Diana changes everything. Yes, the shock of the news causes Amelie to drop a bottle cap, which jars loose a stone in the wall of her flat, which leads her to discover a rusty old box in which a long-ago boy hoarded his treasures. And in tracking down the man who was that boy, and returning his box, Amelie finds her life’s work: She will make people happy. But not in any old way. So, she will amuse herself (and us) by devising the most extraordinary stratagems for bringing about their happiness.

I first began hearing about “Amelie” last May at the Cannes Film Festival, where there was a scandale when “Amelie” was not chosen for the Official Selection. “Not serious,” sniffed the Very Serious authorities who decide these matters. The movie played in the commercial theaters of the back streets, where audiences vibrated with pleasure. It went on to win the audience awards at the Edinburgh, Toronto and Chicago film festivals, and I note on the Internet Movie Database that it is currently voted the 54th best film of all time, and hasn’t even opened in America yet.

I am not sure “Amelie” is better than “ Fargo ” (No. 63) or “The General” (No. 87), but I know what the vote reflects: Immediate satisfaction with a film that is all goodness and cheer–sassy, bright and whimsical, filmed with dazzling virtuosity, and set in Paris, the city we love when it sizzles and when it drizzles. Of course this is not a realistic modern Paris, and some critics have sniffed about that, too: It is clean, orderly, safe, colorful, has no social problems, and is peopled entirely by citizens who look like extras from “ An American in Paris .” This is the same Paris that produced Gigi and Inspector Clouseau. It never existed, but that’s OK.

After discovering the box and bringing happiness to its owner, Amelie improvises other acts of kindness: painting word-pictures of a busy street for a blind man, for example, and pretending to find long-lost love letters to her concierge from her dead husband, who probably never mailed her so much as a lottery ticket. Then she meets Nino (the director Mathieu Kassovitz ), who works indifferently in a porn shop and cares only for his hobby, which is to collect the photos people don’t want from those automated photo booths and turn them into collages of failed facial expressions.

Amelie likes Nino so much that one day when she sees him in her cafe, she dissolves. Literally. Into a puddle of water. She wants Nino, but some pixie quirk prevents her from going about anything in a straightforward manner and success holds no bliss for her unless it comes about through serendipity. There must be times when Nino wonders if he is being blessed or stalked.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet has specialized in films of astonishing visual invention but, alas, impenetrable narratives (“Delicatessen,” “The City of Lost Children”). He worked for Hollywood as the director of “Alien: Resurrection” (1997), placing it, I wrote, “in what looks like a large, empty hanger filled with prefabricated steel warehouse parts.” With “Amelie,” he has shaken loose from his obsession with rust and clutter, and made a film so filled with light and air, it’s like he took the cure. The film is filled with great individual shots and ideas. One of the best comes when Amelie stands high on the terrace of Montmartre and wonders how many people in Paris are having orgasms at that exact instant, and we see them, 15 in all, in a quick montage of hilarious happiness. It is this innocent sequence, plus an equally harmless childbirth scene, that has caused the MPAA to give the movie an undeserved R rating (in Norway it was approved for everyone over 11).

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. “Amelie” takes those chances, and gets away with them.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Rufus as Raphael Poulain
• Mathieu Kassovitz as Nino Quicampoix
• Yolande Moreau as Madeleine Wallace
• Audrey Tautou as Amelie
• Guillaume Laurant

Directed by

• Jean-Pierre Jeunet

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Amélie (2001): Why Does Everyone Love This Movie So Much?

Amélie (2001) is about an innocent and naive girl in Paris with her own sense of justice. She decides to help those around her and, along the way, discovers love.

This French film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is about a young girl, Amélie. After doing a good deed, Amélie makes it a mission of her life to provide happiness to those around her. On this selfless journey, she finds love when she least expects it.

Amélie is one of the most widely-known French films throughout the world. The movie has been nominated for and won many awards . In other movie news  Amélie was also featured in The New York Times’ Best 1000 Movies Ever Made article.

My favourite part of the movie was the beautiful Audrey Tautou who played the titular character of Amélie. Tautou is probably the only actress who could have pulled this role off as well as she did. From her captivating facial expressions to her bob hairstyle, nobody can imagine Amélie without Tautou.

The movie has a very unique plot, with some equally unique and quirky characters. The main character, Amélie, likes to collect pebbles from the road and sink her fingers in sack of grains. Her love interest likes to collect discarded photographs of strangers from photo booths. There is also an old man who paints the same Renoir painting every year. These quirks, with addition to Amélie’s overactive imagination, makes the whole plot eccentric in a very amusing manner.

André Dussollier gives a heart-warming narration to the plot. The way he described each and every character in detail completely absorbed me.

“Times are hard for dreamers.”

One of my favourite scenes from the movie was the ending scene when Amélie finally meets her love interest after a two-hour long wait. The build up was so intense that I couldn’t help but squeal during their iconic kiss.

Visually speaking, this film is an inspiration for every filmmaker. The colour palette includes shades of green, red and yellow. The lighting and hues remain consistent throughout the movie, making the cinematography very aesthetic. This also highlights the emotions of Amélie, who is lonely yet searches for happiness in the smallest of things.

This movie has a very innocent storyline and is perfectly fit for children. However, it still has an R-rating due to a quick sexual montage and another small scene featuring nudity. While the scenes are not very graphic, some people might not prefer watching this film with kids below the age of fourteen.

The Verdict:

Amélie had been in my watchlist since eternity. I had heard so much praise about this film and I only regret not watching it earlier. The creativity of the plot and characters is one of my favourite aspects of this film. This is the kind of movie which you can watch with your friends or your family. Be it on a sleepover, movie night, or simply a weekend, Amélie is a perfect pick for all moods.

DIRECTOR: Jean-Pierre Jeunet WRITERS:  Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet CINEMATOGRAPHY: Bruno Delbonnel STARRING: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta, Serge Merlin, Jamel Debbouze

• Acting - 9.6/10 9.6/10
• Cinematography - 9.6/10 9.6/10
• Plot/Screenplay - 9/10 9/10
• Setting/Theme - 8.5/10 8.5/10
• Buyability - 8.5/10 8.5/10
• Recyclability - 7.5/10 7.5/10

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‘We Made Something a Little Fake’

Amélie director jean-pierre jeunet reflects on the very french fairy tale he imagined after leaving hollywood..

From the moment that 2001 audiences saw Amélie ’s initial cascade of storybook images flash across the screen and heard the bourbon-y rumble of its third-person narrator describing the yearning and kindness of its title character and the daily struggles of ordinary citizens, they knew they were in for something special. French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ode to the magic of Paris became the top-grossing film of the director’s career as well as his biggest critical hit, earning awards from groups around the globe. The movie is being rereleased globally today: The occasion is Valentine’s Day, but as Jeunet told us in a wide-ranging interview about the movie, he doesn’t consider Amélie  to be a romance.

Where did Amélie come from? I quit Paris for Hollywood when I made Alien Resurrection . Then I came back to Paris and decided I wanted to make Amélie . For years and years, I had taken notes on computers, because I am keen to remember good memories, good souvenirs, good anecdotes, good stories. I had plenty of notes, but it was difficult to find the main story in them. I spent a lot of time wondering, Is it a thriller? Is it a love story ? One morning, I read my notes and came across one small detail. And I thought, “Oh! This is the main story!” Then it got easy. Easy to write, easy to shoot — not easy to find the money, of course!

What did you settle on for the main story? The story of a girl helping other people. That story came from the one detail in my notes, which is, believe it or not: I was in Paris one time, and I saw this guy, and he was — how can I say? — without legs. Like in a western: He was in a box with wheels on it! Moving around like this [ sweeps both arms downward repeatedly ]. And I thought, Oh my God. Maybe this guy has some friends? And they form a kind of an association? And then they help other people ? Because life can be just a piece of shit, you know? You need help from other people.

Since it’s going to be rereleased internationally on Valentine’s Day, I wanted to ask: Do you think of Amélie as a romance? No.

If it’s not about romance, what’s it about? The story is: Because Amélie never asks for something in return for helping other people, she wins something. What she wins is love.

What specific films did you have in mind as you were making Amélie ? There were many, but I don’t know if you can recognize them in Amélie . The most important film in my life for a long time was Once Upon a Time in the West . I saw it when I was 17. I couldn’t speak for three days. I swear! Finally my parents asked me, “Are you sick?” I said, “No. You cannot understand!”

What does Once Upon a Time in the West have to do with Amélie ? Nothing! [ Laughs. ] No, no, no …. wait a minute. Maybe the way you use a long lens to shoot a close-up? Sergio Leone’s close-ups at the beginning of that western are incredible. Also, the film’s sound design. A Clockwork Orange is another one that influenced me. I saw it 14 times in a theater. At that time, there were no VCRs! Can you believe it? A Clockwork Orange , 14 times? It’s not the sort of thing you want to see with your family, of course! It’s all a question of style. Even if you can’t see my influences, they’re in there.

I thought of Wings of Desire as I watched it again. Oh, yes! There are certain details from Wings of Desire in there, exactly! The parts where people think about the little things in life — the first drop of rainwater to land on the sidewalk, for example. But you know how it is when you make a film: You like a lot of different things, and you mix them all together and try to make something new.

What was the inspiration for Amélie finding the little boy’s box hidden behind a piece of baseboard tile in her bathroom? That was from Wim Wenders’s film, a beautiful film in black-and-white, Kings of the Road . Rüdiger Vogler visits a very old house, and under the house, he finds a box. Wenders has said that moment was an homage to his hero Nicholas Ray, who directed a film about rodeo riders, The Lusty Men . There’s a scene at the beginning of that film where Robert Mitchum goes into a very old house and reaches through some cobwebs under a crawl space and finds a box with some of his childhood things, including a small toy gun and some books. So I pay homage to Wim Wenders’s homage to Nicholas Ray! It’s un hommage en ricochet .

Ricochet? Like a bullet? Yes! [ Mimes a bullet ricocheting off the borders of his computer screen. ] Tung! Tung! Tung!

I had seen your previous films prior to Amélie , and I remember thinking that it felt different from the others. There’s a third-person narrator, like in The Age of Innocence or The Royal Tenenbaums . You have a lot, and I mean a lot, of characters, and a lot of narrative, too. And the cuts are very fast throughout, compared to your other films. Yes! Also, another big difference: I shot a lot of it outdoors. I hate that. On a soundstage, you can control everything. When you’re outdoors, there is somebody else who is the master. [ Points up. ] He gives you some clouds or some sun, when you want or when you don’t want. I don’t like that!

Especially in Paris. People are not very cooperative with filmmakers like they are in America. One day a guy parked his car right in front of the camera and said, “Fuck the cinema!” [ Laughs. ] We had to wait an hour for the guy to leave. When we were shooting the scene at the magazine store, there was a guy dealing drugs or something. He had a bike. Whenever I said “Rolling,” he went: [ Mimes ringing a bicycle bell. ] Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! And he kept doing it! “Rolling!” Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! “Rolling!” Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! And of course if you give him money to make him stop, another arrives immediately. John Huston had the same problem in Paris when he shot Moulin Rouge .

There are so many props in this film that are unique, like Nino’s book of reassembled passport photos that were discarded by people using photo booths. Those all had to be fabricated, yes? That’s right! I love production design. All of my films were nominated for the French film awards, the César. We had two nominations for Amélie for production design, for the César and BAFTA, and we won BAFTA. The garden gnome that Amelie sends around the world, that’s something that you can buy. But yes, so many things had to be made. For the pig lamp, I asked a German production designer, and we built it, and it’s in my office right now. The photo book that Nino has: We made that, but it’s based on a real book, from a true story about a guy who fixed passport photo-booth machines. That was another something I had in my collection of anecdotes. That photo book was real, but we couldn’t use it in the film because we couldn’t show the pictures in it.

Because you’d need to track all those people down and get them to sign releases? That’s right. The pictures you see in the book that we show in the film are of my wife and some friends, you know — people like that. We also paid for some extras. It was a big frustration for all of them because I would tell them to sit down inside the photo booth and they expected to just be directed as they had their pictures taken, and instead I would go, “Boo!” and click the photo. Then, “Finished! Thank you!” It was ridiculous for them.

The locations were part of the production design as well. I did all of the location scouting myself on a scooter! You know? [ Mimes riding a scooter and makes scooter noises. ] I chose the subway station where so much action happens, the Abbesses metro station. Beautiful! I visited all the subway stations in Paris twice to make sure I chose the best one.

Amélie is far and away your most popular film in the United States — [ Delighted ] I know!

— and I find that especially interesting because, as you mentioned, you made it right after Alien Resurrection , your first and only Hollywood movie. And your next film isn’t just French. It’s super-French! It is!

Is the super-Frenchness a reaction to Hollywood? You’re not totally wrong. I came back to France after spending 20 months in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, you know, is such a weird city, with parking lots everywhere — it’s a little bit depressing. And then I came back to Paris and thought, My God! This is a beautiful city! Just beautiful! I had the same vision as when I went to Paris for the first time when I was 20 or 21 years old, just after I got out of the army. The city was a revelation. I wanted to show Paris through those eyes. So I cheated. I got rid of the cars parked on the street. I got rid of the dog shit on the streets. We changed all the posters. We made something a little bit fake.

Can you talk about the influence of fairy tales? It seems important in all of your work. Do you know The Tale of Tom Thumb ? He gets lost in the forest with some friends, and he puts some stones down so that he can find his way back to the house. This is a thing in all of my films. Also, in my films, there’s a kid — Amélie is not a kid, of course; but maybe a little bit, in a way? — who is fighting against a monster. For Amélie, the monster is not an alien or the Butcher from Delicatessen or the old man in City of Lost Children. The monster is introversion. Does that make sense? Amélie has to fight against that monster, and her weapon is imagination. This is my life, in fact.

What was your monster, if I may ask? I won’t tell you what was my monster. It’s personal. But I will tell you that I saved my life with my imagination.

That’s a lovely sentiment. And it translates into the film, which is fundamentally optimistic. I found, in my very first notes, a line: “This film has to be positive.” Meaning, this has to be a principle for us, to make a positive movie. It’s not easy to make a film that’s positive. Not too much sugar, you know what I mean? I hope I did that — sweet but not too sweet. If it’s too much, it can become a pain in the ass, even for me.

Why are upbeat films not taken as seriously as grim ones? I don’t know. Maybe some critics, they prefer — especially in France — something very dark, something very uhhhhhh ! [ Makes sour face .] We are so inclined to be negative. But this one time, with Amélie , I had the audience, I had the awards, for a positive movie. The reviews were positive, too — maybe 98 percent.

How hard was it to get the movie made in the first place? The original funders, Pathe, fired me. They didn’t want me doing it because they said it was too expensive. They told me I had to reduce the budget, and when I told them I couldn’t, they fired me. Similar kind of story with 20th Century Fox, which released Alien Resurrection. The boss of the studio at the time, Tom Rothman, said, “We would like to produce your next movie.” So I sent the script and I flew from Paris to Los Angeles to meet with them about Amélie . But at the meeting, I felt something was wrong. They seemed embarrassed. Tom Rothman said, “Uh, Jean-Pierre? The marketing service read it, and they said it’s not Titanic .” I said, “No, you’re right, it’s definitely not Titanic . It’s Amélie From Montmartre .”

It’s funny that they compared it negatively to Titanic , as if Titanic was a proven formula for success. The consensus prior to release was that Titanic was a folly that was going to destroy James Cameron and ruin the studios that co-funded it, 20th Century Fox and Paramount.  Yes, that’s true! And when Tom Rothman saw the finished Amélie , which was bought for the U.S. by Miramax, he was so pissed off, he probably fired people the next day.

Even Cannes rejected it , which seems absurd now.  You know, almost three years ago, for the 20th anniversary, Cannes showed it — an outdoor screening on the beach. It was a rainy day, so they warned me: “Probably we will have 50 people, no more.” It was packed! They had 800 people and they had to turn 200 people away. Probably everybody there had seen the film before. It was extraordinary.

What sorts of reactions do you get from younger filmmakers? Are they influenced by Amélie ? Oh, yes. Sometimes they come up to me and say, “Will you sign my DVD?” And I sign it, and they say, “This is the favorite film of my mother!” [ Puts face in hands in mock despair . ] But it’s okay! The film came out 23 years ago! I get asked a lot to make a sequel or a remake — as a film or as a TV series. But we know that we could never make it as good, so we reject the proposition.

How did Amélie do in countries besides France and the United States? In Japan, it was a big success. Same reaction, everywhere, everywhere ! That’s a source of great satisfaction to me, because when you write something like Amélie , relying on your own personal notes, you expect to have maybe one million admissions internationally, altogether. But by the end, the film became something bigger than us. We even had a screening with the president at the time, Jacques Chirac. As we say in France, it became un phénomène social — how to say it in English?

A social phenomenon? Voilà! And I never expected that. I often used to think, Oh my God, I wish I could have a big success someday . I didn’t think I ever would. But sometimes it happens!

Do you ever worry that Amélie overshadows the rest of your work? No. A filmmaker friend said to me, “It must be a problem for you to have had such a big success.” Everyone should have such problems!

• jean-pierre jeunet
• audrey tautou
• valentine's day
• un phénomène social

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Amelie Review

05 Oct 2001

120 minutes

Paris: city of light, city for lovers swept up by the air of romance. It’s the perfect setting for Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s wonderful Amélie, a film with a golden, glowing heart. This massive hit at the French box office is the very dictionary definition of ‘feel-good’ — its irresistible charms will dispel the heaviest clouds hanging over the head of the gloomiest misanthrope.

Freed from the darker imagination of Marc Caro (with whom he collaborated on Delicatessen and The City Of Lost Children) and the restraints Hollywood thrust upon him during Alien Resurrection, Jeunet has created one of the most joyous films of recent years. With its gallery of affectionately drawn grotesques and eccentrics, Amélie is filled with sunshine.

As in Delicatessan, Jeunet’s characters are essentially lonely individuals drawn together by geography; here, however, he brightens their lives with the positive force that is Amélie, adorably played by Audrey Tautou. Jeunet encourages us to share sympathy with these people, as his balanced approach finds humour in their disappointments and a note of sadness in their funny little quirks.

In France, Amélie was attacked for depicting a Montmartre without ethnic diversity. But to criticise this film on racial grounds is like complaining that Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is a bit too loud — it’s just carping for the sake of it. Anyway, the whole film is filtered through the imagination of its central character, a woman who withdrew into her private little world as a child cut off from her peers. This allows Jeunet to pass off some gently bizarre observations as Amélie’s own and to bathe the film in the ‘magic realism’ that had become tarnished by inferior films.

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Amélie Reviews

Snapshot of an idealized version of [Montmartre]... fate, joy, momentary despair and still more joy. It’s filled with lists of likes and dislikes and Jeunet’s restless need to entertain makes <i>Amélie</i> a list in itself.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Jul 4, 2024

Life is hard, but it can be quite beautiful too. And that's especially the case if you use some of it to watch Amélie.

Full Review | Apr 27, 2024

An enchanting, quirky comedy that, like its central character, marches to its own (off)beat.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 23, 2024

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s quirky rom-com AMÉLIE felt like a breath of fresh air when it was released two decades ago. It's just as relevant today, but for different reasons.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 14, 2024

With the talented Audrey Tautou in the leading role, Amelie is sheer delight, and will entrance everyone who sees it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 13, 2024

Amelie is a delicious pastry of a movie, a lighthearted fantasy in which a winsome heroine overcomes a sad childhood and grows up to bring cheer to the needful and joy to herself. You see it, and later when you think about it, you smile.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 13, 2024

Jeunet [turns] the whole story into a comic strip with the inventiveness of his exaggerations, the terseness of his ironies, the briskness of his editing and a voiceover commentary which would have done Roald Dahl proud.

Full Review | Feb 13, 2024

Like its title character, Amelie is a quirky, unabashedly manipulative charmer that, while endearing at first, overstays its welcome. Until the visual pyrotechnics and faux joie de vivre become too overbearing, however, [it's] a captivating confection.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 13, 2024

An utterly fresh, imaginative and emotional piece of filmmaking that s touched by enough sheer magic to lift the spirits of even the most hardened cynic.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 13, 2024

If I ever wanted to run into a projectionist's booth and hug a canister of film, it was after I saw Amelie for the first time.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 13, 2024

Amélie is the romantic comedy adults have been waiting for. Maybe the one they need.

[Mathieu Kassovitz] provides Amelie with the highly unlikely love interest who gives this hyperactive charmer its undeniable fairy-tale element.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Feb 13, 2024

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film was all the rage in Paris and shunned by the Cannes Film Festival, where elitist selection committee members deemed it too lightweight for inclusion. Sometimes those elitist types know what there talking about.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Feb 13, 2024

Through all our isolation and division, we are united by love. If it takes an uplifting fantasy to state this idea, however whimsically and indirectly, then so much the better. Of course it's not real... What good's a fairy tale without a moral, anyway?

It is the feel-good escapist film that most of us need right now, but with a frequent twist of tartness and a cinematic giddiness that intoxicates.

Amélie is the happy ending to a year that most of us would just as soon forget. This is a film to remind us of the urgent importance of frivolity.

An out-of-practically-nowhere hit in France, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's sweet magic fable is specifically designed to restore our blasted faith in human decency.

Although it's too long for a film so slight, it transports us to a Paris that's as irresistible as it is unreal.

It’s a lighter-than-air French pastry of a film that will have you begging for more.

It's a delirious funhouse of a movie that's an unrepentant crowd pleaser, and one that French tourism officials probably welcomed with open arms.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 13, 2024

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Despite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love. Despite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love. Despite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.

• Jean-Pierre Jeunet
• Guillaume Laurant
• Audrey Tautou
• Mathieu Kassovitz
• 1.6K User reviews
• 157 Critic reviews
• 70 Metascore
• 59 wins & 74 nominations total

Top cast 81

• Amélie Poulain

• Nino Quincampoix

• Raphaël Poulain
• Amandine Poulain
• Raymond Dufayel

• Madame Suzanne - la patronne du café

• Madeleine Wallace

• Dominique Bretodeau

• Mr. Collignon

• Mrs. Collignon

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Whenever this film was shot on location, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and the crew would clean the area of debris, grime, trash and graffiti, so that the real settings would match the fantastic nature of the film. This was an especially difficult task when it came time to shoot at the huge train station.
• Goofs When Nino visits Amélie in the cafe, "Menu du Jour" disappears and reappears on the glass between shots.

The Sacré-Coeur Boy : The fool looks at a finger that points at the sky.

• Crazy credits In the opening titles, Amélie as a child is shown doing various things. These activities illustrate the titles being shown at the same time.
• Connections Featured in The 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2002)
• Soundtracks Les Jours Tristes (instrumental) Written by Neil Hannon Arranged and Performed by Yann Tiersen

User reviews 1.6K

• Feb 28, 2003

Everything New on Max in August

• What is 'Amélie' about?
• Is this movie based on a novel?
• In what language is 'Amélie'?
• February 8, 2002 (United States)
• Official Facebook
• Official site
• Rue des Trois-Frères, Paris 18, Paris, France (Amelie's home)
• Claudie Ossard Productions
• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)
• Victoires Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $10,000,000 (estimated)
• $33,712,444
• Nov 4, 2001
• $175,187,028

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 2 minutes
• Black and White
• Dolby Digital

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• Common Sense Says
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Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Thoughtful, charming, whimsical film has mature moments.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that while Amélie is like a fairy tale, there are some graphic moments. One character works in a porn shop, and we see him surrounded by sex toys. There are comic but explicit sexual situations. There is a reference to suicide, and a child's mother is killed in an accident.

Why Age 16+?

Character works in porn shop. Comic sexual situations -- explicit, but only brie

Drinking and smoking

Some sexual references.

Any Positive Content?

Shows how random acts of kindness and generosity can be truly rewarding. Major t

Amelie quietly encourages her reclusive father to go out and see the world. She

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Character works in porn shop. Comic sexual situations -- explicit, but only brief glimpses of bare-breasted characters having orgasms.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Shows how random acts of kindness and generosity can be truly rewarding. Major themes include compassion, empathy, curiosity, and gratitude.

Positive Role Models

Amelie quietly encourages her reclusive father to go out and see the world. She needs a big push, however, to come out from behind her disguises and ruses to finally get the guy.

Parents need to know that while Amélie is like a fairy tale, there are some graphic moments. One character works in a porn shop, and we see him surrounded by sex toys. There are comic but explicit sexual situations. There is a reference to suicide, and a child's mother is killed in an accident. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (13)
• Kids say (25)

Based on 13 parent reviews

A sweet, good-hearted, magical film. Don't be scared by the quick montage of ...s-e-x.

A film that teens should be able to watch, what's the story.

AMELIE ( Audrey Tatou ) grows up the lonely child of parents who do not know how to show their love for her. She becomes a thoughtful, quiet, observant girl who decides to change the lives of those around her, opening hearts to the adventure that is waiting for them, taking revenge on a cruel grocer, bringing together a couple who are afraid to show their longing for each other, and bringing the outside world to a reclusive painter and to her own father. But will she do for herself what she has done for others and find love with the mysterious collector of rejected photo booth pictures? And who is the "ghost" who appears in so many of the torn photos?

Is It Any Good?

This film is filled with airy whimsical charm the way that a chocolate soufflé is filled with air. Audrey Tatou is just right as Amélie , a perfect gamine in a Lulu haircut. Writer-director Jean-Pierre Jeunet gives the story a feeling somewhere between fairy tale and documentary. His behind-the-scenes glimpses of the characters' likes and dislikes – from cleaning out a toolbox and getting fingers pruny in the bath to sticking a hand in a barrel of grain and cracking the sugar on a crème brulée -- are deliciously particular and somehow very touching.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about why Amélie wants to help people from a distance and is reluctant to show herself to the man who attracts her.

Why do so many people need outside help to find happiness? Is there someone you would like to help?

How does Amélie demonstrate compassion and empathy ? What about curiosity and gratitude ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 2, 2001
• On DVD or streaming : December 1, 2002
• Cast : Audrey Tautou , Lorella Cravotta , Mathieu Kassovitz
• Director : Jean-Pierre Jeunet
• Studio : Miramax
• Genre : Comedy
• Character Strengths : Compassion , Curiosity , Empathy , Gratitude
• Run time : 122 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : comic sexuality
• Last updated : August 4, 2024

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Amélie: An Extraordinary Girl Living In An Everyday World

A mélie  is about a shy, lonely young woman of the same name (played by Audrey Tautou) that finds she loves brightening the lives of those around her, using extraordinary and even bizarre methods to do so. Amélie, mistakenly believed to have a heart condition as a child, was raised at home by her two parents. Her neurotic mother dies while Amélie is still a child thanks to a suicidal Canadian tourist, while her father is distant, growing only more withdrawn upon his wife’s death.

Amélie is unusual. Because she was so sheltered as a child, she made up imaginary friends and circumstances, developing a fantastical and mischievous personality as a result. That personality comes in handy as an adult each time she finds ways to change the lives of those around her for the better.

This French romantic comedy truly stands out, even to this day. Upon its release in 2001, audiences everywhere were enamored with the rom-com. Strangely enough, the plot doesn’t necessarily scream surprise or complex. It’s more simplistic in nature, and usually, audiences are bored with such a concept. Amélie  isn’t a surprise, but it isn’t what you’d expect, either (especially with the creepy-looking movie poster which can be misleading). Keeping a balance between expectation and unpredictability is no easy feat, especially when the plot is facile and the characters are stereotypical, yet somehow contain a sense of unpredictability (especially where it concerns Amélie).

I always considered Amélie to be a good character. Fun, vivacious, full of life. She was waiting to be let out of the figurative cage she’d been held in most of her life. I appreciated the narrator because he offered many insights into her character and helped the audience get to know her better.

Amélie wanted to add something to the world, spread some love and happiness, and paint the black and white of the world with a wildly colorful brush. She manages to do all that and more, finding happiness not just for others but also for herself along the way, and that’s one of the many reasons why Amélie  is so treasured.

Every film comes with some criticism. People are different, hence different opinions. With a movie like Amélie,  you either love it, or you hate it. There’s no in-between.

“ Amélie is one of those films that never stops reassuring the audience that it’s on their side, taking them firmly by the hand and leading them…well, nowhere really,” writes Frédéric Bonnaud. He adds that the film abuses “in-your-face devices–like Amélie ‘s heart beating under her sweater or any number of crazy, ostentatious camera stunts.”

Granted, sometimes Amélie  can be a bit much. Whether or not people go along with the cartoon-like visuals that pop up every here and there is a matter of personal preference. I didn’t mind the visual of Amélie disappearing, melting and becoming water–it was a representation of how she felt. It resonates with me personally because sometimes, when you lose your chance, find yourself embarrassed, or something of the like, doesn’t everyone feel like melting at one point or another?

Other times, like the visual of her heart pounding in her chest, it seems unnecessary. You can tell by the look on Amélie’s face just how she feels, so the heart visual is over-the-top. It reminds me of that scene in Mary Poppins when Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews are dancing away with animated characters. It seemed like a touch much, not unlike Amélie’s heart.

Bonnaud also notes that “characters are heavily typed until they’re transformed into familiar figures”, like the “obnoxious merchant”, “the reclusive old painter”, etcetera. While these characters fall into their stereotypes, they each play a meaningful part of the story. They’re a representation of both fictional and real life. There are people out in the world that are a perfect example of conformity to a stereotype, be it spoiled rich girl, slacker skateboarder, dumb jock, or something along those lines. On the other hand, the characters are also a representation of how films see stereotypes, but I think Amelie found a balance in these stereotypical characters. They had just the right amount of stereotype about them without it being overly excessive, which made the inclusion of these characters like repugnant Mr. Collignon a complementary asset.

A Cinematography Observation

The scene where Amelie heads to Mr. Collignon’s mother’s house to inquire about the people that used to reside in her apartment is worth mentioning based on the cinematography alone. Amélie’s outfit matches the colors of the buildings and most of the surroundings as she walks up the street.

However, the lush green of the trees beyond the walls stand out, as does the blue Volkswagen Beetle. The Beetle was the first thing I noticed, the contrast of the blue to its surroundings so incredibly prominent I had to appreciate the scene that much more. I’m sure the Beetle’s placement is a nod to Germany, given the film was a co-production between Germany and France. I don’t know what it is about this scene, but I find it fascinating, invigorating and alluring.

Why Amélie Is So Beloved

I have two theories as to why the film has been loved since day one.

Firstly, it’s because the film depicts a young girl conducting kind acts for others out of a desire to make lives better and put some good out in the world. How many people, especially young people, would take time out of their hectic lives to help others the way Amélie does? How many take the time to notice the simple pleasures in life, like cracking crème brûlée with a spoon?

When it comes down to it, I think Amélie is a symbol of humanity at its best. She is a reminder that there are still caring and sympathetic people out in the world with good intentions. No matter where you are in the world, everyone has their days of despair when they think they’re only dealing with the worst of humanity. Amélie is a light, a symbol of hope and faith. She is a reminder that not all people are bad, hence giving audiences a good omen to believe in.

Not only that, but Amélie is also an inspiration. I don’t know about anyone else, but she makes me want to be a better person, to strive to be more like her. She gradually lets her walls down and becomes less afraid of the world, finding ways to enjoy more of it than she’s previously had the opportunity to. She makes me want to observe my surroundings with a clearer focus and to appreciate the little things like the five senses.

My second theory has to do with life itself. Gwladys Fouché notes that she loves the film because “Amélie offers a poetic and escapist vision of everyday life.” This is my favorite description of the film because it’s perfectly apt and a beautiful perspective to take away from the film.

Amélie is a waitress, living a relatively normal, everyday life. That can quickly become mundane. Amélie finds ways to create her own little thrills and surprises in life and finds true purpose and reward in helping others. When life becomes too mundane, that’s precisely what’s needed—a true purpose. You find something outside of your usual surroundings, go beyond your comfort zone and discover something new about yourself. Maybe there’s some risk, but the reward at the end is usually much greater. Meeting new people, doing new things, helping others–that’s what keeps life interesting and exciting, and it erases the mundane and allows you to spread true greatness, infusing it with the world. That possibility gives audiences hope and inspiration to change the mundane of their lives into their own little thrills.

My absolute favorite scene of the entire film is when Amélie walks with the blind man, quickly explaining to him everything she sees in vivid detail. She sounds hurried, but it’s because she’s so excited, and the man soaks everything in with wonder, fascination and a smile. She really does do him a kind service, and then just as quickly as she helped him, she’s gone, leaving him at the metro and bidding him farewell. Sharing the world with someone who cannot see or even enjoy it in the same way you can is something truly special, and one-of-a-kind.

I think that’s why Amélie is so popular. She’s one-of-a-kind. She’s relatable because she’s shy and lonely and uncertain, but she makes a choice to change all of that, and she manages to find love and happiness because of it. Being brave means doing what scares you, and Amélie overcame her fears and got back in the world when she’d been isolated from it most of her life.

Written by Kacie Lillejord

Kacie is a freelance writer versed in various forms. She loves pop culture, screenwriting, novels, and poetry. She has previously written for The Daily Wildcat, Harness Magazine, Cultured Vultures, and Screen Rant, with 25YL being her newest writing venture.

2001 Amelie Audrey Tautou Cinematography Fantastical France French german Germany Jean-Pierre Jeunet Paris Rom-Com Romantic Comedy

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I love your descriptions of the character in Amelie, one of my favorite films. 🙂

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Amélie Movie

Who's Involved:

Serge Merlin, Jamel Debbouze, Audrey Tautou, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Mathieu Kassovitz, Lorella Cravotta

Release Date:

Wednesday, February 14, 2024 Nationwide

Plot: What's the story about?

Amélie (Audrey Tatou), the heroine of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s award-winning whimsical romance, is no ordinary young woman. A waitress in a Montmartre, Paris 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 misson to do accomplish something for herself…in the most charming and complicated way possible.

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Who stars in Amélie: Cast List

Audrey Tautou

The Jesus Rolls, A Very Long Engagement  

Mathieu Kassovitz

Munich, Haywire  

Lorella Cravotta

Serge Merlin

Jamel Debbouze

Angel-A  

Who's making Amélie: Crew List

A look at the Amélie behind-the-scenes crew and production team. The film's director Jean-Pierre Jeunet last directed Micmacs and The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet .

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

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Production: what we know about amélie, filming timeline.

• 2023 - December : The film was set to Completed  status.

Amélie Release Date: When was the film released?

Amélie was a Nationwide release in 2024 on Wednesday, February 14, 2024 . There were 6 other movies released on the same date, including Madame Web , Bob Marley: One Love and Players .

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• Thu., Dec. 21, 2023
• added Jean-Pierre Jeunet as director to movie credits
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• added Lorella Cravotta as actor to movie credits
• added Mathieu Kassovitz as actor to movie credits
• added Audrey Tautou as actor to movie credits
• added Sony Pictures as a distributor
• changed the US film release date from TBA to February 14, 2024
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Review: ‘Amélie’ Is Easy to Listen To, but Never Really Sings

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By Ben Brantley

• April 3, 2017

For a cunning little bauble of an entertainment, the 2001 French film “Amélie” inspired uncommonly extreme responses. People were usually head over heels about it (“It’s so cute!”) or violently allergic to it (“But it’s so cute!”).

The mild-mannered musical adaptation of this movie, which opened on Monday night at the Walter Kerr Theater, is unlikely to stir similar passions. Featuring a book by Craig Lucas and music by Daniel Messé, with the lush-voiced Phillipa Soo in the title role, it is pleasant to look at, easy to listen to and oddly recessive. It neither offends nor enthralls.

Say what you will about its cinematic prototype, directed with an auteur’s flourish by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, it had style to spare, not to mention the courage of its worldly but whimsical convictions. In other words, “Amélie” the movie was très, très Français. “Amélie” the musical seems to have no nationality, or sensibility, to call its own.

Translating Mr. Jeunet’s work, not only from one language (and its culture) to another, but also from the screen to the stage, took the kind of fully committed courage that its shy titular heroine (Ms. Soo) must acquire to achieve a happy ending. So all credit to this show’s creative team, overseen by the director Pam MacKinnon, for giving coherent life to a tale that exists as much in Amélie’s imagination as in anywhere else.

“I can see the world I’m dreaming all around me,” sings Young Amélie (a charmingly poker-faced Savvy Crawford), the isolated daughter of overprotective but unloving parents (Manoel Felciano and Alison Cimmet). The show’s very clever designers — including David Zinn (set and costumes), Jane Cox and Mark Barton (lighting), and Peter Nigrini (the delightful projections) — and its 13-member, multiple-cast ensemble dutifully transform dreams into flesh (and fabric, wood, paper and plastic).

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Against gossip & scandal, independent media network, global stories from local perspective, factual culture news, the 21st anniversary of ‘amelie’ and an appreciation of the french new wave.

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Table of Contents

Photo: ‘Amélie’

As film-lovers, or those who simply want to sit down and watch a film to unwind, the way Cinema has impacted the way movies are made now is quite extensive. The history of Cinema spans decades and decades across a multitude of countries, and going over it all requires a lot of time and effort. With that said, it can be overwhelming on where to exactly start when wanting to learn about film history. But, luckily, this is where French Cinema comes in.

In terms of where to start in terms of the history of French Cinema, let’s talk about a brief overview (and an appreciation for the film since I truly can’t help myself) of the film that sparked a fire in me to write this article: the darling and rather iconic 2001 film ‘ Amélie ’.

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Amélie: What An Odd Girl

Now, I want to point out that ‘Amélie’ was officially released in theaters in November 2001; but it didn’t receive much initial recognition in North America due to wide releases only remaining in Europe. However, it’s thanks to the 2002 Golden Globes and the 2002 Academy Awards for nominating ‘Amélie’ and bringing forth that recognition to finally bring it to North American distribution. This is actually one of the many reasons why the film itself is so impressive. Now, let’s move into discussing the actual film. 

‘Amélie’, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet , is a widely-acclaimed French film that is mainly known for its influential nostalgia, along with referencing cliche French childhood memories and an ode to French history as a whole. Story-wise, the plot of the film follows Amélie; an adorable yet terribly shy girl who accidentally discovers that she has a gift for helping others. Through this newfound power, Amélie assists the people around her with beautiful aspects of life like matchmaking and being a guardian angel. However, when she suddenly bumps into a rather “handsome” stranger, Amélie is faced with the choice to become essentially the main star of her own love story.

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With reading the story alone, coupled with the fact that The New York Times lists ‘Amélie’ as number 27 on the “ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made ”, it’s clear to see that the film is exquisitely charming and a rather unexpected rom-com; but, it’s important to note that Amélie remains her own person with her own dimensional personality as well, so her story is simply more than rom-com at the same time. On top of this, there is also the element of how innovative the presentation within this film was due to its use of telling the action in a story primarily through voice; which was something that hadn’t been seen before in French films. 

Interestingly enough, ‘Amélie’ is just one of many amazing French films that influenced the way future Cinematic masterpieces would be created through a multitude of ways. More specifically, how the French New Wave in the late 50s is a prominent feature of Cinema history that deserves a myriad of appreciation and adoration.

Breaking The Tide With The French New Wave

The French New Wave originated in the late 1950s and is commonly known for being one of the first waves of Cinema history. The wave mainly consists of editing techniques that broke the rules of film at the time, such as creating the montage and using jump cuts within a scene. The term of the French New Wave was formed from four main French film critics and cinephiles associated with the magazine Cahiers du Cinéma , and then it soon became populized through French directors: François Truffaut , Jean-Luc Godard , Éric Rohmer , Jacques Rivette , Agnès Varda , and Claude Chabrol . The techniques used by these directors entirely broke the normalized convention of film at the time, and it ultimately widely influenced others in creating their films.

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When talking about the French New Wave, there are an endless amount of films that can be discussed. For instance, the most popular films to come out of this time are instant classics that you can find on almost every avid film-lovers watchlist (or list of films they’ve already seen). Films such as ‘ Breathless ’ (directed by Jean-Luc Godard) and ‘ Cleo From 5 to 7 ’ (Agnès Varda) immediately come to my mind when discussing French New Wave films; but, of course, there are lists upon lists that you can find to see all of the different kinds of films there are in this category. Overall, no matter the genre, these films one way or another had somehow broken the seemingly already established rules of Cinema. 

On the other hand, Cinema is such a wonderful and powerful form of media; and it’s ultimately so subjective in terms of one’s viewing pleasure. From a personal standpoint (and I do hope at least some of you would agree with me), out of all the different film waves throughout Cinema history, the French New Wave is completely the most influential. It was truly such a risk to go out and make movies that were so new and possibly daunting to audiences; but, it all worked out in the end. 

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A Shy Girl In A Cinematic World

There is justice and truthfulness in saying that French Cinema is something magical. They’ve remained a faithful reputation in creating continuous positively influential films, and their films only seem to be getting better with time (a recent example being the new Netflix Original film ‘ Dear Mother ’). Of course, based on what we’ve discussed within this article, a lot of this is due in part to the French New Wave being the magnificent catalyst to creating the overall art that is French Cinema. Especially modern French Cinema. 

‘Amélie’ is a wonderful example when looking back on modern French Cinema. By telling us a story through voice to emphasize actions, it creates a storybook feel and enthralls us as audience members. The reminiscent tone of nostalgia mixed in with a familiarity of French childhood for French audiences is conveyed so perfectly within ‘Amélie’ that it can also be entirely relatable to those living in the States as well (or just about anyone, really). There’s no doubt in my mind about how much love and appreciation ‘Amélie’ deserves to receive. 

Universally, I like to think that we all want to feel the emotions of what a film, or TV series, is trying to convey to us. There’s a tone and theme to them that the creators want you to feel, and when we get to actually experience that feeling it’s incredible. ‘Amélie’ accomplishes this aspect so tremendously, and it feels largely thanks to where it all began with the French New Wave.

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As I said before, French Cinema is worthy of getting praise for all that it’s accomplished over these past few decades, and its films are only going to get better from here. And, the fact that ‘Amélie’ was released only 21 years ago feels insane because it only just feels like yesterday when audiences first experienced this once shy girl into a blossoming character in charge of her own story. 

By Leah Donato 

Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Black Lives Matter, in which he tackles more than just police reform, press freedom and more – click here.

An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “The Hollywood Insider fully supports the much-needed Black Lives Matter movement. We are actively, physically and digitally a part of this global movement. We will continue reporting on this major issue of police brutality and legal murders of Black people to hold the system accountable. We will continue reporting on this major issue with kindness and respect to all Black people, as each and every one of them are seen and heard.

Just a reminder, that the Black Lives Matter movement is about more than just police brutality and extends into banking, housing, education, medical, infrastructure, etc. We have the space and time for all your stories. We believe in peaceful/non-violent protests and I would like to request the rest of media to focus on 95% of the protests that are peaceful and working effectively with positive changes happening daily. Media has a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so.”

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Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie, Amélie

Leah Donato is a writer and an aspiring screenwriter currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Leah has had an incredibly gigantic passion for film and writing stories since she was a little girl, and she always looks for opportunities to share her love of film with everyone she comes across. Through this, Leah hopes to achieve a sense of connectivity amongst the people around her with the stories she loves and the stories she writes. She wants the work she puts out to the world to be meaningful and provide a sense of comfort, which is what led her to The Hollywood Insider ; a media network where she can have a space to share her thoughts and views on the artistic cultural world with a purpose whilst being true to herself and spreading positivity to create a more progressive mindset. When not writing, Leah spends the rest of her spare time watching movies and consuming multiple different types of media such as music and video games.

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‘Amélie’ Is Even Better at 23: Jean-Pierre Jeunet Revisits the Academy Snub and Audrey Tautou’s Post-Fame Depression

Ryan lattanzio, deputy editor, film.

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Cannes rejected it. The Oscars ignored it. But “ Amélie ” lives on, as everyone’s favorite crème-brulee-cracking, stone-skipping Montmartre mischief-maker and romantic go-between is back in theaters come Valentine’s Day, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Starring Audrey Tautou as a daydreaming waitress in Paris who distracts herself from love’s loom by fixating on others’ messy, unfinished lives instead of her own, Jeunet’s film was a stylish marriage of the arthouse (there’s sex, sadness, and longing, all draped in vermilion-reds, ochres, and greens) with the more commercial fixings of a classic romantic comedy (girl meets boy, girl plants all possible obstacles to avoid him, girl gets out of her own way and finds a happy ending). Amélie, lonely in life, decides to improve the lives of her Parisian neighbors — a painter obsessively creating facsimiles only of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party” year after year, a hypochondriac cigarette salesgirl, Amélie’s father long-grieving the rather slapstick death of her neurotic mother — all while shortchanging her own shots at happiness and destiny. Were “Amélie” to release in earnest now, I imagine it would inspire its own brand of Barbiecore : women with short bobs, snapping TikToks on the Canal Saint-Martin, channeling their untapped joie de vivre . Nino Quincampoix (Mathieu Kassovitz), the unusual and handsome man Amélie eventually ends up with after much unnecessary chasing and skirting, even painstakingly assembles into an album book the Polaroid scraps of selfie-takers left aside in photobooth kiosks — a quirky project you can bet a contemporary distributor would capitalize on in its marketing and FYC efforts.

“The films of Jeunet really do stand the test of time,” Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker told IndieWire. “’Amélie’ was a movie we were interested in, but Miramax bought it for a sizable amount of money. We’ve always loved Jeunet. We also had a movie of his called ‘Micmacs,’ a beautiful film, and what we realized was ‘Amélie’s’ rights became available. We pursued them for a long period of time. When we acquired the rights, it became obvious that this was a film that not only was really popular when it opened, but it has continued to be popular year and year out when you see how well it’s done on home entertainment. The movie is prime for a reissue because it is that popular… It makes sense to open it on Valentine’s Day because it’s one of the most romantic pictures ever. We’re opening on 250 screens because it’s such a known item. The idea is people would want to see it either for the first time or see it again on the big screen.”

Jeunet spoke to IndieWire out of Provence, France, where he splits his time between, of course, the Montmartre neighborhood in Paris, “very close to the Café des 2 Moulins,” where Amélie worked.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity and length.

IndieWire: Obviously the movie was huge in the arthouse scene here in the United States. What was the cultural phenomenon of “Amélie” like in France?

Were you surprised “Amélie” didn’t win any of its five Academy Award nominations?

Jeunet: That year, the Academy decided to boycott Miramax because Mr. Weinstein … he did something not good. He sent some gifts, you know what I mean. The Academy said, “We won’t vote for ‘Amélie.’” It was in The Hollywood Reporter. We knew at the Golden Globes. Remember “No Man’s Land” [the film that won Best Foreign Language Film over “Amélie” at the Oscars]. It was a good film, but it wasn’t the success of “Amélie.” It was a bad surprise, but it was at the end of the story, after the release, we had so much good. We didn’t care. Now, I regret it, because the statue is so beautiful. I would’ve wanted to have that statue on my shelf. It’s a small regret. During the awards ceremony, [the host] was Whoopi Goldberg, and all the time, she made jokes about Harvey Weinstein. [Miramax] had 19 nominations that year, and they won maybe one [for Best Supporting Actor Jim Broadbent in “Iris”].

Harvey Weinstein didn’t make any cuts to the film. Had you heard that might happen by the time Miramax acquired it for the U.S.? He was notorious for editing directors’ work.

You famously wanted Emily Watson for the role of Amélie Poulain. Why did she turn it down?

Jeunet: In fact, I don’t remember. It was a very bad surprise. I had a dinner at home, and I couldn’t eat because I was so depressed. I didn’t know why. She told me it was for personal reasons. I met her during a ceremony in LA for critics or something. She was very nice to me, but I never knew exactly the reason. I met just two French actresses: Emma de Caunes and Audrey. It was such a big surprise immediately. You can see the moment of the casting on the bonus of the DVD, I asked her, “Where do you come from?” I was totally amazed. She was younger than Amélie was, but there was something fresher she brought to the film, and when you have a big success, it’s because the stars are in line, good music, some good ideas, a good actress. It’s a kind of miracle. It happens once in a lifetime.

What was your inspiration for the film’s distinct color palette, as shot by Bruno Delbonnel? So many shots have this green cast over them, but you also fill the frame with warm reds and oranges. There’s nothing like it.

For example, when she’s in her apartment, she has a purple lamp, and the rest of the frame is warm, and with an optical, chemical process, it wouldn’t be possible to do that, but with digital, we could, so it was a kind of game.

There are so many great minor roles and extras in this film, like all the Parisians whom Amélie imagines having orgasms throughout the city at the same time.

Jeunet: Everything is storyboarded. I am very precise. It’s not a question of editing, it’s a question of storyboard. Everything is in my head. Mostly, it’s on the paper. I love to work. I believe in working hard. I am a big worker, to sand and to put varnish. For example, for the casting, I made some tests with everyone, even for the smallest character. “Ticket please?” I saw maybe 20 people. After the storyboard, I go onstage during the weekend, and I prepare the week ahead with some stand-ins on the set with a photo camera.

Was there pressure after the film’s success to deliver another “Amélie”? You went on to make a completely different film, the period love story “A Very Long Engagement,” with Warner Bros. But I wonder if you felt stuck after buzz around “Amélie” ebbed.

Did Audrey feel like she didn’t want people to just know her as Amélie after the movie’s success?

Jeunet: At first, she wasn’t very happy about the success of the film. She told me, “I will change my job. I hate to be known. I hate when people take a picture of you without permission.” She was very depressed after “Amélie.” And I said, “OK, I know at the supermarket, they are looking for cashiers. I will push you.” And she said, “OK, I know, I am very lucky.” I said, “Yes, you are very lucky. Life is difficult for everyone. You cannot complain.” She doesn’t work a lot. She makes some very different things, and now she doesn’t want to work again because she has a daughter she adopted. She’s from Vietnam, and she loves her and wants to be with the little girl, and she doesn’t want to shoot for the moment. I hope that one more time she will be back, but for the moment, she is with the little girl. She has a very strong character. For example, we had a screening with Jacques Chirac, [then] the French president, for “Amélie.” She arrived a little late, and Jacques Chirac said, “Oh I thought you weren’t supposed to come.” She said, “You have to check your sources.”

Jeunet: I have a Chinese DVD, and it’s another French movie with Audrey [‘Happenstance’] I don’t know the title in English, and they said “Amélie 2,” and on the back it’s with Bruce Willis, produced by Walt Disney.

Was there anything about the movie you felt was misunderstood at the time?

Jeunet: When we make a big success, some people take advantage to speak about themselves. They spit on you like you made the worst piece of shit on earth because they know it will be a big controversy, and we had this problem in France. You get pissed off in this case, because when you have a big success, you want it to be a dream all the time, but it’s not the case. Of course, you have something to put the shit on the table. It happens for everything.

Was making the very personal “Amélie” three years later a response to your experience making 1997’s “Alien: Resurrection” as a director for hire in Hollywood? You’ve feuded with screenwriter Joss Whedon over this movie in the aftermath.

Liza Sullivan: You’re not supposed to sleep with a director, but I did.

Would you ever make another movie in Hollywood?

Jeunet: I think they forgot me. I turned down a big, big proposition. It was “Harry Potter,” don’t ask me which one [“The Order of the Phoenix”]. But it was a big proposition with [producer] David Heyman, and it was for me. But I’d just finished “A Very Long Engagement.” I was tired, I was exhausted, and I had to start next Monday, and I couldn’t. I’d have to leave the film [“A Very Long Engagement”] and do no promotion. I loved to travel around the world with “A Very Long Engagement.” Another reason: Everything was ready. The costume design, the story, the casting. I had to just be a director, so I turned it down. Sometimes I regret, and think I probably made a mistake, but this is the story. And I lost two or three years working on “Life of Pi.” We wrote a beautiful adaptation. Everybody loved that. The author of the novel, 20th Century Fox. It was just too expensive. And I proposed to produce myself, and it was OK, because the difference between the Euro and the dollar, it was the same thing. So I said, wait three years, we will be able to make the tiger in CGI, but they hired Ang Lee.

Jeunet: In fact, I appreciated both. I loved the film about the cooking [“The Taste of Things”], but I don’t know what happened. This is a little bit weird. Maybe because the director [of “Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet”] made a speech when she won the Palme d’Or, and maybe they didn’t like it. I follow because I am in the Academy, and I saw some screenings in Paris. It’s often the case with a director and actor, they come to Paris. I loved “Maestro,” and I spoke with Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper. I remember they asked me, “What are you doing?” I said, “I am the director of ‘Amélie.’” They said, “Wow!” It was great, probably because they wanted a vote for them.

Sony Pictures Classics will re-release “Amélie” in select theaters on February 14.

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‘Amélie’ In 2024: Does This Quirky French Romance Hold Up To Modern Scrutiny?

• By Larry Fried
• February 14, 2024
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Get ready to crack your crème brùlée crusts – Amélie is back. The beloved French love story and unprecedented international sensation returns to cinemas this Valentine’s Day for a limited re-release, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Now, a new generation will be introduced to Amélie Poulain, but does the film’s wide-eyed notions on love and life hold up two decades later? In this editorial, Geek Vibes Nation Senior Critic Larry Fried observes the film’s original success and how director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s vision both shines and shrivels when applied through a modern lens.

The world was a very different place when Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie first screened in North America. It was part of the Toronto International Film Festival, where close to 950 people had packed the now-demolished seats of the Uptown Theatre to witness Jeunet’s auteurist return to form following the failed Alien: Resurrection . The film’s thrilling box office run in its home country ( and snub from said home country’s most prestigious film festival ) had generated a hype unlike many other films at the festival that year, culminating with a bombastic premiere screening. The audience burst with laughter and joy right at the onset, having fully given into the charms of Amélie Poulain and Jeunet’s madcap comic sensibilities. As the film ended, positive People’s Choice Award ballots piling on top of one another – the film would win the award days later – buzz rang through the air like a magic spell. It was one of those rare film festival moments, when the novelty of discovery cosmically collides with an excitable audience and an exciting work of storytelling. For an evening, much like the ending of Amélie , all felt right with the world.

That was September 10th, 2001. The following day, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center and nothing was the same. The festival canceled its red carpets and gala parties, though the films played on , and chaos swept over Toronto and its many New York-bred visitors. You would think an event of this magnitude would snuff out the light of the prior evening, and it did, but only momentarily. Against all odds, Amélie rolled out globally, including a limited run in America beginning in November, and wound up becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year. It went on to win four Césars, two BAFTAs, top prize at the European Film Awards, and – perhaps its most unprecedented honor – five Oscar nominations, including in categories that rarely feature non-English language films: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.

In hindsight, it’s clear why a film built on acts of kindness captured the consciousness of a world struck by immense grief and tragedy. Ask anyone in New York how it felt following the events of 9/11 and they’ll tell you a spirit of brotherhood was in the air. People began looking out for each other, connecting in a way that defied the city’s air of hustle and bustle. Though Amélie’s thoughtfulness is shrouded in secrecy, hiding her madcap methods like some kind of pixie vigilante, she is driven to provide her colorful neighbors and co-workers with joy and happiness amidst life’s doldrums and disappointments. Her story was an antidote that set people’s hearts aflutter, anchored by a quirky romance that made you believe in love.

22 years later, Amélie remains in the upper echelon of international cinema. Beyond remaining one of the highest-grossing non-English language films in the United States, its iconic green poster, mesmerizing Yann Tiersen score, and bubbly lead performance from Audrey Tautou have kept it in the cultural consciousness. It isn’t merely a cult hit with cinephiles (though it remains so with a 4.2 Letterboxd score and over 190K five-star rankings), but considered one of the greatest romances of all time in the world of film discourse. Now, it’s back in theaters as a 2024 Valentine’s Day treat, thanks to Sony Pictures Classics newly purchasing the distribution rights. This would suggest there is more to the film’s appeal than its timeliness upon release, yet this critic’s first experience seeing it in 2024 revealed that appeal to be elusive.

There is, of course, much to enjoy about the film, starting from its opening moments. Narrated with a matter-of-fact, offbeat imagination that feels right at home with other filmmakers dominating independent film today like Wes Anderson or Yorgos Lanthimos , Amélie begins by detailing its eponymous protagonist’s childhood and the little things in life that keep her sheltered, neurotic parents at bay. Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume Laurant have an immediately singular story to tell, colored by quirks and details that are as outlandish as they are charming. Evocative camerawork and lush colors convey the story in a heightened manner that blends the humorous and the horrifying; the first 15 minutes alone contain two depictions of suicide, one cartoonish (Amélie’s pet fish) and one striking (a random woman falls on top of Amélie’s mother, ending both of their lives). 

Just as Amélie inherits her parents’ isolationist outlook and love of uniquely small pleasures, so too does the rest of the film continue to push Jeunet’s striking juxtapositions. One of the film’s highlights, a hardcore off-screen bathroom hookup that shakes the shelves of a humble Parisian cafe, is played for laughs as Amélie’s adorable smile brims widely. Nino’s innocent pining for his mysterious admirer, secretly Amélie, is discussed in a sex shop with colorful dildos lining the walls. In one moment, Amélie is running in low frame rate, and in the next moment, she’s melting onto a tile floor. Jeunet’s tonal dexterity is what makes Amélie a thoroughly entertaining, if somewhat stupefying movie, filled with an unbridled kookiness that makes it easy to understand why the film took the world by storm in the first place.

However, underneath these aesthetic pleasures, there lacks a certain je ne sais quoi , fittingly. The film’s detractors call it “style over substance,” but that feels too basic a definition. After all, there is something moving about Amélie’s good-natured quest, even if it feels unmotivated. After she finds a box of vintage trinkets hiding inside the wall of her apartment (bizarrely prompted by the death of Princess Diana, a cultural detail that merits little metaphorical value on a first watch), Amélie suddenly decides that it would be a good idea to track down the box’s original owner and return the keepsakes to him. It’s a nice thought and a strong catalyst for the plot, but little of what we’ve seen up to this point suggests Amélie would have any interest in accomplishing such a task. She has barely engaged with other people beyond daily surface-level interactions, including her two co-workers and a local grocery assistant, Lucien, to whom she is vaguely shown to have an attraction despite there being a wholly separate love interest introduced later in the film.

So why does she decide to pursue being a “do-gooder?” Amélie is unsatisfied with her life, though this too is defined in only the most basic terms. Her parents certainly failed to provide the physical intimacy and positive reinforcement that any healthy child needs to grow up emotionally stable, but Amélie’s decision to move out of her home and find a job in the city proves she has already overcome these obstacles. She’s still introverted, sure, but still finds pleasure in life and even enough success to afford a cozy apartment near her work. Whatever dire need she is addressing, it isn’t especially clear and certainly not compelling. 

Perhaps there is little connective tissue in the text of the movie because Jeunet hoped (see: knew) that audiences would be able to latch onto the naivete of the character on goodwill alone. Amélie is not exactly a movie that asks for the audience’s permission, rather it moves at such a confident clip that enthralls the viewer, taking them along for the ride with no room for questions to be asked. When Amélie discovers the box of trinkets, it is yet another charming piece of the film’s larger puzzle, not a plot point to be analyzed; the absurdity and, thus, lack of logic behind its inclusion is a feature, not a bug. The audience’s heartstrings are tugged by the nostalgia of the box, a relatable sentiment we all feel when rediscovering old relics of our past, and we are strung along to the beat of Amélie’s do-gooder drum, even if there’s little in the story to have inspired it. The majority of the film functions on this more emotional logic.

The adverse effect of this is, of course, that looking for too much deeper meaning will merit limited results. This is most glaringly obvious in the film’s central romance between Amélie and Nino. The two first meet in the subway station, where Amélie approaches Nino scraping the bottom of a photo booth for leftover ID portraits. There appears to be a subliminal connection between them, two troubled children who remain off the beaten path into their adulthoods. Amélie, however, can’t work up the nerve to say anything and flees. She encounters him again in the subway station, however, Nino initially ignores her for a man across the station he attempts to catch up with. He drops a case in the chase, which Amélie picks up and uses to mount her own wild goose chase to get Nino’s attention. It’s all very cute, lit with the kind of whimsy that any beloved romcom has infused into its bones. However, after the third or fourth scene of no substantial interaction, you begin to wonder on what any of this is actually built.

Amélie’s attraction to Nino is not hard to decipher – his “oddball” interest in scrapbooking forgotten ID photos strikes Amélie as a product of his interest in people and connecting with them, something they share. Also, simply put, he’s a good-looking guy, and Amélie wants him. Jeunet takes pride in his films subverting their own silliness with a dash of reality; Amélie, despite her manic pixie design, is far from innocent or even asexual. This is displayed in one especially loaded scene, where Amélie tracks Nino to a carnival where he works as a costumed character in a spooky tunnel ride. The two share an intimate moment of closeness as the ride’s gloomy thrums and haunted, smoky atmosphere are transformed into a guttural expression of their desire (this is one of the film’s best moments and one of Jeunet’s most impressive juxtapositions). 

However, for all that Amélie brings to the table, it never feels expressly clear what Nino sees in her. The initial spark between the two of them feels incredibly muted and the two spend little time further interacting on screen beyond coded notes and phone calls, so there’s no chemistry to gauge their relationship. In fact, Nino himself feels like a blank slate as a character, somewhat quirky but nowhere near as actually neurotic as Amélie. Their romance, though adorable, doesn’t feel weighted in anything palpably emotional. Their connection is, as the film even admits, incredibly spiritual and, thus, ineffable. That’s also what love is, and anyone who has experienced love can immediately find themselves emotionally intertwined with these two lovebirds despite the will-they/won’t-they of it all. Another core element of the film – though notably imbalanced with the rest of the ensemble – is built on an emotional logic. You either catch the drift or miss the boat.

The film’s initial success post 9/11 came from its reliance on this emotional logic, that the audience would fill in the blanks for themselves in the wake of unspeakable tragedy and be lifted by the film’s positivity and honest-to-god romance. In 2024, the world continues to reel from tragedy, although to a more disconnected degree. The rapid rise of the internet led to the widespread normalization of online dating and dating apps, slowly killing the kind of love at first sight that Amélie hinges on. The 2016 election and its subsequent fallout set the world ablaze, figuratively and somewhat literally, leaving a hyper-connected, hyper-self-aware world fully aware of its devastating systemic and structural problems that feel too big to fix. Amélie is, in short, utopian in its squeaky-clean version of France, something many of Amélie ’s detractors are quick to point out as a flaw (the film was criticized for its lack of ethnic diversity long before the push for equity we witness today). Then, as a treat, the COVID-19 pandemic isolated all of us even further, exacerbating all of these problems and effectively killing communal spaces entirely. Could the kind of ensemble filling the tables of Cafe des 2 Moulins exist in 2024? I’m not so sure.

Amélie does its best to make you believe that simple acts of kindness go a long way, and that doughy-eyed lingers and grand romantic gestures are enough of a foundation to build a beautiful romance. Clearly, Sony Pictures Classic believes the film’s argument is just as ironclad as it was 20 years ago. However, no film exists in a vacuum; it will be interesting to see if a new generation, including a filmgoing audience who skew more international than ever, will be as receptive to Amélie now as the prior generation was then. Personally, I think I’m just too cynical, but maybe I’m just not ready. Maybe the film itself is already ahead of me. By the end of the film, amidst her do-gooding for others, Amélie learns to leave room to do good by herself, to both love and be loved, to relish in her own happiness regardless of her own fears and anxieties. In the film’s antidote, this may be its most potent ingredient. Things may be fresh now, but if Amélie can do it, eventually, so can I.

Amélie is currently playing in select theaters for a limited time, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py7cDXQae2U]

Larry Fried is a filmmaker, writer, and podcaster based in New Jersey. He is the host and creator of the podcast “My Favorite Movie is…,” a podcast dedicated to helping filmmakers make somebody’s next favorite movie. He is also the Visual Content Manager for Special Olympics New Jersey, an organization dedicated to competition and training opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities across the Garden State.

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