In France she knocked the Hollywood blockbusters off the top spot. Now Amélie’s adventures are set to delight Film Festival audiences. Star AUDREY TAUTOU and director JEAN- PIERRE JEUNET explain why.
Words: Richard Mowe
10 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 9—15 Aug 2001
I ""6 with the little people
ust occasionally a film breaks the mould.
catches the mood of the times and
becomes a phenomenon. A big claim. but in the guise of a youthful actress Audrey 'l‘autou. Amelie has been infiltrating the hearts and minds of le mm Paris and the rest of lirance. Even President Chirac scrambled to embrace its feelgood message of humanity for ‘the little people’. demanding a special screening at the Elysee. his official residence. to find out what all the fuss was about — and to see if he could harness some of her appeal in the run-up to the election battle next year.
So what exactly is causing such an outburst of Gallic fervour? To give the film its full French title. lxfltbuleux (/0311): (I 'Amélit' l’ulain presents a nostalgic and idealised view of life in Paris‘ Montmartre quarter. Amelie is a cafe waitress who tries to give new meaning to her existence after her mother is killed. She decides to devote herself to making others happy. but describing her methods as eccentric is a vast understatement.
Amelie is a sweet. old-fashioned romantic comedy. but director Jean—Pierre Jeunet has constructed his film in a marvelloust elaborate manner. and he imbues it with the glorious comic sensibility displayed in his previous films. [)(‘Ii('(ll(’.8‘.8‘(’ll and The (71)“ (If/.031 Children. Jeunet's sense of nostalgia owes much to the traditions of such French cinema masters as Francois Truffaut. Rene Clair. Julien Duvivier and Marcel Came. In a country that has always regarded the infiltration of Hollywood influences with suspicion. it has been hailed for being ‘untouched by the fantasies ofAmerican cinema‘.