He's got a new movie premiering soon on Netflix called "BigBug" that looks like a a more futuristic sci-fi companion piece to COLC. I'm really excited for it. COLC, Amelie, and Delicatessen are some of my favorite films. I even kinda love his Alien movie. I'm hoping that this Netflix deal leads to a more productive period for him.
@@kellysmith4978 Delicatessen is the best film Jeunet made for me, I appreciate the inventiveness an playful nature of it... I even like his Alien, it's so over the top I had to like it 😎
They wanted an actress with a similar look as Mireille Mathieu, a famous French singer. Mireille is known for her "fawn eyes" and always has that hair style. Audrey has those eyes too, but bigger and more expressive and camera work emphasized it even more. Whenever I see Audrey I see a cross between Mireille and Mara Wilson, actress of Matilda. Same playfulness.
Agree. I normally do not enjoy shorter hairstyles on women, but Audrey Tautou carries it off so perfectly. It is a compliment to her physical and interior beauty.
This movie is very special - after I exited the cinema, I felt so happy and light and elated. And I felt the urge to do something good too, to make people happy. I like all the descriptions of the little things the characters like and are unique to them. It's very tender and seen with an eye for detail. And what a feast for the eyes!
Almost a classic? Amélie is a masterpiece, if only for its uniqueness. But it's so much more than that. Everybody in front of and behind the camera did such a splendid job with it, and I still take time to play Yann Tiersen's soundtrack on the piano every single week even after all these years.
Also, I see everyvody recommending The City of Lost Children (co-directed by), yet very few recommending the superbly A Very Long Engagement, also directed by Jeunet and starring Audrey Tautou. It's about a young woman's search for her fiancé who disappears during World War I. It's similar to Amélie and got deservedlynominated for Oscars, BAFTAs and so on. Another must watch!
"A Very Long Engagement" (2004) is a hidden gem also starring Audrey Tautou and directed by Jeunet. And if you are into anti-war WW1 movies, Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" is a masterpiece.
A lot of people call this film "Overrated artistic non-sensical film". And to me, it has sense: It is a story about a girl who finds joy on the little details and wants to use them to make happy more people.
The concept is good. But the movie is bad, the charecters except for the painter, are all unpleasant and forgettable. It's by far, the worst movie rated 8+ on IMDb.
@@theweb1244 My guess is only in a few people's estimation is this movie undeserving of its cinematic accolades. Granted, acclimation to French cinema takes some time and multiple exposures. I agree with you (for just a moment); I was very confused the first time I saw it, but popped it in the DVD player a few weeks later and gave myself a chance to "get it." I got it ... and enjoy watching people, like me, struggle at first to understand then have the realization of Amelie's blossoming.
@@theweb1244 Yo, what the heck? The movie is good. Maybe I wrote it wrong. I said that, while people call it overrated, I see that the movie is good and has sense.
@@calipurnioelreydelodio7141 This movie helped me understand that there are 2 kind of people : the ones who can sense poetry in the most casual things of everyday life (these people love this movie) and those who just can't.
Do seek Jeunet's films out and review them all. He is one of my favorite directors, and all of his films are visually stunning. "Delicatessen", "The City of Lost Children", and "A Very Long Engagement" are my faves along w/ "Amelie". Especially 'Engagement' and 'Children'. You'll love them. Audrey is in Engagement and Pinon is in them all.
Nice! Please react to 'Run Lola Run', a fantastic German film that plays with time, cinematic conventions and concepts, and narrative structures. It manages to do all this at a breakneck pace, delivering a kickass soundtrack and a female protagonist we become immediately invested in, and a surprise ending (after a few detours)! All in less than 90 minutes!
I love that Run Lola Run has a different but equally interesting way to give extra information about side characters compared to Amelie's likes/dislikes montages.
Run Lola Run is just 80 min long vut it goes so fast that lots of things happen. :) Also Franka Potente looks great with bright red hair. "and a surprise happy ending (after a few detours)" could have been left out of your comment.
Second reaction to this movie this weekend! While I love this film, my favorite of those director is "Delicatessen," which is completely different plotwise from this one but might be even more quirky.
Amelie is such a beautiful film! Great film choice and video Shan. You want to to see more from this director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, check out his 1995 film, “The City of Lost Children”. It’s one of my personal favorite films of all time. And s long as we’re talking about foreign, intimate, quirky films. I highly recommend the Hong Kong director, Wong Kar-Wai. And the quintessential Wong Kar-Wai film, “Fallen Angels” (1995). Wong Kar-Wai is such a unique and unorthodox talent. He was making films in Hong Kong during the creative boom. Wong Kar-Wai stood apart though for his auteur vision and became the darling of the world art house scene. He is an extraordinary director! “Fallen Angels” is my favorite film from him. I do hope you check it out for the channel some time.
Wong Kar-Wai is considered to be one of the greatest movie makers ever. And he really is. :) If a person would watch just one of his films, I would say it could be 'Chungking Express' (1994) or 'In the Mood for Love' (2000) (I wouldn't call his movies as "quirky", as not also Amelie either.)
Love this film, especially the soundtrack by Yann Tiersen, which is now a classic. Another great French film exprience is the Three Colors trilogy directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Three films -- Blue, White, and Red, like the French flag -- each with a different cast and storyline. They're absolutely amazing. Start with Blue.
If you're interested in more by Jeunet, I recommend The City of Lost Children. It's super weird and super dark but very good. A Very Long Engagement is good too.
Amelie's love interest in this film, is also a great director in his own right. You've also seen him before: remember the useless guy trying to rob Bruce Willis inthe Fifth Element, ending with Bruce taking his gun and him prancing awkwardly? You might want to see Le Heine (1995), his debut film. It's very well made and got lots of awards, plus fast paced, sort of like "American History X" for the French immigrant suburbs (the protagonist there, Vincent Cassel went on to become famous in films like Ocean's Twelve, Black Swan, Jason Burne, even Shrek). As for other such French films, you can't go wrong with Love Me If You Dare (2003, quirky romantic/comedy/drama, has Amelie style fast paced direction and similar vibes but darker themes), Delicatessen (1991, by the same director as Amelie, has a Cohen Brothers vibe too), Taxi (1998 - written by Luc Besson of Leon and Fifth Element fame, fast paced quirky action comedy), Samurai (1967, a classic film-noir about a professional hitman, has influenced from Tarantino to Drive), Nikita (1991, Luc Besson directing and writing, about a woman professional killer, even had a US TV series made out of it). There are tons of others, but those are also American-friendly to begin with La Haine www.imdb.com/title/tt0113247/ Love me if you Dare www.imdb.com/title/tt0364517/ Delicatessen www.imdb.com/title/tt0101700/ Taxi www.imdb.com/title/tt0152930/ Nikita www.imdb.com/title/tt0100263/
I'm so glad you watched this film.And I'm very glad you liked it. It is one of my favorite film and my favorite French film.This film inspired me to travel to Paris. I was in that café in the Montmartre. It was full of tourists but the feeling was incredible.
Directly or indirectly, it's fair to say that this movie influenced a lot of film-makers after it came out in 2001. If anything, I'd say it allowed director's like Wes Anderson to embrace their inner whimsy and trust it and go with it. Just look at the stuff he did prior to this film (Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums) and then after (Life Aquatic, Moonrise Kingdom). I'm not saying they copied, rather, it just freed up a lot of people to realize what the cinema going public can be capable of seeing. I'm not wording it properly, but there ya go ;) And btw, Da Vinci Code is my absolute favourite huge budget guilty pleasure cheesey go-to b-flick ;) and it did gift us a rather phenomenal soundtrack by Hans Zimmer; Chevaliers De Sangreal is not of this world.
@@TerryNationB7 Besson actually said he would never direct again when he finished that movie and that he was going to concentrate on producing his young directing protégés (he eventually did direct again, but we got The Transporter and Louis Letelier in the meantime) and he really put a lot into that movie. No fancy Fifth Element effects and costumes and music, just good acting, great concept and a well made film. That mirror scene is special and wouldn’t have worked without every other element lining up perfectly.
I am so glad you watched this film. There are few films I would describe as pure delights. This is definitely one of them. That isn't to say the film is cloy or excessively whimsical. It has some weighty moments, but it's so, for lack of a better word, SINCERE.
For other Jean-Pierre Junet movies, I would suggest Delicattessen, The city of lost children (as others have suggested already) and a film I personally love, A Very Long Engagement. The last is a World War 1 movie also starring Audrey.
Auguste Renoir, the painter, is the father of Jean Renoir, one of the greatest French filmmakers from 1925 to 1970. He's famous for his mordant depictions and critiques of the French society and its intricacies, especially one of his masterpieces, La Règle Du Jeu - The Rules Of The Game.
Fun Fact:The director of this movie is also the director of Alien Resurrection(1997). And can you react to Blue Velvet(1986),Sneakers and the foreign film:Run Lola Run.,Blue velvet would be a good reaction(especially since David Lynch birthday is in January 20.)
Amélie Poulain was extremely popular in many countrys around Europe and made a big blast when released. The admirable music was composed by Yann Tiersen. Filmed by the french director Jean-Luc Genet. You're great, obviously curious and non jugemental. You understood subtile sens of humour. I liked your reactions, genuines and enjoying naturally. Sometimes,
Great movie beautifully quirky and great reaction Shan ,such an uplifting experience.Audrey Tautou was perfectly cast in title role, thanks Shan not enough people react to this lovely film.
Have you noticed the movie portrait looked a bit off? Also the faces in close ups? This is because they are litteraly *caricatures of the characters* that tell you more about the specific character, somewhat an evolution of Sergio Leones style in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. The director *Jean-Pierre Jeunets* trademark is his use of *super-wide angle shots* while the main character are positioned *super-close-up in the front capturing the actors' minute facial expressions* while the superscope (1:2.39) *wide-background provides a story-enriching envoronment.* The super wide lens has a backsaide though. It distorts the faces to a great extent giiving the shots comic-book feel, but with a fine line between much to add but so much to lose if overdone.This shows Jean-Pierre Jeunets technical flair as well as his story-trelling mastery. No wonder knowing he has a great cionematographer (Bruno Delbonnell) by his side.
I recall something like that happening, I think in the mid-late 90’s? I don’t know any of the details, but I do remember such a thing occurring (though I will readily admit that it could be some kind of Mandela effect, lol).
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 They actually did the exact same plot point on the BBC comedy series One Foot in the Grave, again inspired by the true event. I remember my first time watching Amelie thinking I’ve seen this part with the Gnome somewhere else!
JP Jeunet is a great director. This, City of Lost Children and Delicatessen are all classics. His others are also worth watching- yes even Alien Resurrection (although there are jarring issues with that film) he's got a new film coming out on Netflix this year.
I knew you’d appreciate this one! It’s one of my favorite films of all time. The color saturation, cinematography and camera work along with the score. I always catch something new everytime I see it. For example, in your reaction during the scene where she meets her glass man neighbor and he speaks of his difficulty in capturing and understanding the girl with the glass in Renoir’s painting…Amelie is literally holding a glass.
Hi I'm French. Since 2001 I'm absolute fan of The fabulous destiny of Amelie Poulain. Happy to realise someone founded something hidden in movie. Jean Pierre Jeunet effectively wanted every sequence shot of his movie having something red and something green together.
You ask for similar movies. I would say: Maybe: Memories of Matsuko. But it is much darker. - And for some reason, I don't know exactly why, I have to think on: Fallen Angels (by Wong Kar-wai). Maybe because of the color green. ;-) Both very great films!
When it came out in the cinema, I went to watch it 3-4 weeks in a row, a modern fairy tale , if you like to see another great foreign film I can recommend the chinese movie " the road home" also a great love story
Since Travelocity stopped using the traveling Gnome in their ad campaigns, few people remember those days. The company says there was a 1980's stunt similar to Amelie's traveling Gnome, but it was also the use of a traveling Gnome in Amelie that inspired them to create an ad campaign based on that.
I really appreciate your reaction and analysis of this film. I watched another reaction, and while they enjoyed the film; they didn't quite get it, so I enjoy the fact that you did get it. I had a feeling that you would.
This is one of my absolute favorites. If you're interested in checking out more french films then I would highly recommend another of Tautou's movies called He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. I would also strongly urge you to watch the WWII drama, Days of Glory, and the period action drama, Brotherhood of the Wolf.
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) must be a contender for the most genres crammed into a single movie, it makes it fun to watch. I'd like to add Angel-A (2005), directed by Luc Besson to the French film list. Lucien the greengrocer's assistant (Jamel Debbouze) in Amélie plays the lead.
@@TerryNationB7 “what’s Brotherhood Of The Wolf ?” “Oh, it’s just a medieval, horror, martial arts drama movie in french, german, italian and some native American dialogue spoken by an hawaiian actor” “Oh……….wait, what ?”
8:08 "very creative" That is the whole movie too. :) 19:55 I like how Amelie is like 'there can be only two possibilities why' :D 21:00 Here the viewers are also happy to get to answer, before it is explained. 30:48 Haha! It is hard to say what this movie is... it is just Amelie. 0:55 Amelie is not really a comedy or a romantic movie, not even sort of.
two years later I just saw your vision. Bravo to you, you are the only American to have grasped the meaning and beauty of the film directly. To believe that you are a little French :-)
10:28 -- Because this film often evokes poetry, this sequence with the visual effect, when the old blind man is surrounded by light and looks up at the sky, simply shows us that he feels he has met an "angel", so to speak. This old man feels more confident in humanity, happier and freer. He feels "blessed" for a moment and his "soul" feels lighter. He saw "the light", the love! 11:16 -- If we translate words for words, it would be not _"Are you a congenital schmuck?"_ but _"And your BS is congenital?"_ instead, haha!
Tx mate for reacting to this masterpiece..i like your way of seing movies..."a very long engagement" from the same realisator and with Audrey tautou, is a masterpiece too...a story through the 1st ww...
This is one of my favorite movies. I stumbled across your review, and watching you watch it brought me such joy. You picked up on everything, including the music. I will look for more of your reviews, and I will suggest a few you might like.
The actor who played Nino is also a director. He directed the "The Crimson Rivers" with Jean Reno, which is not a bad watch if you like gruesome murder mysteries.
Where I live the movie was shown in a relatively small arthouse cinema. And did so for months, while word-of-mouth slowly spread. I had to laugh when eventually the big cinema finally also screened it.
A must see by Jeunet and Audrey Tatou is A Very Long Engagement, based during WWI. The score is by Angelo Badalementi who recently passed away. Highly recommend, I think you would like it. Keep up the great reactions!
I've watched hundreds and hundreds of films and this is solidly one of the my all-time favorites. I'm sure you're going to get a lot of calls for the Director's other films... top on that list would be "DELICATESSEN." (Fabulous film)... Other films that are close Amelie in terms of beautiful cinematography and imagination would be "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (amazing but darker) and "Pleasantville" (social commentary cloaked in an apparent comedy... suddenly revealed and gorgeously shot). You'll LOVE all of those films. LOVE your channel, Shan... you're thoughtful commentary is well-worth watching! Cheers!
The first time seeing a poster of this movie made me mesmerized. I also though she was cute, but besides that something in my mind made me say this looks like good movie. When I started to watch it years later. I found out it was a subtitled movie. I hate reading subtitles, but I bare with it and watch the whole movie. I was glad I did cause it was such a masterpiece. There where things in this movie that made me think that I have never thought before. It was weird and wacky at times, but it all made sense in the end.
Fun fact : at 6:55, you might know this actor (Michel Robin) from the 80's TV show Fraggle Rock by Jim Henson. He was playing Doc, the old man with the dog.
Amélie was memed to death in France, because of the postcard-perfect image of Paris that Jeunet tried to create, that irked Parisians aware of the often bleak reality of the capital. There is even a 2008 counterpoint movie titled "Vilaine" about a café waitress that decides to become evil because everybody's walking all over her. The French comedy band "Les Fatals Picards" has a song about a man trapped in the world of Amélie, that fails again and again to commit anything bad because of the film's positive tone. Audrey Tautou tried to distance herself from the character by stating in her contract she refuses to cut her hair short and wear polka dots dresses ever again.
@@innerguardianXIII Not exactly, the movie did really well domestically, and was acclaimed by a majority of critics, but at the same time people could not help to say that "Such a dream-like Paris must be nice, too bad its nothing like that" with a sad chuckle. Amélie also had the strange effect of killing the short bobcut hairstyle, that was really popular until 2001 and immediately became "the Amélie hairdo" just after the movie.
jean-pierre jeu-nay, and guillaume laurant is pronoucned ghee-yome lor-aun(the T is basically silent). i love amelie. i remember when the academy awards came around, it was nominated for many, including sound design. i also love the soundtrack. it is sublime, as you mentioned.
Amelie started me on a period of several non-English language films. Two others which I recommend that also star Audrey Tautou are A Very Long Engagement which is a more traditional rom-com, and He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not which... isn't.
:D I love this film. What a lovely, and thoughtful reaction, as always. If you'd like to try a Spanish film, I recommend, Volver (2006) from Pedro Almodóvar and starring Penélope Cruz. It's a dramatic, and slightly soap opera-y story about this family of women and how they deal when old ghosts return. That's all I'll say about it!
"Amelie" is basically a modern day French New Wave film. If you don't know about the "French New Wave" genre, please look into it. The directors of the genre changed the face of film.
Great pick. If you enjoyed this one, from the same director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (and co-directed by Marc Caro) you should try Delicatessen (1991) and La Cité des Enfants Perdus (City of the Lost Children,1995). You'll have a blast ! I also highly recommend Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles (A Long Engagement Sunday, 2004, also starring Audrey Tautou and JP Jeunet as Director). JP Jeunet also directed Alien 4 but I don't personnally like it. Funfact, Mathieu Kassovitz who plays Nino, makes a short appearance in The Fifth Element when he tries to rob Bruce Willis. He also directed Babylon A.D. (with Vin Diesel) and Gothika (with Halle Berry).
just found out that "Amelie" is part homage to an older movie from Kieslowski named "The Double Life of Veronique" which you can tell if you know both movies. so i will go and watch it . love everything i watched from Kieslowski ("three colours trilogy" and "Dekalog").
The Garden Gnome part of the story is true. It really happened, but it was in northern New England, USA, and it wasn't a gnome but some other kind of garden critter. I knew of the story before seeing AMELIE and it just added to the fun of the movie to see it play out unexpectedly, exactly as the true story. DO check out Jeunet's other films, they are ALL worth watching -- even the ALIEN sequel he directed (in fact, I think his is the best of the sequels). But especially check out A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, also with Audrey T. I do enjoy your videos.
I appreciate this so much! I like seeing people loving the movie. I mean, my profile pic gives it away, but this is my favorite movie ever. also it's Amelie, not Emily.
Great reaction ! 👍 If you liked Amelie I highly recommend you to watch "A very long engagement" directed by the same director with plenty of great French actors. Audrey Tautou is the main actress too in this movie and there are also Dominique Pinon, (the guy who makes plastic bubbles pop in Amelie), Marion Cotillard (before her huge breakdown and Oscar with La vie en rose) or Jodie Foster (speaking her usual impeccable french) among others... JP Jeunet used the same kind of scenery and story telling as for Amelie : background of the main characters, flash backs and multiple crossing path between the persons, saturated colors (softer and looking like sepia brown and yellow old photos since the story take place during the WWI)... Plus, the script is like an investigation about the disappearance of a young French soldier called Manech engaged with Mathilde (Tautou character) and how she will try to find out what happened to him. Manech is played by Gaspard Ulliel who was young Hannibal Lecter impersonator and sadly died just months ago. I am pretty sure you will love it despite the context of the story. It’s not into gore pictures but still intense.
It's pronounced "Je-Nay", not"Je-Noo", nor "Je-No xD Nino is played by director Matthieu Kassovitz, who made "la Haine", and "Gothika" among others. For the fans of "the Fifth Element", he's also the one who tries to rob Bruce Willis at his appartment. Music is by Yann Tiersen if you want to listen more.
