j-ogenes

I was told to watch this movie but the source was only so
reliable. I wonder if someone would care to describe it a bit more than people have. I know movie reviews
are widely available online, but...maybe we could get a pro and a con here.

ex-idaho

Amelie the main character takes it upon herself to try and improve the lives of as many people as possible. In this pursuit she discovers her soul mate but is too shy to actually approach him.

As several have stated the cinemetography is excellent but not in the ways you would expect. There is a very clever use of animation and beautiful sequences including a great use of the Parisian backdrop.

Audrey Tautou is amazingly beautiful and so witty and clever in this role that you can't help but fall in love with her. The supporting cast is just odd ball enough to be believable but the film maker really uses all the surroundings of Paris to support the character Amelie. This film is near perfect in every way.

Hugo Holbling

Agreed. There are many factors that make the film so magical, not the least of which is the understated performance of wide-eyed awe from Kassowitz. Recall also the scene wherein Collignon's father gives Amelie the information she is seeking but then declares that it won't count "because i'm senile", only for his wife to remark "don't listen to him - he's senile".

No doubt Tautou is very beautiful but it would be shame if she is remembered solely for this role when she already has an impressive body of work to her name. Even so, when she stops Kassowitz from speaking at the end of the movie you have to wonder if such a perfect role could come along again. Note to film buffs: Jeunet exploits the silence at this point just as Tykwer does at the climax of his Heaven and to similarly sublime effect.

That would be interesting to see. Reviewers are pretty much unanimous: you should see the film. I watch it whenever i'm feeling low because the world seems like a wondrous and magical place thereafter, with the impression lingering for days. Have a glance here.

CuriosityKills

My boyfriend rented this for me when I was feeling pretty lousy. I felt so good after seeing this movie. I still feel great just thinking about it.

It was wonderful to see a movie in which the lead wasn't just beautiful, but intelligent and quirky as well. Too often I think actresses are cat in roles that only focus on physical beauty.

Hugo Holbling

You need to watch more European cinema, then. Take a look through Juliette Binoche's work, for example: she's still stunning and easily the finest actress alive - just witness her falling to pieces in one long single shot in Haneke's Code Unknown. Watch Irene Jacob (my personal favourite - she quit acting for a year to study philosophy and French literature) in Kieslowski's Rouge or La double vie de Veronique if you can find it. Isabelle Huppert chews up scenery wherever she finds it, in Chabrol or Haneke. Franka Potente is mesmerising in Tykwer's Der Kreiger und Die Kaiserin. Bellucci is another obvious example and i hope i'm not the only one who has seen the masterwork that is Irreversible. Kate Blanchett is sublime in a film i mentioned before, Heaven.

You could also look to the many excellent and innovative female directors making movies today, such as Breillat, Despentes or Colombani. There's more to women in film than the empty Hollywood "love interest".

If you dare, watch Baise-Moi.

Gurdur

You should watch movies from the director Magaretha von Trotta.
Warning: they can be rather sad.