Drawing from the art of Juárez Machado, Amélie’s cinematography combines earthy tones with eye-catching accent colors to create what Hudson described as a “whimsical, fantastic Paris.” He relates that, despite serving a mission in Paris and visiting again many times, in his mind, the city been tinted with the yellows and greens of Amélie. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the film’s director, makes heavy use of color to add vibrancy and depth to Amélie’s extraordinary world. The juxtaposition of this fable, or things “that have no basis in reality,” with the ordinary reality that Amélie lives in creates a tale that lends an element of magic into the lives of ordinary people. The titular Amélie’s vivid imagination, which does everything from bringing clouds to life to spurring conversations with lamps and paintings, is what Hudson believes to be a modern utilization of fable. However, even with this simple plot, the film fully embraces elements of the fantastic and surreal within its narrative. So, just what is magical realism and how does it make Amélie, in Hudson’s opinion, one of the three French films that everyone should watch?īy Hudson’s definition, magical realism involves a “highly detailed, highly realistic setting invaded by something too strange to believe.” The genre involves the “mythic, fantastic, de-familiarizing, expansive, imagined, and uncanny” and brings all of these elements into everyday life.Īmélie, known also by its longer title, The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, is a story of a girl who takes joy in life’s simple pleasures and dedicates herself to helping others. Once the silence has lingered enough, Hudson supplies the answer to his own question: Amélie contains the perfect blend of magical realism. Hudson exchanges some friendly banter with International Cinema Co-director Daryl Lee before turning to the audience and pondering, “Why Amélie?” His question is fair: Amélie is a time-honored favorite of International Cinema and the subject of both Hudson’s lecture and the night’s screening. He is bearded, comfortable in his sports jacket, and when he opens his mouth, his Kentucky-drawl leaves you reflecting on non-existent memories of Appalachia. Professor Robert Hudson approaches the podium. This is the perfect lighthearted movie.Associate Professor of French and Italian Robert Hudson cites Amélie ’s magical realism as the de-facto reason why people should view the film in his lecture to BYU’s International Cinema. In short 'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain' is charming, funny, romantic bright and full of life. In a way her character is really doing that here so it does not feel strange. She looks like she just pulled a joke and she is waiting for you to find out what it is. She has one of those faces that seem to smile the entire time. In this world, Paris actually, Audrey Tautou is the perfect inhabitant. Even the sad parts from Amélie's life, her youth for example, look almost strangely happy. The movie looks colorful and bright almost constantly. The story is not only sweet and charming, it has some great moments of comedy as well. There is a little mystery in the book as well, of course I will not spoil that for you. He puts all those photos and pieces of photos in a big book. Photos that were tossed away because people thought they didn't look good enough. On the way she falls in love with Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz) who's hobby it is to collect photos from automatic photo booths. She helps her father by making him believe that his gnome from the garden is on a trip around the world, she helps a lonely neighbor by just visiting him, she helps a stranger by returning something she found in her home. Not by doing great big things or giving money, but by little things. We have a wonderful story about Amélie who decides to help people around her, making them happy. The story about Amélie (Audrey Tautou) is a modern day fairy tale and that is exactly how it looks the entire film. 'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain' finds its charm in the little things.
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