Amelie (Movie) Review
Yes, yes, I know I'm late. I'm not going to give excuses, mostly because I just don't care that much. And since I've dawdled enough, let's head right into the review, shall we?
Amelie
Amelie
Before we begin, repeat after me: "Subtitles are not Closed Captioning. Subtitles are not Closed Captioning. Subtitles are not Closed Captioning." Okay, that done, let's move on to the movie. As I mentioned before, several people have told me that this is one of the best films ever made. It would be wrong to say that I can't argue with that, because I am more than contrary enough to, but I would do so knowing that I am a lying bastard. This movie is awesome.
The first really amazing thing about this movie is that it managed to include some serious character development -- on more than a superficial level -- while still being short enough that, were you to see it in a theater, you wouldn't end up faced with the hard choice of whether seeing the end of the movie or escaping with your bladder intact is more important to you. And it's not just the main character that grows over the course of the film, but also many of the little supporting people that most films would just throw away after their usefulness was through change in both obvious and subtle ways. Now, of course, the character growth is rather the point of the movie; there wouldn't be must left if you took it out. But it was done so masterfully that I felt it was still worth mentioning.
But the best part about this movie is the humor. Normally I'm not a far of the semi-random brand of comedy that Amelie uses, but it was it done well enough to be an exception. The gnome bit was particularly inspired. And while it knew how to be funny, the movie also took to being serious with aplomb. The acting was overall subdued; not a lot of melodrama or heartfelt monologues. But, in particular, Audrey Tautou's portrayal of the painfully shy Amelie is not only wonderful, but also immediately identifiable with by all of us introverts.
I only have one minor quibble, and it's not with the movie itself, but rather with the DVD version. Look, Miramax, just because we don't speak the language, doesn't mean we're deaf. Or blind. If we see a character opening a window, most of us are capable of coming to the conclusion that the sound that accompanies it is the sound of a [window opening]. Not a huge intellectual leap, you might say. Like I said, not a fault of the movie itself, and I'm not going to penalize a work just because I'm too lazy to learn the proper language to watch it in it's original form, but it is irritating.
Anyway, aside from that, this is a movie I would recommend to anyone. Well, except for small children. It does have an 'R' rating for a reason. Since I am not a small child however, and I am going on the assumption that most of the people reading this blog aren't as well, I'm giving the movie an unabashed 11 out of 11. My second Eleven movie, and the first Eleven posted on this site. A big thanks to Jarataur and Mr. Swaim for recommending this to me.
The first really amazing thing about this movie is that it managed to include some serious character development -- on more than a superficial level -- while still being short enough that, were you to see it in a theater, you wouldn't end up faced with the hard choice of whether seeing the end of the movie or escaping with your bladder intact is more important to you. And it's not just the main character that grows over the course of the film, but also many of the little supporting people that most films would just throw away after their usefulness was through change in both obvious and subtle ways. Now, of course, the character growth is rather the point of the movie; there wouldn't be must left if you took it out. But it was done so masterfully that I felt it was still worth mentioning.
But the best part about this movie is the humor. Normally I'm not a far of the semi-random brand of comedy that Amelie uses, but it was it done well enough to be an exception. The gnome bit was particularly inspired. And while it knew how to be funny, the movie also took to being serious with aplomb. The acting was overall subdued; not a lot of melodrama or heartfelt monologues. But, in particular, Audrey Tautou's portrayal of the painfully shy Amelie is not only wonderful, but also immediately identifiable with by all of us introverts.
I only have one minor quibble, and it's not with the movie itself, but rather with the DVD version. Look, Miramax, just because we don't speak the language, doesn't mean we're deaf. Or blind. If we see a character opening a window, most of us are capable of coming to the conclusion that the sound that accompanies it is the sound of a [window opening]. Not a huge intellectual leap, you might say. Like I said, not a fault of the movie itself, and I'm not going to penalize a work just because I'm too lazy to learn the proper language to watch it in it's original form, but it is irritating.
Anyway, aside from that, this is a movie I would recommend to anyone. Well, except for small children. It does have an 'R' rating for a reason. Since I am not a small child however, and I am going on the assumption that most of the people reading this blog aren't as well, I'm giving the movie an unabashed 11 out of 11. My second Eleven movie, and the first Eleven posted on this site. A big thanks to Jarataur and Mr. Swaim for recommending this to me.
Final Score:
11/11
Alright, I've been reading a couple of interesting books this last week, so I will likely end up reviewing one of them for the next review. I'll try to get back into my once-per-calender-week review schedule, but given my overall apathy toward most things in life, I can't make any promises.
11/11
Alright, I've been reading a couple of interesting books this last week, so I will likely end up reviewing one of them for the next review. I'll try to get back into my once-per-calender-week review schedule, but given my overall apathy toward most things in life, I can't make any promises.
posted by Mr. the Tiger at 17:53
2 Comments:
Welcome back - nice to see your on-line presence survivied the rigors of moving.
Out of curiosity what was the first 11 movie? I think I've heard of it, but the mind is starting to go :P
Kung-fu Hustle (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373074/), which I will likely review on this 'blog at some far-future date.
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