DVD Review | Amélie
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: A
DVD Special Features: A

Fair warning: I'm going to gush about this movie.  I didn't know what to
expect and I had no idea what it was about, so to say I was pleasantly
surprised doesn't begin to describe the experience of watching "Amélie." This
is a fairytale for dreamers, plain and simple.  The characters live in a
world of color and motion that only dreamers can see, do things that only
those in a fairytale could do and experience events in such a way that few
ever could.  Aside from being a very humorous film, it is also an optimistic
one that sees potential happiness for even the most desperate souls.

After a delightful introduction to the world Amélie (Audrey Tautou, "Beating
of the Butterfly's Wings") is brought into, we are shown certain events in
her childhood that shape the adult she becomes.  After moving out of her
father's house, she winds up an extremely shy waitress working in a tiny café
in Paris watching the world go by.  Opportunity to do something very positive
for someone Amélie has never met before presents itself and opens her eyes to
a world she realizes she can shape and change for the better.  From that
point on, life is never the same as she sets out using everything at her
disposal to make those around her happy.

It is during this journey that an entire cast of misfits become her projects.
Among them is the woman who owns the building she lives in who was betrayed by the love of her life, the elderly artist who is having an inspiration
block, the local grocer who is belittled by his boss, the co-worker at the
café who has more illnesses than should be humanly possible only because she
is lonely, her own father who refuses to leave the house and a special young
man who is trying to solve the mystery behind a series of photographs taken
in subways around the city.  It is also this same young man who Amélie begins
to fall in love with.  Can she help herself in the same way she helps those
around her?  Finding out is an absolute pleasure.

"Amélie" was nominated for 5 Academy Awards and rightly so.  Everything from the expressions on the actors' faces to the colors of the sets is a
masterpiece.  The story is engaging and the actors are perfectly cast in
their respective roles.  I can't say enough good things about this film, so
I'll stop now so I don't go overboard.  Suffice to say that I think it would
be difficult for someone not to like this movie.

Miramax has released "Amélie" in a Widescreen transfer that is simply
breathtaking.  The colors are vivid and there aren't any flaws or defects
visible.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound compliments the film and the
subtitles are easy to read.  The studio has also seen fit to make this a
2-disc edition.  The first disc contains the film as well as English and
French audio commentaries with the director while the second disc has all of
the additional extras.  While I can't vouch for the French track, I can say
that Jeunet keeps up the energy on the English track and makes it an
extremely engaging conversation, much more so than some American directors.

First up on Disc 2 is "The Look of Amélie," a 12-minute featurette
interviewing Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel about the look of the film, which is quite fascinating and definitely worth watching.  Next up is a 2-minute collection of amusing outtakes called
"Fantasies of Audrey Tautou," screen tests for three of the actors, a poorly
shot 24-minute Q&A with Jean-Pierre Jeunet that could have used more
subtitles than were actually provided, another poorly shot 6-minute Q&A with
Director and Cast, a 1-minute storyboard comparison, "An Intimate
Conversation with Jean-Pierre Jeunet" in which the director shares 20 minutes
of his memories of the film for DVD collectors, 12 minutes of ""Home Movies"
Inside The Making of Amélie," US and French theatrical trailers, US and
French TV spots, "The Amélie Scrapbook" (consisting of Behind-the-Scenes
Photos, French poster concepts, Storyboards and the Garden Gnome's Travels) and, finally, cast and crew filmographies.

Miramax outdid themselves with this release.  It would be easy to simply put
out a barebones edition like we're going to get with the upcoming
"Brotherhood of the Wolf," but they didn't.  (Incidentally, there will be a
3-disc Canadian edition of "Brotherhood" in Director's Cut form available for
those of us in the US wanting something better than what Universal is giving
us.)  "Amélie" is a film that brings out the romantic in us all as well as
the optimist instead of the pessimist or cynic.  I'm often asked by friends
if there's a film I would recommend that they not miss.  Well, here it is.  
Enjoy.