i wanted to share today, one of my top three favourite movies of all time - Amelie.
i have always had a thing for the way the french language sounds when its spoken. in fact i have a thing for all things french.
i can't even begin to pick my favourite aspect of the movie. the attention to the small things in life, the music, the language, Audrey Tautou, her strange desire to "help" others.
if you haven't seen it before, its a french movie made in 2001. the whole movie is in french, with english subtitles. amiele poulain is a unique woman who finds pleasure in the simple things we all look straight past or don't notice; sinking her hand in a sack of grains or cracking the top of a creme brulee. one day she discovers a small trinket box hidden in her apartment and decides to try find its owner and secretly return it to him. along the way she comes across a man who, in many ways, is similar to her. he also notices the small things, and is obsessed with collecting old discarded passport photos from photo booths. their strange love turns into a game of cat and mouse. its an extraordinary story of strangers helping each other and becoming friends or more.
one of the many many things i love about this movie is the small bits of information the narrator tells you about each person; things that are always overlooked in big hollywood movies or are stereotyped.
her mother loved to empty her bag, vacuum it out and re-organise and put everything back in. her father hates how wet swimming trunks stick to his legs. her glass-boned neighbour has a camera pointing to the clock on the street so he doesn't have to wind his own one up.
another thing i love is the design of the movie. the bright red, intricate patterned wall behind her bed with two peculiar paintings above the headboard. the fantastic combination of colours that remind me of the 70's but still manage to be modern. the whole movie has a greeny-yellow tinge of vintage that transports you to a non-existent dream time while still feeling realistic.
i really do recommend watching this movie. i get lost in it every time i watch it, even though i must have seen it more than 20 times by now! if you have seen it, or you do watch it let me know what you think. i would love to know your views on it
Rhiannon xxx
i have always had a thing for the way the french language sounds when its spoken. in fact i have a thing for all things french.
i can't even begin to pick my favourite aspect of the movie. the attention to the small things in life, the music, the language, Audrey Tautou, her strange desire to "help" others.
her mother loved to empty her bag, vacuum it out and re-organise and put everything back in. her father hates how wet swimming trunks stick to his legs. her glass-boned neighbour has a camera pointing to the clock on the street so he doesn't have to wind his own one up.
Rhiannon xxx
I haven't seen Amiele, but I've heard nothing but good things about it.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my all-time favourite movies! Every last morsel of it is delicious and delightful.
ReplyDeleteAlana i will have to let you borrow it :)
ReplyDeleteIt's delicious (and as one fine weasle said) delightful!
Hi, just found you through OWOH and was looking through you blog and saw this post. I just recently watched Amiele late last year because I had wanted to see it for years. I loved everything you mentioned about the movie as well. I loved how she was descriptive and open about everything in her life. Just so brutally honest. LOL! And then she reminded me of myself some too. I take pleasure in simple things like touching soft things or listening to the birds begin to chirp in the morning, most things people just don't pay attention too. And I have to admit, sticking your hand in a bag of grain is right up there on my list of likes too. ;-) Now I want to go back and watch the movie again. For those who don't own a copy you can stream it on Netflix. :-)
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