Amelie is charming look into the rich inner emotional life of its introverted yet highly intelligent, creative and most of all empathetic title character. Played by the gorgeous and talented Audrey Tautou, Amelie wins your heart with her wild fantasies and endearing idiosyncrasies. You are with her all the way as she begins to tentatively interact with the world around her after she boldly decides to better the lives of those around her. The problem is that Amelie has lived her life in isolation, eschewing relationships which have historically only lead to disappointment and choosing instead live inside an illusory world of simple pleasures and delightful daydreams.
She makes friends with the shut-in neighbor with a brittle bone disease and a compulsive need to paint the same Renoir painting over and over, year after year. She tries her hand at matchmaking with unexpected results. She employs practical jokes, starts unfounded rumors, forges documents, and even kidnaps a gnome to serve her philanthropy mission. When she meets a man who seems to be as eccentric as she is, she uses similar tactics, drawing him into a complex game that only her true equal would not only play, but win.
Amelie is one of the few films that manages to be whimsical and heart-warming without being cheesy or heavy handed. The subtitle of the film translates to “the fabulous destiny of Amelie Poulain” and it delivers what it promises.
