Hi all

This isn't a film review per se but rather a request to ask if anyone has seen this film and what did they think of it?

This is another film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet who with Marc Caro, made Delicatessan and City of Lost Children.

In France this film was watched by 7 Million French theatre goers in the first 10 weeks. It is number 35 on the highest openers list for France
http://www.moviemarshal.com/openfran.html

The following site has a number of stills from the film.
http://bzine.bscene.com.au/entertainment/reviews/a/ameliefrommontmartre.html

In Australia we will not see this film until December 26. I would be grateful to hear a review from someone who has been able to see teh film overseas. It looks like a must see movie.

cheers Peter

I made a start on making up a print of 'Amelie' (as it came labelled) just a few hours ago. It is for a manager's screening on Monday.

Although I am a huge fan of French cinema, I am not entirely wrapped in Jeunet et Caro. I am much more enthusiastic about the upcoming releases, 'The Closet' and especially, 'The Taste of Others'. My favourite director in the world is quite possibly Eric Rohmer - it's a pity that his films are hardly released here. His recent three-part film 'Rendezvous in Paris' was extremely delightful and as always, a little sad and poignant. I had the pleasure of running this a couple of years ago as part of a season of recent French cinema (not the more heavily publicised annual French film festival). Also part of this season was a 30-minute short film by Phillipe Harel called 'Une Visite'. It's easily the best short film I have ever seen.

Getting a bit off-topic, I know.
I will probably not be able to see it on Monday, but will let you know here if I do make it.
 

I have already seen The Closet (Le Placard) at Melbourne's French film Festival earlier this year. It is a great film (see review elsewhere). it would be great if it took off in the same way that 'La Cage Aux Folles' did. <Rant mode on> Unfortunately I get very frustrated at how difficult it is to see many of the latest French Films here in Melbourne either on video or on the big screen.

For example it is nigh on impossible to find a copy of 'Taxi' at present. The Alliance Francaise has just got a copy of Taxi 2 on video but I want to see the original first. <Rant mode off>

Anyway getting back to the topic.

Here in Melbourne is anyone having a special preview screening of 'Amelie'? I and a few french student friends would be interested to see the film. If anyone is having a special or preview screening here in Melbourne please drop me a line at pberrett@optushome.com.au

Most people I have talked to have loved Jeunet and Caro's work. I haven't as yet seen Alien Resurrection though. It would be interesting to see whether the film was stylistically like the earlier Alien films or more like Jeunet & Caro's earlier films.

cheers Peter

John.

PS: That crap about the out of frame splices was, by definition...crap.

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Dr. Hibbert: Homer, this is your physician, Dr. Julius Hibbert. Can you tell us what it's like in there?

Homer: Um...did anyone see the movie "Tron"?
Hibbert: No.
Lisa: No.
Marge: No.
Bart: No.
Patty: No.
Ned: No.
Selma: No.
Frink: No.
Lovejoy: No.
Chief Wiggum: Yes. Er...I mean no.
 

I'd be interested to hear your comments about how well or otherwise Australian audiences relate to French and other foreign films. Perhaps many people just don't like subtitles. If so that is a shame.

cheers Peter

Here is the new American site for Amelie

http://www.amelie-themovie.com/

There is an English language trailer on site.

cheers Peter

cheers Peter
 

Could 'Amelie' be this decade's 'La Cage Aux Folles'?

cheers Peter

Are the prints you are showing dubbed or subtitled?

cheers Peter

 

Hi all

This film is magical, funny, meaningful, romantic and insightful but the two words that best describe it are...

"Best Picture"

This was not just my opinion. At the end of the film the audience applauded which I think is a measure of a truly great film.

Enough said. If you haven't seen this film yet go see it with your loved one this Christmas.

Verdict (out of 10 stars): 9

cheers Peter

Is seems that I am not the only one who thinks it could win best picture.

Curiously enough it may find itself up against 'Moulin Rouge' - another film set in Paris.

I wonder whether it is possible for a foreign film to win 'Best Picture'?

cheers Peter

ps I just hope that Hollywood doesn't try to do a remake with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere

Nooooooooooooooooooooo....

There was one scene which was full of symbolic meaning that I really liked. <spoiler - if you haven't seen the film and want to see it fresh, stop here>

The gnome was cemented above the wife's grave, and the wife hated the gnome. This can be seen as a humorous take on the husband getting in the last licks (passive-agressive) or the gnome can be seen as reresenting his playful and explorative spirit, in which case the wife was suppressing him (in symbol) by hating the gnome and not allowing him to display it. The placement of it over her ashes could also be seen as a touching attempt to integrate two things the husband loved, or as his spirit watching over and guarding his wife's ashes.

The fact that the gnome had it's feet cemented in position indicated his own fixedness. Amelie's chipping away the cement and sending the gnome then becomes a freeing of the spirit symbol and symbolic of her own attempts to chip away at people's restrictions and free their spirits.

The multi-level symbolism of that segment was worthy. I just didn't see the rest of the movie matching up to the promise of that one scene.

 

Looking back on the Garden Gnome incident, it is clear that the gnome has a deeper symbolic meaning in that it represents a poorly understood yearning of all French men and women to hop on a plane, travel overseas to Vegas and see a Jerry Lewis show. By contrast, Amelie's father is representative of Gallic pride not wishing to admit that the French actually like anything American. Her father is the typical French citizen, torn between their country and their love of Jerry Lewis.

But Jeunet studies this conflict in a fascinating and meaningful way, eventually concluding that seeing Jerry Lewis live is more important that Gallic pride, as represented by Amelie's father packing his bags to travel overseas.

The cementing of the Garden Gnome on the wife's grave also has deeper meaning in that it represents that conflict between two rising stars of cinematic comedy namely Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The cementing of the gnome can be regarded as the cementing into place in one's mind that Jerry Lewis was a superior comedian to Dean Martin.

But then again you can read too much into films.

cheers Peter

 

My wife has her PhD in pyschology (it comes in handy for her understanding my craziness sometimes ) and we often watch films half-looking for hidden Jungian meanings and archetypes. In our experience, most of the great films that stand the test of time do have deeper meanings.

For instance, the classic scene of the mongrel dog licking his balls during the title sequence of "Stunt Man" has great psychological relevance. It also shows the importance of proper hygene, which was sadly lacking in Amelie. I guess that was to be expected though, since Gallic pride (and lack of certain receptors in the nose) prevents any reference to washing under the arms or deodorants. In any event, I didn't see a single scene where Amelie washed her hands after perusing trashed pictures found under photo booths. Nasty!

I neglected to mention that the cementing of the Garden Gnome on the wife's grave also has another alternate deeper meaning in that it represents the proverbial "cement overshoes" of gangster movies. According to this interpretation, there was a missing side-plot where the little gnome had done something to upset the local gnomafia, and this was a warning to other gnomes in the area to watch their step. Rumor has it that there may be a spin-off film, "The Gnomefather," with a supporting cast of lawn jockeys and garden gazing balls.

FWIW, The Dean Martin character was popular as a role model for the French, who drink a LOT of wine. It takes training and skill to appear both drunk and sober at the same time. Dean showed that the Americans once again had taken the lead over the stiff laced Europeans. (Or was it the laced European stiffs?) We all need to emulate this great star.

Why the French liked Joey Levitch is one of the great unsolved mysteries. A book was even written about their fascination with the showbiz oddities such as Jerry. Had he been born in France, he would have been cheerfully sent to the concentration camps instead of becoming a hero. Such are the vagaries of comedy in France, the nation that mechanized execution because the cost of all the executioners was killing them.

I think that psychology is a bit like body language. It is too easy to misinterpret certain actions as having a given meaning when in fact the action occurred for entirely different reasons. Besides I just like to relax and enjoy the film.

You also wrote:

"I neglected to mention that the cementing of the Garden Gnome on the wife's grave also has another alternate deeper meaning in that it represents the proverbial "cement overshoes" of gangster movies. According to this interpretation, there was a missing side-plot where the little gnome had done something to upset the local gnomafia, and this was a warning to other gnomes in the area to watch their step. Rumor has it that there may be a spin-off film, "The Gnomefather," with a supporting cast of lawn jockeys and garden gazing balls."

My bet is that Danny De Vito would play the lead. Come to think of it "The Gnomefather" featuring a mafia of gnomes has potential as a comedy film synopsis. I'm sure Pixar could do something with this concept.

cheers Peter

 

http://www.movieguide.com.au/boxoffice.htm

It is no Harry Potter but it is still a good effort for a foreign film.

How is Amelie performing in the USA? Has it been popular there?

cheers Peter

The film is currently #8 at the Box Office here in Australia and has thus far pulled in $2.4 million from a limited number of screens and with limited publicity.

Curiously my boss went to see the film and didn't like it which is surprising given that he likes seeing foreign films. On the other hand he loved "Le Placard" to the point that he went back to see it a second time. I suspect I shall be doing the same shortly for both films.

cheers Peter

You asked me way back if our prints were subtitled or dubbed. They were both subtitled. Actually after all this time we are still running one of our prints 3 times a day. NOT BAD!
 

The reason I asked was I was curious to see whether American audiences prefer subtitled foreign films or whether they prefer dubbed films, as the French do.

cheers Peter

 

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- dave
Avoid the meadow...
 

I agree entirely with your comments. I much prefer subtitling. Unfortunately I have seen numerous foreign comedies destroyed by dubbing. The film 'Les Ripoux' comes to mind as an example. This story about two corrupt cops was dubbed into English on the VHS video I saw. Like many dubbed French Comedies one or two "dubbers" perform the majority of the voices in the film. This means that the voices are alternatively artificial, contrived, exaggerated or otherwise false. Such dubbing spoils the illusion of reality that the film is endeavouring to project.

I understand that in some countries dubbing has been refined to high standards (Italy?) however this has generally not been my experience of films dubbed into English. I am not anti-dubbing per se - consider the situation of those people who cannot read but would otherwise want to watch a foreign film. So there is a place for dubbing but in general no dubbing is better than bad dubbing.

Curiously the following article sheds some light on the dubbing/subtitling debate.
http://cloud.prohosting.com/ruhneb/board/34.html

I hope they never dub Amelie.

cheers Peter

Firstly Amelie " ...has become the most successful foreign film shown in Australia, eclipsing the opening week box-office record previously held by this year's Oscar winner, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,3534099%255E10431,00.html

Secondly, thanks mainly to an increase in the number of screens showing Amelie, the film has now taken in excess of $4m here in Australia. It is also currently taking in excess of $14,000 per screen. On a per screen basis that makes it the #2 film in Australia currently.
http://www.cinefile.com.au/News_Bums_on_seats_New.asp

cheers Peter

We have had the film 13 weeks and we have grossed $107,000 so far. We aren't done yet.
 

Can a foreign film win Best Picture?

cheers Peter
 

Yes!!! Last year, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Chocolat" were two of the five nominees for Best Picture.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
 

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"It's not the years honey, it's the mileage". - Indiana Jones.
 

I looked at the oscars site.

As far as I can see a foreign film has never won Best Picture yet.

cheers peter

Amelie has been nominated for 5 academy awards. A fine effort for a foreign film.

- Best Cinematography
- Best Foreign Film
- Best Art Direction
- Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
- Best Sound

cheers Peter
 

Moviegoers in Central New Jersey love Amelie. I saw it Thanksgiving weekend at the AMC Hamilton and it sold out a Saturday matinee (that theater ran it only 5 weeks because of Xmas product). The 6-screen arthouse in Rocky Hill has had Amelie for 18 weeks going on 19 -- a longer run than the Paris Theatre in NYC. The Reading Cinemas in Manville picks up Amelie for an Oscar Weekend double-up (with In the Bedroom).