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"She’ll
change your life," boasts the movie poster. Amelie tells the story of an
introverted, creative, impulsive young girl who discovers the joy of performing anonymous
good deeds for lonely, despondent, troubled souls. If this sounds like the premise to
Pay It Forward or
other sentimental, emotionally-manipulative tearjerkers, trust me
— this is something
entirely different. Amelie has more in common with fantasies, fairy
tales, and fables than preachy New Age propaganda.
Amelie is a meddler, not a missionary.
She's shy, but she earnestly wants to help people. So instead of marching up
and helping them, she sneaks around behind their backs and sets up things that unfold like
miracles. As the inspired and awed recipients get all teary-eyed at the blessings,
she slips away, already busy with something else. She's a wascally wabbit, and Paris is
her garden.
Enchanting special effects make
Amelie's Paris a postcard-worthy
place, and magic seems to follow Amelie as though it’s part of daily life. When
Amelie’s heart breaks, she literally melts into a splash and a puddle of colors. When
she’s asleep, the paintings of barnyard animals on her bedroom walls talk to each
other. And when she falls suddenly and drastically in love, her palpitating heart shines
visibly right through her jacket.
The film
is directed by the visually inventive
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children). Jeunet is one
of the most extraordinarily talented imaginations working
on the big canvas today, and one of his strengths is his ability to
make his characters unforgettable within moments of
introducing them.
He has a gift for
noticing what makes a person unique without turning them into cartoons or caricatures. These fanciful folk have hearts and souls, and his effects-heavy style accentuates
their characteristics in ways that make you laugh even as you learn to love each one.
(I even cared about the villains in his last film, City of Lost Children, and hated to
see them go.)
This time Jeunet has the privilege of introducing moviegoers
to an actress with mesmerizing presence and great potential... Audrey Tautou. Right
away I was reminded of Audrey Hepburn's spark even as the quiet manner and sly smile made
me think of Juliette Binoche. Her performance as the grownup version of Amelie swings
between outrageous and subtle, shy and hyperactive, hushed and hilarious.
Amelie’s relentless energy and optimism might be a
turn-off to some. But she’s the latest in a long tradition of fantasy heroes.
There’s a bit of Lewis Carroll's Alice in her adventuresome spirit, Mary Poppins in her
persistent goodness, Robin Hood in her charitable conspiracies.
There is also something Christlike about the way she focuses
a ferocious attention on everything and everybody, seeking and finding each
individual’s specific virtues and specific sadness. Some films move the viewer to
join a cause or donate to a charitable organization
— Amelie encourages us to
get to know our neighbors and try to meet their most secret needs. She shows us how a
little act of love can sometimes penetrate the hardest of hearts.
But there is a problem with Amelie's marathon of good deeds.
While she knows better than to address complicated problems with Forrest Gump-ish
platitudes, Amelie’s good intentions compel her to morally questionable endeavors. In
her hurry to give hope and happiness to a heartbroken neighbor, she concocts a fanciful
lie. Well-intentioned lies might leave others smiling, but they provide false hope and put
the believers at risk of humiliation and disillusionment.
Amelie also settles for solutions of a sentimental and
nostalgic nature; basing one’s happiness on mementos from childhood is not the path
to a deep and lasting joy.
Worst of all, Amelie’s meddling nature leads her to set
up mild accidents for the neighborhood bullies rather than confronting them appropriately.
No amount of goodwill justifies breaking and entering someone else's apartment to rig
accidents that scare, bewilder, and endanger them.
Still, I am inspired by Amelie’s ability to care for
the oddballs of society, and her intense desire to bring them happiness, even if they
never discover the identity of their "guardian angel." When Amelie does the
right thing, she’s a beautiful picture of grace.
Jeunet’s film is an ambitious,
rich, and rewarding experience, packed end-to-end with delightful creativity, more
satisfying and less indulgent than his previous epic The City of Lost Children, in
which the style overwhelmed the substance. My wife and I found it a romantic,
laugh-out-loud date movie, and we left the theatre imagining just what kind of surprises
we might be capable of giving to unsuspecting souls in our own communities.
Rating: A- |
