Quick recap: Amélie is a girl with a big imagination. Growing up with a neurotic mother and ‘iceberg’ father, Amélie had only herself for comfort. She is now an adult and continues to see things in a different light than everyone else. After returning a man’s treasure from when he was a boy, Amélie decides to start living her life helping others. Oh, and she falls in love because this is a French film after all, so it’s kind of expected.

This movie was SO French

Fun (?) Fact:  Amélie was a direct inspiration for the short lived tv show Pushing Daisies. It’s an underrated masterpiece, if you ask me.

I also sort of have a thing for Ned. And Kristin Chenoweth.

My thoughts: Oh, boy. My mind is all over the place for this review. Even now, over 24 hours after watching Amélie, I still don’t really know how I feel about it. On one hand, the movie has elements I normally love: it’s quirky, it’s gorgeous, the characters are interesting and it’s French which always adds a touch of class to anything. On the other hand, it’s very quirky. And French.

I suppose I should begin with Amélie herself. I was immediately drawn into the film from just the opening sequence, which pictured a young girl playing with ordinary objects and having a wonderful time. The back story for Amélie’s childhood did a great job in setting the tone for the rest of the film and quickly gave all the information needed to understand the main character. Amélie as an adult is just as adorable as when she was a child. She still retains a child-like quality to her, especially when it comes to seeing the good in other people. After finding an old treasure box that had been left behind by a young boy decades ago, Amélie decides to track him down and give him some happiness. It was a very sweet moment, as well as much of the first half of the movie. At some point, the quirky things Amélie does seem to become tedious and not so adorable.

I think the whole plot of Amélie falling in love with a just as quirky guy is what made me begin to question how I really felt. It completely makes sense for Amélie to refuse to meet Nino, seeing as how she was so rarely interacted with during her childhood. With every near interaction, I found myself becoming more impatient and less enchanted with all of the characters. But then, there was the scene in which Amélie imagines what a life with Nino might be like and it was so realistic in terms of how it feels to have an unattainable crush, that I couldn’t help but be drawn in again. The ending, which I won’t give away now, fit perfectly and made me once gain rethink how I felt about the whole thing.

imagining a different outcome

Final review: 3/5. In the end, it isn’t a movie I crave to see again, although watching Amélie made me want to rewatch Pushing Daisies and pick up French for the billionth time.

This is about all I understand these days

Up next: Fargo