Amélie: One Of The Truly Great Wonders Of French Cinema Is A Film That Most Americans Will Love!

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Amélie, or "Le Fabouleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain," a French film from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, ("Delicatessen," "City of Lost Children," and "A Very Long Engagement") is the kind of film you just can't find in Hollywood. It's enchanting, magical and gorgeous, a fairy tale confection with a very endearing story, imaginative visuals and the perfect actress in the perfect role.

The movie starts off with a butterfly fluttering through the air and alighting in the center of a street, then very quickly getting run over by a speeding car. That same day, Amélie is born into the world. And, in an odd way, she seems to be the reincarnation of that butterfly: both her beauty and her spirit attest to this throughout the film.

Amélie, played by the lovely Audrey Tautou ("Dirty pretty things") is a young woman living by herself in the Montmartre section of Paris. She works as a waitress in a café near the Sacré-Coeur. On the day of Princess Diana's death she finds a small box of toys behind a loose tile in her bathroom. She decides to anonymously reunite the toys with their owner, who she discovers is now a man in his late 40s.

After she tracks down the owner of the toys, she leaves the toybox in a phone booth that he passes every day. As he passes, she calls the booth causing him to stop and find the box. Amélie stops at a local bar and the man also stops there, talking about the curious events of his day. He proclaims that he will call his daughter and grandson, because he hasn't talked to his daughter in many years. Gratified, Amélie begins to do small anonymous favors for the other people in her life.

Indeed, she decides to dedicate her life to helping others be happier. Thus, Amélie embarks upon many a project to help her father, her neighbors, her friends and her co-workers find greater happiness. One of the charming and wonderful things about this film is that not all of her good deeds result in the exact consequences she had hoped for; nor do all of them have the profound effects which are achieved by her greater successes. Despite the fairy tale aspect of the film, this helps it seem more real and gives the message more resonance.

However, Amélie is not really happy, as she has not yet found true love for herself. She needs a man who shares her dreams and her outlook on life. Soon, her path crosses with Nino, played by Mathieu Kassovitz, ("Birthday Girl," and the director of "Gothika") a strange young man who collects discarded photo booth pictures. She is attracted to him, but completely unable to introduce herself. Over time, Amélie follows Nino and tries to arrange for him to meet her, in one of the most romantic cat & mouse games ever conceived.

Director's Jean-Pierre Jeunet's use of colors and of unusual camera angles gives an incredible visual style to this movie, enhancing the magical elements of its story. The vividly colorful film appears to be washed in a sepia tint giving each frame the appearance of an older photograph.

Although this 2001 film is set in 1997, its settings look like they were pulled from the 1930s or 1940s. With the exception of a modern video camera in one scene, much of the movie is devoid of modern technology. Few of the characters drive cars while one of them uses a small motor bike to get around. This lack of technology serves to make the film appear even more of a fairy tale.

Amélie and her friends also inhabit a Paris that is extraordinarily, unusually clean. No graffiti and little dirt appear in any of the frames as she travels to and fro. This helps attain and retain an idealized vision of Parisian life that in turn helps the viewer happily live inside this marvelous fairy tale.

Nominated for five Academy Awards-- although, rather ridiculously, the Academy members failed to award any to this great film-- including Cinematography, Foreign Language Film, Art Direction, Sound, and Original Screenplay, Amélie is a movie you will cherish for the rest of your life.

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--Spencer