AMELIE

 

The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain

I chose to do Amelie (directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet), because I have seen it the least out of the films I chose, so I would be less likely to get sick of it during the course of this assesment. 

   Amelie's opening has a short scene, where the narrator describes things happening at a certain point in time, before it goes into the opening credits. This short scene shows small narratives of various objects/people and what they are doing, "On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth. Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eugène Colère erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Raphaël Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife Amandine. Nine months later, Amélie Poulain was born." There are other moments in the film like this, and it shows how all the little details are important. This sequence also introduces the setting of the movie (Montmartre).

   The actual opening credits show Amelie as a child playing and enjoying herself, but with no other people around. This reflects her future life, as she enjoys what she does but has few companions. Red and yellow are the feature colours in the credits, and they are used often for the rest of the film. They contrasts with the other tones in the movie which are quite unsaturated/pale in comparison. This opening appealed to me because it is rather aesthetically pleasing and quirky, like the whole film. The shots used are interesting and it has a nice song in the background.