Amelie

Amelie was a very unique film. I say that not because it was a French film, but because the way it was filmed. The angles and montages were bizarre, yet a great visual element to showcase the movie. The way that the cinematographer’s “collage” art played off of Amelie’s “crush’s” scrapbook/collage art was very interesting. I like how the montages were used to showcase each main character as they were introduced and to highlight key parts of the movie or significant changes that took place in the storyline. The collage that started it all, the boy’s time capsule, began to cause the film itself to become one long montage where people’s lives were layered and meshed together to form a full picture.

The storyline behind Amelie was not all that interesting, but the way the film was pieced together made it intriguing to watch. In away this film has a tie to Pay It Forward beause in both movies, one person made it their goal to better the lives of others. Clearly Amelie’s motive was not a school project as was the case in Pay It Forward, but there are other similarities that can be seen. My favorite character from the movie was the old man with the brittle bones. He had an interesting personality and forced Amelie to take on the risks in her life.

At some point during the movie, all of the four cinematic points of view were used: objective, subjective, indirect-subjective and director’s interpretive. By using all points of view, the movie was more dramatic and visually interesting. In Amelie, the size and closeness of the object, the movement, extreme close-ups, lighting and color, and the arrangement of people and objects were the most regularly used methods of directing attention to the main object, especially during the montage scenes. This film was constantly in motion; tilting and panning were constantly. Extremely high and low camera angles were other heavily used techniques.

I know that you said that if people complained about having to watch another foreign film then we would have to watch another one; well I think we should just watch another one just because. There is something about a foreign film and not fully understanding everything that is said and having to rely on your other senses to piece together and understand the various elements of the film. Personally, I enjoy watching foreign films for the experience of heightened senses that come from them.