Amélie (2001) Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (original title)

Director:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writers:

Guillaume Laurant (scenario) and
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (scenario) ...

Release Date:

25 April 2001 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

One person can change your life forever.

Plot:

Amelie, an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, decides to help those around her and along the way, discovers love.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Waitress | Garden Gnome | Hypochondriac | Happiness

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 51 wins & 46 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Audrey Tautou	...	Amélie Poulain
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Nino Quincampoix
Rufus	...	Raphaël Poulain
Lorella Cravotta	...	Amandine Poulain
Serge Merlin	...	Raymond Dufayel
Jamel Debbouze	...	Lucien
Clotilde Mollet	...	Gina
Claire Maurier	...	Madame Suzanne - la patronne du café
Isabelle Nanty	...	Georgette
Dominique Pinon	...	Joseph
Artus de Penguern	...	Hipolito
Yolande Moreau	...	Madeleine Wallace
Urbain Cancelier	...	Collignon
Maurice Bénichou	...	Dominique Bretodeau
Michel Robin	...	Mr. Collignon

Also Known As:

"Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" - France (original title)
"Amelie from Montmartre" - International (English title)
"Amelie of Montmartre" - International (English title) (festival title)
"The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain" - USA (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content.

Runtime:

122 min | France:129 min

Country:

France | Germany

Language:

French | Russian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Duboicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Malaysia:18PL | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Hungary:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A)

Filming Locations:

Abbesses, Paris 18, Paris, France

Company:

Claudie Ossard Productions

Trivia:

The artwork in Amélie's bedroom (the dog with collar, the white bird) and her crocodile imaginary friend are by artist Michael Sowa.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Nino pursuits the man in the red shoes they both turn to the right side of the station, leaving trains to their left side. In the next scene (shot from outside), they come out of the left side exit, with the trains on their right side.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator:On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jin tian de yu zen me yang? (2006)

Soundtrack:

Comptine d'un autre été: La démarche

Finds its charm in the little things

'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain' finds its charm in the little things. The story about Amélie (Audrey Tautou) is a modern day fairy tale and that is exactly how it looks the entire film.

We have a wonderful story about Amélie who decides to help people around her, making them happy. Not by doing great big things or giving money, but by little things. She helps her father by making him believe that his gnome from the garden is on a trip around the world, she helps a lonely neighbor by just visiting him, she helps a stranger by returning something she found in her home. On the way she falls in love with Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz) who's hobby it is to collect photos from automatic photo booths. Photos that were tossed away because people thought they didn't look good enough. He puts all those photos and pieces of photos in a big book. There is a little mystery in the book as well, of course I will not spoil that for you. The story is not only sweet and charming, it has some great moments of comedy as well.

The movie looks colorful and bright almost constantly. Even the sad parts from Amélie's life, her youth for example, look almost strangely happy. In this world, Paris actually, Audrey Tautou is the perfect inhabitant. She has one of those faces that seem to smile the entire time. She looks like she just pulled a joke and she is waiting for you to find out what it is. In a way her character is really doing that here so it does not feel strange.

In short 'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain' is charming, funny, romantic bright and full of life. This is the perfect lighthearted movie.