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| Audrey Tatou looks at us with a threateningly whimsical, odd look on the heavily stylized poster for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie |
Amélie is an odd Parisian, who wants to help people, and who now discovers love.
Amélie is a world-beloved romantic comedy/fairy tale from the visually focused French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Alien: Resurrection (1997)), co-written by Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant (Call Me Elisabeth (2006)).
I don't understand Amélie, only that I hate it. (It is one of very few films to hold that particular distinction.) It is a horrid film that is best described in adjectives: Indie-quirky; witty; enthusiastic; facetious; grossly detached from reality; dank; PRETENTIOUS, and is consequently an unbearable picture to sit through, if you are me. If, on the other hand, you feel my verdict is childish or unfair, feel free to attack it in a comment.
Cannes Film Festival director Gilles Jacob called Amélie "uninteresting" and refused to have it screened at Cannes in 2001. This caused controversy, because most critics and audiences loved Amélie, - and the infuriatingly whimsical Audrey Tautou (The Trouble with You/En Liberté! (2018)) in the title part, - which also became what is still the highest grossing French film in the US.
So you may love it like most other people seemed to do, but watch the trailer below and ask yourself first, if you are not more fit to join on the exclusive team of Amélie-haters along with Cannes' Jacob and this signature? Let's retire this Jeunet nonsense.
Related posts:
Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Alien: Resurrection (1997) or, Queen of the Goo Massacre!
Delicatessen (1991) or, The Brown Quirk
Watch the trailer for the film here
Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 173.9 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 17.39 times its cost)
[Amélie was released 25 April (France, Switzerland, Belgium) and runs 123 minutes. Jeunet originally wanted Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves (1996)) for the lead, but as she was unavailable, he instead found Tatou. Shooting took place in France, including Paris, and in Germany. The film opened #29 to a 136k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #8 and in 298 theaters (different weeks), grossing 33.2 mil. $ (19.1 % of the total gross) during its 35 week long engagement. The film's main production country France was its biggest market with 44.4 mil. $ (25.5 %). North America was the 2nd biggest, and Germany the 3rd biggest with 15.3 mil. $ (8.8 %). The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Original Screenplay to Julian Fellowes for Gosford Park, Foreign Film to Bosnian No Man's Land, Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel (Infamous (2006))) to Andrew Lesnie for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Art/Set Decoration to Moulin Rouge! and Sound to Black Hawk Down. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won 2/9 BAFTA noms, 4/13 César noms, was nominated for a David di Donatello award, won 4/5 European Film award nominations, an Independent Spirit award, a Goya award and a National Board of Review award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to four notches higher than this one. IMDb's users have voted the film in currently at #91 on its Top 250 list, sitting between A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Double Indemnity (1944). Jeunet returned with A Very Long Engagement (2004). Tautou returned in God Is Great and I'm Not/Dieu Est Grand, Je Suis Toute Petite (2001), Mathieu Kassovitz (Ladies/De Plus Belle (2017)) in Birthday Girl (2001). Amélie is certified fresh at 89 % with an 8.1/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Amélie?
What widely celebrated film/s do you hate?
Why?
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