Amelie

This was a rewatch for me.  A very cute French comedy romance.

Amelie is a loner, and a dreamer.  Then she comes across a hidden treasure, and decides to reunite it with its original owner.  When this is a success she decides to fix a few other peoples problems, but tends not to fix her own.

A good chunk of the film is in Amelie's imagination, so there is some pleasing subtle CGI to add reality to the dreams.  The colours are beautiful, even if a little over saturated at times.  Every frame is beautifully composed, well balanced and filled.  A visual treat, but it's not all glossy eye candy, the story holds together, a magical love story that you forget is all too good to be true.


The only other Jean-Pierre Jeunet film I've seen is the equally fantastical, but much darker, "City of Lost Children".  The films have some comparable stylistic elements, such as a great reluctance to move away from wide angle lenses.  Both depart from reality, but seem to keep you grounded at the same time.  City of Lost Children is dark and ugly whereas Amelie is light and loving.


If you have to have a surreal romance, then Montmatre is the place.