Having celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (Amélie) is re-released this month in kinos nationwide as part of the Best Of Cinema Series. Quintessentially quintessential, this turn of the millenium romantic comedy would prove to be one of defining films of the indie age.
A whimsical slice of Parisian surrealism, its unassuming synthetic universe finds a simple sentimentalism in the familiar oddities of life. It wears its heart on its sleeve, and its cute aesthetics combined with its off-kilter tonality transform it into something very special indeed: a poetic celebration of the everyday, an ode to the imagination, and a love letter to life’s dreamers and schemers. A key piece of early noughties European cinema from a French provocateur, dreamy sepia tones light up Montmartre with photosnap magical realism.
Simply put: it was a work that would not only define a nation, but also an international style of cinema. As if that wasn’t enough, it’s worth revisiting for Yann Tiersen’s now ubiquitous (and gorgeous) score alone.
