My Favorite Amelie - Movie Review Example

Order 196101 "A product is not an art work just because it is a skillful, perfect reproduction of something that already exists, nor is it an art work merely because it has no connection with or relationship to anything which already exists. The art work is something evolved from ordinary experience and given perfect form, and not the mere literal transcription of ordinary experience no matter how interesting or exciting." (Schoen, 1932, p. 26) So, in other words, the work of art, although inspired from reality, is not an imitation of reality, it implies a transformation. If seven of the arts are called traditional, radio- television and films are known under the name of modern arts. Films are considered an important art form. They are seen as "cultural artifacts created by specific cultures that reflect those cultures" (Wikipedia, 2007) Talking about the connection film-art, Tarkovski states the following: "Each of the arts has its own poetic meaning and cinema is no exception. It has its particular role, its own destiny - it came into being in order to express a specific area of life, the meaning of which up till then had not found expression in any existing art form." (1989, p.82) We understand from all these acceptations of film and its relationship with the idea of art that film in general is a form of art. Jean -Pierre Jeunet's movie, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain, illustrates eloquently this idea. The movie concentrates on a small but very significant fragment from the life of a French young woman, Amelie Poulain. Her life up to the moment shown as present by the film is sketched in a few words and images. She was brought up in a family that could be described as a little bit weird. If we think about it, we all have our strange habits, likes or dislikes. But Amelie's parents seem to have more than what we may call regular eccentricities. And Amelie herself is not the common type of woman. She is different: she dresses in an uncommon manner and she acts in an uncommon way, especially when it comes to socializing. She barely interacts with others and she prefers to spend time in her own world. And this is what changes throughout the movie, as the action progresses. She eventually succeeds in establishing a connection, as she meets the young Nino, with whom she falls in love. But like everything in Amelie's life, her way of making Nino notice her is not a common one. The mystery she creates, the clues that she leaves for him and that he has to understand and follow are both amusing and appealing. Their romanticism is so special that you feel irremediably in love with the movie. Although she loves him and she made steps in trying to connect with him, when the moment comes and he arrives at the caf where she works to meet her, as she had indicated to him, Amelie cannot react and when he asks her whether she is the girl he is looking for, she denies it. Amusing and at the same time interesting are the assumptions Amelie pessimistically makes when Nino seems not to come. She imagines all sorts of strange scenarios, events that could have prevented him from arriving. Circumstances lead to the meeting of Gina, Amelie's colleague, with Nino. Although they only meet to talk about Amelie, she misunderstands the situation and becomes contagiously sad. Audrey Tautou plays her part so well that at the end of the movie, when, while she is making a cake and imagines how her life would be with Nino, she starts to cry, we feel moved too. Fortunately, the ending is a happy one. Nino comes to her door and they express the feelings they have for each other in a really special way. They don't use language, only gesture. And thus, Amelie finally manages to connect to people. The fact that the development of the action brings about a change is one of the elements that relates the movie to a literature. In a novel, or a drama the character undergoes a change from its beginning to its end, so that the final scene brings about a character different from that we saw when we began reading. Although inspired from reality, just like any other form of art, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain doesn't just imitate it. The film brings about transfiguration. Exaggeration at the level of characters and actions, the presence of the voice of the narrator just like in a novel, the choice of colors and music, the fortunate encounter of Amelie and Nino, Amelie assuming the role of a hero that changes the life of people, they all contribute to the transformation of experience and life into art. The same way we are shown Amelie's childhood, we are presented some other character's lives and backgrounds. Nino, for instance, is shown during a normal school day of his childhood. In contrast with Amelie who had a lonely life, being educated at home by her mother, and who would have liked to have some other children around her, Nino, who was made fun of by his school mates would have preferred to be deprived of this sort of socializing. What they both wanted when they were children, was to have a brother or a sister. Bretodeau's childhood is rememorized when he finds the little box brought to him by Amelie, who lives now in the apartment where he had lived. What the box contained was a treasure for the man. It was his childhood inheritance that he had hidden there and finding all that after such a long time is for him a miracle. It is equal for him with finding his own soul again, finding what really mattered. A small thing in appearance but which is in fact big through its signification. This makes the beauty of the film and it may be considered as one of the elements that render its aesthetic value. The stress is placed on details and on things that are apparently small, but which are in fact more important than anything, because they make appeal to man's spirituality. Like all miracles, the finding of the box is for Bretodeau, life changing. As his relationship with his daughter was not very good, he decides, as a consequence of this amazing thing happened to him, to reconcile with her. So, Amelie's action represents a turning point in a man's life. But it's a turning point for her own life too because she had decided that, if she succeeded in returning the box to the owner, she would step into the real world, something really difficult for her to achieve. The old painter, monsieur Dufayel, also named the glass man because he suffered from a bones disease, has an important role for Amelie's decision to step into the real world. Their discussions, although apparently centered on the reproduction made by the old man after Renoir's painting refer in fact to Amelie, who like the girl at the center of the painting, seems to be somehow outside the world. "The film may be designed for the self contained activity of amusement and entertainment or it may be designed to provoke emotion and thought." (Lindgren, 1963, p. 194) So, besides the function of entertaining, there is the purpose of conveying emotions and this is one of the elements that make it a form of art. "Amelie" is at the same time amusing, sad, able of inducing a variety of emotions in the audience and in addition to all that, it contains ideas connected to life, love, relationships, individual in relation with society. The French director Jean Pierre Jeunet, transforms the movie in a beautiful combination of fairy tale and reality. For him, the camera is a means of reconstructing the world. (Dossier Ecran Noir, 2001) He is not only the director but also one of the writers, next to Guillaume Laurent. Released on 25th April 2001, the film features Audrey Tatou (Amelie Poulain) and Mathieu Kassovitz (Nino Quincampoix) as protagonists. The story, the director's effort, the actors' contribution gather to make the film a real work of art. And the film is a real success, it is nominated for 5 Oscars and has other wins and nominations for different awards. Audrey Tautou is so suited for the role and plays so well her part that you are fascinated there's no way we could perceive any discontinuity at the level of the character or acting. Even the way she dresses fits her perfectly. The costumes are in harmony with the environment. They express calm, peace, a world where nothing can really harm. Like everything in her life, the clothes she wears or at least the associations she makes are not common. It's the shoes that seem uncommon, but this makes the movie even more appealing. Amelie looks just like a doll or a fragile being from another world, a world of elves. But here is the interesting fact: she seems to belong both to reality and to a world of imagination. The environment created is one of calm, a sort of idyllic world, where people do everyday almost the same thing, have time to spend in the caf and chat, where they remember stories about the past and don't worry too much about money and other issues, and they are not in a hurry. People drink their coffee every morning at the same caf, buy their newspaper from the same kiosk, and their grocery from the same store. They all have their habits and their daily schedule. Sometimes the landscape seems really as if taken from a fairy tale: for example the scene in which Amelie throws stones in the lake. The music, created by Yan Tiersen, participates like all other cinematographic devices to the creation of the magic of the movie, being at the same time in consonance with the characters' mood. The alternation of realistic scenes with fantastic elements: like the objects talking to Amelie or to Nino, makes the movie complex and gives it originality. The same function is achieved by the alternation of images from the present with images that are meant to rememorize the past. Amelie is a movie that remains in the memory of the audience. It is not a only a film, it is a complex form of art, capable of creating emotions and of making people meditate upon the meaning of life. It is a film but at the same time a fairy tale, a combination of reality and fantasy, a poem of love and a praise of originality manifested at the level of life in general and at the level of the individual. Bibliography 1. Le cinema de Jean Pierre Jeunet. Dossier Ecran Noir.2001 Web site: http://www.ecrannoir.fr/films/01/amelie/jeunet.htm 2. Lingren, E. (1963). The Art of the Film. New York: Macmillan 3. Schoen, M. (1932). Art and beauty. New York: Macmillan 4. Tarkowski, A. (1989). Sculpting in Time. Austin: University of Texas Press 5. Film. Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia. 2007 Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film Read More