2020 Blind Spot Series: Betty Blue

 

Note: The Following is also a contributing piece to the 2020 Edition of Girl Week hosted by Wendell of Dell on Movies.

Based on the novel 37 2 le matin by Philippe Dijan, Betty Blue is the story of an aspiring novelist who meets a young woman in a beach town in France as they engage into a tumultuous and chaotic affair. Written for the screen and directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, the film is an exploration of a love affair that goes into great extremes as it relates to this easygoing man and this troubled and erratic young woman. Starring Jean-Hughes Anglade, Beatrice Dalle, Gerard Darmon, Consuelo de Haviland, Clementine Celarie, and Jacques Mathou. Betty Blue is a ravishing yet intense film from Jean-Jacques Beineix.

The film is about a tumultuous love affair between a thirty-something man and a 19-year old woman as they meet in a beach town in France as they would endure a relationship filled with many ups and downs as well as one of immense turmoil. It’s a film that explores this relationship of great extremes of a man who is just trying to find himself and wonders if he can make it as a novelist where he meets this young woman who is wild and energetic but also has these intense mood swings when things go wrong. The film’s screenplay by Jean-Jacques Beineix explores this relationship as it is largely told from the perspective of Zorg (Jean-Hughes Anglade) who meets Betty (Beatrice Dalle) at the beach and immediately begin this love affair that is intense with passion and terror with Zorg narrating his own experiences with Betty. Their time at the beach town of Gruissan would be brief as they would travel to Paris and later the French countryside town of Marvejols where they try to find a stable life and opportunities with Zorg hoping to be published by the manuscript Betty had created for him. They would also meet an assortment of people who would drive their relationship to new highs and new lows.

Beineix’s direction has elements of style in the compositions he creates yet there is also something entrancing in his overall presentation as it is shot on these different locations in Gruissan, Paris, and Marvejols as they all represent the wild mood swings of Betty and the journey that she and Zorg would take. Beineix’s wide shots and usage of tracking shots add to the beauty of some of the scenery that includes shots in the beaches of Gruissan to a chase scene at night in the streets of Marvejols as it has something that is gripping and unpredictable. There are also these intimate moments in the film with its usage of close-ups and medium shots as it play into the romance with lots of coverage on full-frontal nudity from both Zorg and Betty as the first scene of the film is the two of them having intense sex where it blurs the line of whether the actors are really doing it or faking it real good.

Beineix also maintains this air of danger as it relates to Betty’s unstable behavior whether it’s her throwing things at the bungalow she and Zorg are staying in or just going after a publisher all because he hated Zorg’s book. The film, in its original 185-minute running time, play into this rollercoaster of a relationship as those who observe Betty and Zorg as it includes people in Paris and Marvejols with the latter trying to do what he can to make Betty happy. The film’s third act is about that search for stability and it would happen for a brief moment until something horrific occurs as it play into chaos as well as the role Betty has for Zorg. Yet, Zorg is intent on trying to save her no matter how impulsive, destructive, and delusional she is in this strange yet whirlwind act of love. Overall, Beineix crafts a riveting and exhilarating film about a love affair between a wannabe writer and his young yet wild girlfriend.

Cinematographer Jean-Francois Robin does incredible work with the film’s cinematography as it is a major highlight of the film with its usage of vibrant colors, stylish shading, low-key lighting, and its approach to naturalism for some of the exterior scenes in the day. Editors Monique Prim and Yves Deschamps, with additional work from Marie-Aimee Debril for its original 185-minute cut, does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward in its approach to drama with some jump-cuts to play into the chaotic elements of the film as well as a few slow-motion shots. Production designer Carlos Conti and set decorator Jacques Leguillon do brilliant work with the look of the bungalow that Zorg and Betty were living in as well as re-painting as well as the other homes they would live into play into the progress of their romance. Costume designer Elisabeth Tavernier does fantastic work with the costumes as it help enhance the film’s look whether it’s a red dress that Betty wears or some of the casual yet colorful clothes that Zorg wears.

Hair/makeup designer Judith Gayo does terrific work with the look of Betty in her wild hairstyle as well as a look that she would sport late in the film. The sound work of Pierre Befve and Dominique Hennequin do superb work with the film’s sound as it help play into the atmosphere in how music is sound on location as well as some of the quieter moments in the film. The film’s music by Gabriel Yared is phenomenal as its mixture of soothing saxophone pieces with elements of strings, circus-like music, and other textures is a major highlight of the film as it help play into the drama and chaos.

The casting by Dominique Besnehard is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Dominique Pinon as a drug dealer Zorg meets in a bathroom, Philippe Laudenbach as a posh publisher that Betty beats up, Claude Confortes as the fat and sleazy bungalows proprietor, Jean-Pierre Bisson as a police commissioner Zorg confers with about his own manuscript that was also rejected by pretentious publishers, and Vincent Lindon as a young police officer in Marvejols who isn’t fond of Zorg at first until he realizes that he means well. Jacques Mathou and Clementine Celarie are superb in their respective roles as the husband-and-wife team of Bob and Annie with the former being a friendly markets owner trying to help them out while the latter is a sex-starved woman trying to seduce Zorg every way she can. Consuelo de Haviland is excellent as Betty’s friend Lisa who owns a hotel in Paris where she allows Betty and Zorg to stay for a bit while trying to help Betty any way she can. Gerard Darmon is brilliant as Eddy as Lisa’s boyfriend who owns a pizzeria as he helps Zorg out with publishers while later taking Zorg and Betty to Marvejols for his own reasons as he gives them a new home.

Finally, there’s the duo of Jean-Hughes Anglade and Beatrice Dalle in phenomenal performances in their respective roles as Zorg and Betty. Anglade’s performance has him be this man that is easy-going but also frustrated at times where he escapes through having a good time and drinking yet is also troubled by Betty’s mood swings as it is low-key at times but also has moments of humor. Dalle’s performance as the titular character is a debut performance that is unforgettable in terms of not just this air of charisma and energy but also in displaying this pain and anguish this young woman is dealing with. Even as she would do some violent actions to others as well as herself where there is something dangerous in what Dalle does yet it adds so much to everything she’s doing as she and Anglade also have this chemistry that is just riveting to watch.

Betty Blue is a tremendous film from Jean-Jacques Beineix that features great performances from Jean-Hughes Anglade and Beatrice Dalle. Along with its ravishing visuals, Gabriel Yared’s intoxicating score, themes of love at its most extreme, supporting cast, and its gorgeous locations. The film is definitely a love story that doesn’t play by the rules nor does it shy away from its display of sex and violence as well as its exploration of mental illness and searching for meaning through love. In the end, Betty Blue is an outstanding film from Jean-Jacques Beineix.

Jean-Jacques Beineix Films: (Diva (1981 film)) – (Moon in the Gutter) – (Roselyn et les lions) – (Les Enfants de Roumanie) – (IP5: L’ile aux pachydermes) – (Otaku: fils de l’empire du virtuel) – (Place Cichy sans complexe) – (Assigne a residence) – (Mortel transfert)

© thevoid99 2020

Frantic

Directed by Roman Polanski and written by Roman Polanski and Gerard Brach with additional contributions by Robert Towne and Jeff Gross, Frantic is the story about an American doctor who travels to Paris to visit his wife as she suddenly disappears prompting him to go on a search for her whereabouts all over the city. The film is a suspense story that revolves a man’s desire to find his wife as he gets help from a young street-wise woman who knows about the dark underworld that is in the city. Starring Harrison Ford, Betty Buckley, John Mahoney, and Emmanuelle Seigner. Frantic is a gripping yet mesmerizing thriller from Roman Polanski.

When the wife of an American doctor is kidnapped in Paris where her husband is trying to find her whereabouts. It is often in the schematics of things for the man to go on the search for his wife by himself. While the film does play into that, it revolves around a suitcase that later belongs to someone else as its owner is a young woman who was supposed to smuggle something in the suitcase unaware of its contents. Once this doctor and young woman figure out why they’re attracting trouble over a suitcase. What occurs is the fact that there is an object in the suitcase that some very important people want as this doctor and young woman are caught in the middle as all the doctor wants is his wife back.

The screenplay by Roman Polanski and Gerard Brach does play with the conventions of a suspense-thriller that often involves kidnapping angles. Yet, they add other elements to the stories such as the fact that the film’s protagonist in Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) has to deal with not just some of the American bureaucracy involved as it complicates issues in the search for his wife. There’s also all sorts of people that wants something in this suitcase that belongs to this young woman named Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner). While Michelle admits that she smuggles drugs for a dealer, she has no idea about some of the contents she was carrying in that suitcase. All because Michelle and Dr. Walker’s wife Sondra (Betty Buckley) each got the wrong suitcase, a whole lot of trouble comes in as Sondra is kidnapped and Dr. Walker goes on this frantic search to find her.

The script does explore the idea of how police and these American political issues complicate things for Dr. Walker as they’re more concerned about other things. Notably as it would also involve various people where Dr. Walker and Michelle realize what they’re after. For Dr. Walker, he can use this object as a bargaining chip to get his wife back while Michelle just wants money for bringing the object to them. Still, they have to deal with forces who are very dangerous and this object, which is a Macguffin, is what everyone else is after where Dr. Walker would finally take control of this deal.

Polanski’s direction is quite entrancing for the way he explores the world of kidnapping and a man’s desire to retrieve his wife. Notably as he creates a lot of interesting compositions to establish the sense of mystery that occurs in the film. Shot on location in Paris, Polanski creates something where it does involve this American who doesn’t speak much French as he’s either dismissed or misinterpreted by the locals. Yet, he does get help from a few people who understand what he’s going through. Polanski uses close-ups to unveil some of the tribulations that Dr. Walker is going through as well as some eerie moments in the nighttime moments where Dr. Walker is trying to uncover the mystery. In this world full of nightclubs filled with lots of reggae music, Dr. Walker is definitely in a world that he doesn’t really know much about as it is a very seedy side of Paris.

Polanski’s direction also allows the film to have a bit of humor such as a scene of Dr. Walker walking on the roof of Michelle’s apartment with the suitcase that reveals his sense of awkwardness while some of the humor also comes from Michelle who is just a young woman that likes to chew bubblegum. Polanski also create moments where he allows the characters to improvise a bit to get out of situations while maintaining that sense of suspense that is prevalent through the film. Notably in the final showdown involving Dr. Walker, Michelle and the people who has Sondra where it is about who gains what yet there are also forces that want something as Polanski maintains that intensity in the suspense. Overall, Polanski crafts a very engaging and chilling suspense film that doesn’t lose sight of its intentions as well as its characters.

Cinematographer Witold Sobocinski does excellent work with the cinematography from some of the nighttime interior shadings in the apartments and at Dr. Walker‘s hotel room to some of the look of Paris at dawn in some of the film‘s exterior scenes. Editor Sam O‘Steen does brilliant work with the editing by using some methodical rhythmic cuts to play out some of the film‘s suspenseful moments as well as some of its comical moments. Production designer Pierre Guffroy does nice work with the look of the hotel rooms that Dr. Walker is staying at as well as the apartment that Michelle lives in.

Costume designer Anthony Powell does wonderful work with the costumes from the stylish clothes of Michelle to the more reserved look of Dr. Walker. Sound editor Laurent Quaglio does fantastic work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the nightclubs as well as some of the eerie moments in the film. The film’s music by Ennio Morricone is phenomenal as Morricone creates this haunting score filled with ominous string arrangements with a bit of guitar in the mix to play out some of its suspense and drama as it’s one of his more overlooked scores in his revered career. The soundtrack features a mix of jazz and electro-pop music with a dash of reggae as it includes contributions by Simply Red and Grace Jones to play out the sense of youth that Michelle revels in.

The film’s cast is amazing as it features some notable small roles from Dominique Pinon as a wino who witnessed what happened to Sondra, Dominique Vitron as the hotel desk clerk, Jacques Ciron as the hotel manager, Jimmie Ray Weeks and John Mahoney as U.S. embassy officials, Thomas M. Pollard as a Rastafarian that Dr. Walker meets, David Huddleston as a colleague Dr. Walker meets at the airport, and Yorgo Voyagis as the kidnapper. Betty Buckley is terrific as Dr. Walker’s wife Sondra who becomes a victim of troubling circumstances in order to get an object that Michelle was supposed to deliver.

Emmanuelle Seigner is superb as the street-wise Michelle who helps Dr. Walker navigate through the streets of Paris to find Sondra while being a woman with her own agenda as it’s a wonderful debut performance for the actress. Finally, there’s Harrison Ford in an incredible performance as Dr. Richard Walker as a man who is just determined to find his wife where Ford brings the every-man into the character as well as a vulnerability that allows him to be very engaging in the plight that he’s facing.

Frantic is a marvelous suspense-thriller from Roman Polanski that is highlighted by the brilliant performances from Harrison Ford and Emmanuelle Seigner. While it’s a thriller that does play to conventional tactics, Polanski is able to make it very engaging as well as bring a sense of human drama that is prevalent through the film. It’s also one of Polanski’s more overlooked films for the fact that he is able to create something that does more for the suspense genre. In the end, Frantic is a masterfully-crafted thriller from Roman Polanski.

Roman Polanski Films: Knife in the Water - Repulsion - Cul-de-Sac - The Fearless Vampire Killers - Rosemary's Baby - Macbeth (1971 film) - (What?) - Chinatown - The Tenant - Tess - (Pirates (1986 film)) - Bitter Moon - Death and the Maiden - The Ninth Gate - The Pianist - Olivier Twist (2005 film) - The Ghost Writer - Carnage - (Venus in Fur) - (Based on a True Story) - (An Officer and a Spy) - (The Palace)

© thevoid99 2013

The City of Lost Children

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro and written by Jeunet,Caro, and Gilles Adrien, La Cite des enfants perdus (The City of Lost Children) is a fantasy-drama film set in a dystopian world where a carnival strongman and a streetwise orphan going to an island to save children from a mad scientist. Featuring Jeunet’s whimsical yet colorful direction along with Caro’s broad visual ideas, it is considered the duo’s finest collaboration of their career. Starring Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Dominique Pinon, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Rufus, Ticky Holgado, Mathieu Kassovitz, and the voice of Jean-Louis Trintignant. La Cite des enfants perdus is a remarkable yet stunning film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro.

Somewhere on a mysterious island in the middle of the sea, a mad scientist named Krank (Daniel Emilfork) is kidnapping children so he can steal their dreams. Krank, unable to dream, is getting nightmares from the children he kidnaps with the help of his midget-wife Martha (Mirielle Mosse) and a group of cloned men (Dominique Pinon). Yet, all the children are scared of Krank as he hopes to reverse the aging process while is being annoyed by a brain named Irvin (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who the clones admire. Krank continues to look for a child that would give him good dreams so he can stop himself from aging. Meanwhile at a nearby dystopian world, a simple-minded strongman named One (Ron Perlman) is taking care of a young infant child named Denree (Joseph Lucien) who is later kidnapped by a group of men known as Cyclops.

During his search for Denree, One meets a young girl named Miette who helps him as she’s part of a group of orphan thieves who steal for Siamese-twin women known as Octopus (Genevieve Brunet and Odile Mallet) who are connected by one foot. After encountering their guard Peeler (Rufus), One and Miette go on a journey to find Cyclops and its leader Gabriel Marie (Serge Merlin). There, they see a ceremony where Martha and one of the clones get the kidnapped children including Denree where One and Miette are caught. Octopus sends a former circus performer named Marcell (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) to retrieve One for their own reasons where Marcello uses a flea to attack one of the Cyclops to save One while Miette nearly drowns only to be saved by a man in a diving bell suit revealed to be Krank’s former scientist (Dominique Pinon).

When a fuse full of nightmares comes across the ex-scientist, he realizes what is going on while Miette finds One as she also sees one of the nightmares. Realizing where Denree is, they encounter some trouble while finding a man (Ham-Chau Luong) with a tattoo on his head leading to the island. It’s up to a strongman, a young girl, and an ex-scientist to save the kids before its too late.

The film is a fantasy story about a simple-minded yet loving strongman and a young girl try to save a young infant boy from an evil scientist who is trying to steal dreams from children in hopes to reverse the aging process for himself. Yet, it is set in a world where things are hopeless as young infant children are often kidnapped while orphans had to fend for themselves. For this young girl where she meets this childlike strongman, she finds someone who can protect her while this strongman finds someone who can help him. Yet, they face a mad scientist who has become obsessed with becoming young only to lose sight of reality as he becomes dependent on finding infants who aren’t scared of him so he can live in their dreams.

The screenplay that Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro, and Gilles Adrien create explores a world that is definitely lost where there are even more crazier things in this mysterious island that is protected by mines and such. Notably as the mainland features an underground army of blind men who can only see through an electronic eye as they’re working for this scientist to kidnap children. When they encounter this strong man and a very determined young girl, all things become troubling for the scientist. Yet, One and Miette also have to deal with the Siamese-twin ladies known as Octopus who are upset over the fact that Miette has become trouble and is turning over a new leaf away from stealing.

While the story is a dystopian-fantasy film, it’s also got a lot of humor as there’s a small subplot about a group of clones trying to figure out who is the original clone. Even in some scenes where there’s a lot of strange scenarios into how One and Miette try to get out of a bad situation that does involve a lot of comedy. Even the character of Krank is comical since he is so delusional about what he wants as he is also annoyed by this talking brain named Irvin who is the film’s conscience.

The direction of Caro and Jeunet is definitely big in terms of its presentation where it is set in a world that is off-kilter and full of things where not everything works. Notably as the mainland is cramped and there’s children running around while there’s a lot of strange things happening where young children have to hide from the Cyclops. The direction is filled with stylish shots from these wide crane shots, dizzying fish-eye lenses, close-ups, and all sorts of things to maintain that sense of whimsy that Caro and Jeunet wants. Even in the way they present funny moments as well as surreal moments where reality and fiction collide such as the climatic scene at the island when One and Miette finally face Krank.

The direction also contains element of darkness in the way dystopia is presented though it’s not overtly bleak. Notably as it features some spectacular action sequences that involves not just some quirky visual effects but also suspense such as face-off between Octopus against Miette and One. There’s also some very strange scenes such as the way an accident is presented where it is this strange mix of humor and action that plays to that world of the whimsical. It’s all part of a world that is very weird that has some element of reality but it is mostly a fantasy. Overall, Jeunet and Caro create a fantastic and adventurous film that plays well to the fantasy genre.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji does brilliant work with the film‘s very stylish photography with its sepia-drenched lighting schemes for many of the film‘s interior and exterior settings in the mainland as well as scenes underwater and some more low-key colors in the island scenes. Editor Herve Schneid does amazing work with the editing by utilizing lots of stylish cuts for some of the film‘s action scenes along with dazzling cuts for some of the dream montages. Production designers Marc Caro and Jean Rabasse do spectacular work with the set pieces created from the look of the mainland with its buildings to the more quirky video cameras at Krank’s island.

Costume designer Jean-Paul Gaultier does excellent work with the costumes as they‘re quite over-the-top in the look of the Cyclops as well as the more colorful clothes most of the characters wear. The visual effects by Pitof and Pierre Buffin are terrific for the way some of the backdrops look as well as the close-ups of Marcello‘s flea that would fly to inject something into a person. Sound designer Jean-Pierre Halbwachs does superb work with the sound to create some unique sound effects in the scenes set in the island as well as other layers of mixing to play up the sense of whimsy that occurs in the film. The film’s music by Angelo Badalamenti is wonderful for its sense of orchestral bombast as well as playfulness in some of the comical moments as it’s one of Badalamenti’s best scores.

The casting by Pierre-Jacques Benichou is incredible for the ensemble that features some notable appearances from Mathieu Kassovitz as a man in the streets, Ticky Holgado as One’s master, Rufus as Octopus’ henchman, Marc Caro as a man becoming a Cyclops, Serge Merlin as the Cyclops leader, and Joseph Lucien as One’s baby brother Denree who is always eating something. Genevieve Brunet and Odile Mallet are great as the conniving Siamese-twin sisters Octopus who are determined to get rid of Miette for rebelling against them. Jean-Louis Trintignant is very funny as the voice of the brain Irvin whom the clones adore and Krank is annoyed by while Jean-Claude Dreyfus is excellent as the former circus performer Marcello who finds himself sympathizing with One and Miette over their situation.

Mirelle Mosse is wonderful as Krank’s diminutive wife Martha who helps Krank out while dealing all of the chaos in the island while Dominique Pinon is amazing as the clones and the mysterious man in the diving bell suit where he brings a lot of humor as the clones while being more quirky as the diver. Daniel Emilfork is terrific as the villainous Krank as he’s a man full of delusions and anger as he is unsure if his experiments will work. Judith Vittet is brilliant as Miette as she’s a determined child who knows how to do things while aiding One in his mission as she realized how important it is. Finally, there’s Ron Perlman in a remarkable performance as the simple-minded strongman One where Perlman gets to show restraint in his role as a man trying to find his baby brother while Perlman doesn’t get to have a lot of dialogue though he does speak French quite adequately. Notably as he makes up for it with his physical presence and ability to be funny and sensitive in his role.

La Cite des enfants perdus is a marvelous film from the duo of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. The film is definitely among one of Jeunet’s great films as it features amazing performances from Ron Perlman, Judith Vittet, Daniel Emilfork, and Dominique Pinon. It’s a film that is among one of the most imaginative and entertaining fantasy films that plays to the world of reality and fiction that is expected in the genre. In the end, La Cite des enfants perdus is a spectacular film from Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: Delicatessen - Alien: Resurrection - Amelie - A Very Long Engagment - Micmacs - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

© thevoid99 2013

Delicatessen

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro and written by Jeunet, Caro, and Gilles Adrien, Delicatessen is the story set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with famine where a butcher kills people to feed his tenants in the apartment above his deli. The film is a black comedy that explores a world where people are hungry as they turn to a butcher for help as he does whatever it takes to feed his friends. Starring Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, and Karin Viard. Delicatessen is a visually-stylish yet zany film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.

In a post-apocalyptic world covered in a dust storm where there’s a horrible famine and the only currency in the world is grain, a butcher named Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) runs a delicatessen as he feeds the tenants above him as he’s also their landlord. After killing a worker, Clapet sends an ad to get a new whom he plans to kill later as an unemployed circus clown named Louiston (Dominique Pinon) arrives to answer the ad as Clapet lets him in. While Louiston does a lot of the work, he befriends Clapet’s daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac) as many of the tenants realize how resourceful Louiston is as Clapet is reluctant to kill as he waits for Clapet to do screw up.

When Julie learns what her father is planning to do, she reads the newspaper about an underground of vegetarians known as the Troglodistes as she goes underground where she meets them and tells them about the large vault of grain her father has. The Trogolodistes secretly try to go into the building to find where the vault of grain is where an attempted murder on Louiston went wrong since Louiston was nowhere near the incident. On the night when Louiston’s old clown performance is to be on TV, the Trogolodistes make an attempt to get all of the grain while Clapet decides to make one final attempt to kill Louiston as all hell breaks loose.

The film is essentially the story about a former circus clown who answers an ad to be a repairman at an apartment where the main floor is a deli as he is unaware that the people in the building are cannibals desperate to eat meet as their landlord/butcher does all of the killing. Set in this post-apocalyptic world during a famine, it’s a film that is a part-dystopian film but also bends all sorts of genres from slasher films, romance, and black comedy. A lot of which features all sorts of eccentricities such as many subplots such as Clapet’s affair with a seductive woman (Karin Viard), a family with an old lady (Edith Ker), two men trying to recreate old sounds, and a woman trying to kill herself in elaborate presentations.

The screenplay does lay to a traditional structure yet it does enough to establish what is happening in the world with the first ten minutes where a man tries to hide and he eventually gets killed by this butcher and then feed it to his tenants. When the character of Louiston appears, he has no idea what he’s in store yet he is oblivious to what really goes on as he focus his attention towards fixing up the building and falling for the butcher’s daughter who is a vegetarian. Meanwhile, there’s an underground group of vegetarians that are trying to survive in the underground as Caplet’s daughter eventually tells them about the large vault of grain that he has. The second half of the story is about not just the heist but also Caplet trying to kill Louiston in every way he can as things do go out of control yet Louiston is someone who is more than capable of taking care of things.

The direction of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet is definitely stylized in terms of the presentation they create. Largely as it’s set mostly in a building and some of it underground where it’s a world that is on to its own. Notably as Caro and Jeunet maintain an intimacy in this dystopian world where it’s very off as there’s not many people who lurk around outside except for those unfortunate victims that Caplet would kill to feed his tenants. Through some very stylized camera angles as well as quirky montages such as scene where lots of sound is made that almost becomes a musical number. It’s part of the strange world that the film wants to present as it’s definitely not reality but rather a reality that is truly off.

The film also features lots of unique set pieces to establish the different worlds where the apartment building is nearly in ruins as it’s surrounded by buildings that are practically destroyed. There’s lot of spaces where each tenant lives in their own world as the camera is always interested in that environment that includes a basement lived by a man (Howard Vernon) who surrounds himself with frogs and snails where he eats the latter. Eventually, there comes this climax between Louiston and Caplet where there’s so much that happens where it revolves into a lot of stylized scenery and action that would play into the fates of what would happen. Overall, Caro and Jeunet create a dazzling and very entertaining film that does a lot more to keep the audience excited.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji does brilliant work with the film‘s very stylized cinematography that is awash with lots of sepia-drenched colors for most of the film including the exteriors and underground as well as some of the interiors. Editor Herve Schneid does excellent work with the editing from the playful montages that is created to more stylish approaches to cutting to play up the humor and suspenseful moments of the film. Production designer Marc Caro, along with set decorator Aline Bonetto and art director Miljen Kreka Kljakovic, does spectacular work with the set pieces for the film such as the deli, the apartments, and the underground sewers that the Trogolodistes live in.

Costume designer Valerie Pozzo di Borgo does wonderful work with the costumes from the seductive red dresses that Mademoiselle Plusse wears to the more eccentric clothes of Louiston. The visual effects work of Pitof is a delight for the whimsy that it creates from some of the transitions that are created in the pipes to a few smaller things like bubbles that Louiston does to entertain a couple of kids. Sound editor Gerard Hardy does fantastic work with the sound to create an atmosphere as well as to play up the eccentricity of the apartment with its collage of sounds to create a musical number of sorts. The film’s music by Carlos D’Alessio is incredible for its orchestral pieces to play up the suspense as well as some light-hearted moments including the musical duet between Julie and Louiston where they respectively played cello and musical saw.

The casting by Pierre-Jacques Benichou is remarkable for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small roles from Pascal Benezech as the unfortunate victim in the film’s beginning, Boban Janevski and Mikael Todde as the two kids in the apartment, Marc Caro as a Trogolodistes, Edith Ker as the grandmother, Chick Ortega as the postman, Jean-Francois Perrier as the husband of the suicidal woman, and Silvie Laguna as the suicidal woman who tries to kill herself in strange yet elaborate presentations. Other memorable small roles include Anne-Marie Pisani as Madame Tapioca, Jacques Mathou as the craftsman Roger, and Howard Vernon as the man who lives with the frogs.

Future Jeunet regulars in Ticky Holgado and Rufus are excellent in their respective roles as the tenants in the pushover Marcel Tapioca and the sound re-creator Robert Kube. Karin Viard is wonderful as the seductive tenant Mademoiselle Plusse who befriends Louiston only to get herself into trouble with the Trogolodistes. Jean-Claude Dreyfus is great as the villainous Clapet who desires to try and kill for his tenants as he meets his greatest challenge in Louiston. Marie-Laure Dougnac is superb as Clapet’s vegetarian daughter Julie who falls for Louiston as she shares her eccentricities with him while doing whatever she cans to defy her father. Finally, there’s Dominique Pinon in a marvelous performance as Louiston where he displays a quirky sense of humor and charm as well as create a character who lives in a world of his own and finds his way to deal with whatever situation he’s going through.

Delicatessen is a spectacular yet whimsical film from the duo of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Featuring some outstanding performances from Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, and Jean-Claude Dreyfus. It’s a film that isn’t afraid to be a dystopian comedy with a mix of slasher and romance as it is also not afraid to not take itself so seriously. In the end, Delicatessen is a phenomenal film from Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: The City of Lost Children - Alien: Resurrection - Amelie - A Very Long Engagement - Micmacs - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

© thevoid99 2012

Alien: Resurrection

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and screenplay by Joss Whedon, Alien: Resurrection is the fourth and final film of the original Alien franchise in which a newly-cloned Ellen Ripley returns to fight a new species of aliens with a group of mercenaries after an experiment had gone wrong. With Sigourney Weaver playing the role of Ripley once again. The film also stars Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon, Brad Dourif, Michael Wincott, Dan Hedaya, Gary Dourdan, and Leland Orser. Alien: Resurrection is a stylish yet engaging thriller from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

200 years after the events that led to the death of Ellen Ripley, a military experiment that featured remnants of her DNA sample has finally succeed in cloning Ripley where her body contained a baby queen alien. With the newly-cloned Ripley still in containment as she contains alien blood in her body, the experiment led by General Perez (Dan Hedaya), his subordinate Dr. Wren (J.E. Freeman) and Dr. Gediman study the aliens as they wait for a ship to arrive. The ship features a team of mercenaries who had captured a group of people unaware of the motives the military has for them. While the band of mercenaries that includes Call (Winona Ryder) who recognizes Ripley as she secretly enters her cell in an attempt to kill her where Call reveals why she and the mercenaries are really here.

Instead, things go wrong when the alien experiment have the aliens break out of their containment area and kill most of the crew leaving Ripley, Call, the rest of the mercenaries, Dr. Wren, and a marine in DiStefano (Raymond Cruz) to deal with the aliens. Realizing that the only option is to destroy the ship and board on the mercenaries ship to escape, Ripley and the gang try to deal with the aliens as they kill a few while Ripley makes a discovery about the experiment that was done to her. While trying to escape the aliens, the group finds a man named Purvis (Leland Orser) who had survived the experiment as he learns he has an alien inside him that’s going to burst soon. Things become more complicated where another discovery is made where Ripley and Call realize what the queen alien is doing as Ripley realizes that new breed of alien is being made and it has to be stopped.

Throughout the entirety of the series, there is always a subplot that relates to a corporation wanting to take the sample of an alien in order to use it for bio-weapons. In this film, the military finally gets a hold of an alien for their experiment and everything goes wrong. Once again, Ellen Ripley and everything she had faced in the past reveal that everything she didn‘t want to happen has finally come true. Resurrected from the dead in order to fight the aliens one more time, she goes all out while having a new advantage that would help her fight off the aliens as she also has alien blood in her.

Joss Whedon creates a script that does reveal a lot into how Ripley was finally able to be successfully cloned yet also shows a woman who is trying to get in touch with her humanity while becoming aware of what she’s facing. There is a new conflict that she’s facing as she is a bit of an alien where she is quite reluctant to kill them since they’re really her children. It’s one of the interesting aspects of the screenplay as well as the mercenaries themselves who definitely have a motive to board the U.S. science ship as one of them in Call knows a lot about Ripley and her history with the aliens. While the script does play to formula a bit and carries lots of exposition that does go a bit overboard, Whedon is able to create a script that is very faithful to its predecessors.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s direction is definitely stylish in the way he presents the film in a visual scale as well as the fact that he was able to keep things more simple. With some unique framing from camera shots shown from above and under to create an air of suspense while emphasizing that it’s more than just a film as it’s often led by an ensemble. While Jeunet is aware that there’s a formula that’s to be played where characters do get killed off and such. Jeunet does manage to give some characters moments where they can stand out and actually give the audience something to care about. Jeunet also keeps the action exciting without delving too much into fast-paced action or shaky camera work. While the film definitely has flaws in some parts of the script as well as moments where some of the action and visual effects don’t mesh up. Jeunet does create a solid and thrilling film that lives up to some of the brilliance of the franchise.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji does excellent work with the film‘s lush yet evocative photography to play up the mood of the film with its emphasis for a bit of grain in the look as well as low-lights for many of the scenes to play up the sense of style. Editor Herve Schneid does nice work with the editing in the way the action is given a rhythm that isn‘t too fast while slowing things down for the suspense and low-key moments. Production designer Nigel Phelps, along with set decorator John W. Dwyer and art director Steve Cooper, does terrific work with the sets from the look of the labs and hallways in the spaceship to the designs of the nests where the alien eggs are to be hatched.

Costume designer Bob Ringwood does some good work with the costumes to create some nice mercenary suits for the mercenaries as well as the clothes that Ripley wears when she fights off the aliens. Visual effects supervisors Erik Henry and Pitof do wonderful work with the visual effects such as the way the aliens move and how some of the exteriors are made though there‘s some bits that doesn‘t entirely work. Sound designer Leslie Shatz and sound editor John A. Larsen do superb work with the sound to create an atmosphere that occurs as well as setting a mood for some of the film‘s suspenseful moments. The film’s music by John Frizzell is quite good for its orchestral bombast to play out the drama and action that occurs in the film.

The casting by Richard Pagano is brilliant for the ensemble that is created for the film as it includes some notable small roles from Carolyn Campbell and David St. James as a couple of scientists doing research on the aliens, Dan Hedaya as the big ship’s head General Perez, Leland Orser as a lab rat who has to deal with an alien inside of him, J.E. Freeman as the distrustful Dr. Wren, Raymond Cruz as the marine DiStephano, and Brad Dourif as the main scientist Dr. Gediman who is fascinated by the aliens. For the roles of the mercenaries, there’s Kim Flowers as the pilot Hillard, Gary Dourdan as the skilled shooter Christie, and Michael Wincott as the mercenaries leader Frank Elgyn. Jeunet regulars Ron Perlman and Dominique Pinon are great in their respective roles as the humorous shooter Johner and the paraplegic yet resourceful mechanic Vriess.

Winona Ryder is excellent as the mercenary Call who knows a lot more than her other mercenaries seem to know about the situation as she also carries a secret that would help everyone. Finally, there’s Sigourney Weaver in her fourth outing as Ellen Ripley. Weaver brings a new dark element to the character as a woman who is really a shell of what she used to be as she deals with her new alien blood as well as the fact that she’s the aliens’ mother where Weaver brings another fantastic performance as the famed character.

Alien: Resurrection is a stellar though flawed film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet that features a superb performance from Sigourney Weaver. Along with amazing visuals and top-notch supporting work from Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, and Dominique Pinon. While it may not love to the brilliance of the first two films, it does manage to be entertaining enough for fans of the franchise. In the end, Alien: Resurrection is a superb film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: Delicatessen - The City of Lost Children - Amelie - A Very Long Engagement - Micmacs - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Alien Films: Alien - Aliens - Alien 3

© thevoid99 2012

Micmacs

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-written with Guillaume Laurent, Micmacs is the story of a man who conspire with his friends to try and destroy two weapons manufacturers as an act of revenge. The film is a return to Jeunet’s more comedic style of filmmaking following the more dramatic epic of 2004‘s A Very Long Engagement. The film also serves as Jeunet’s response to the world of arms trades as he chooses to satirize the people who sells arms. Starring Dany Boon, Andre Dussollier, Omar Sy, Dominique Pinon, Julie Ferrier, Jean-Pierre Marielle, and Yolande Moreau. Micmacs is a witty yet whimsical film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

After being hit by a stray bullet, the life of Bazil (Dany Boon) goes into shambles with a bullet stuck on his head as he loses his home and his job as a video clerk. Unable to find work or a place to live, he meets an elderly man named Slammer (Jean-Pierre Marielle) who lives in a dump with other people. Among them is a contortionist named Elastic Girl (Julie Ferrier), a maternal cook named Mama Chow (Yolande Moreau), an ethnographer named Remington (Omar Sy), a young mathematical woman named Calculator (Marie-Julie Baup), a human cannonball named Buster (Dominique Pinon), and an inventor named Tiny Pete (Michele Cremades) who invent things from scraps from the dump.

When Bazil decides to pick up scraps for the people he’s living with, he stops to pick up a few things where he finds himself in the street where the buildings of two weapons manufacturers are. Realizing that one of them in Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet (Andre Dussollier) is the man who built the landmine that killed Bazil’s father 30 years ago while the other manufacturer across the street in Francois Marconi (Nicolas Marie), who created the stray bullet in his head. Bazil decides to create a plan to get back at both of them as he seeks out the help of everyone to create his plan. Staking out at their respective buildings, Bazil and the gang decide to create a scheme for the two manufacturers to fight each other by destroying whatever deals they have with an African dictator seeking arms.

With the plans becoming more elaborate and comical as de Fenouillet and Marconi starting to fight each other. Bazil starts to fall for Elastic Girl as they work out another plan where something goes wrong as men working for the African dictator break into Marconi’s apartment. With de Fenouillet and Marconi realizes what’s going on, it’s up to Bazil and the team to finally create another plan to nab both of them for their actions.

Throughout the world of arms trading, for the people who create the weapons. It’s all about the money but the real price is in the people who suffer in the hands of it. In this film, it’s about a man who is a victim in the hands of weapons who lost his father when he was just a boy and 30 years later, gets hit by a stray bullet that would affect his entire life. In his approach to revenge, killing these men wouldn’t solve anything so what he and a group of misfits do is essentially create a scheme where these two weapons manufacturers would fight each other and would pay dearly for the crimes they’ve committed against the human race.

What Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume Laurent is create a film that is more about giving these two weapons manufacturers their comeuppance through a series of hilarious schemes concocted by the film’s protagonist and his band of hooligans. Yet, the characters that help the protagonists are all outcasts who have suffered some form of loss or alienation as they all band together to fight against two men who have it all. The villains however, are just as interesting for the way they present themselves as well as the quirks they have. Marconi is a guy who has a young son, likes to compare himself to Arthur Rimbaud, and loves to collect vintage cars. In de Fenouillet is a guy who likes to collect body parts of famous people that include Winston Churchill’s fingernails, the heart of Louis XIV, and Marilyn Monroe’s tooth.

The script works because of the way the revenge scheme is planned as well as the motivations for the characters. The reason the people join Bazil is because it gives them a chance for them to do something with their skills in hopes to create a better world. Jeunet and Laurent also allow the film to be very funny for the way things are handled in the planning of these schemes while allow the time for a bit of romantic tension between Bazil and Elastic Girl. The overall script is definitely engaging for the way the revenge story is told through humor and bits of political satire.

Jeunet’s direction is marvelous for the way he creates the world that the characters live in as it’s all heightened and presented in a comical fashion. The cave-dump Bazil and his friends live in is a world unto its own where even though there’s not much. What they can use gives them enough reasons to live while using these pieces of scraps and decayed objects to help them fight against the weapons manufacturers. The objects that are created along with the presentations of the schemes gives Jeunet a lot to do with the compositions and camera movements to see how are things done. Particularly as he goes for some wide shots, close-ups, and lots of shots in the air to give it a worldly feel.

Since it’s shot partially in places in Paris and out of Paris, Jeunet creates dazzling compositions of the locations while avoiding landmarks that has been seen in previous films. He also goes for something that’s a bit more intimate and simple in the use of the locations while keeping the events in the film lively. The film also plays as a homage to other films such as the silent films of Charlie Chaplin, westerns, thrillers, and its opening credits is presented in an old-school style where the film starts off with a scene of Bazil as a kid and his old life as a video clerk as he watches Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep. It’s all told in a light-hearted approach without being too funny while the commentary on arms trades is presented in a lighter context though the message is out there but not in an overbearing manner. Overall, Jeunet creates a truly sensational yet entertaining film that is really a joy to watch.

Cinematographer Testuo Nagata does a great job with the film‘s colorful yet lush cinematography to exemplify the use of yellow, green, and orange for the scenes in sunny day Paris as well as some of the exteriors in the caves. Nagata also employs a more straightforward yet colorful look to other scenes to set a mood for the scene or to heighten it for humor or suspenseful moments. Editor Herve Schneid does an excellent job with the editing as it’s presented in a straight yet playful presentation with some jump-cuts and other rhythmic cutting style to play up the film’s suspense and humor.

Production designer Aline Bonetto does a fantastic job with the art direction including the creation of the cave, the buildings the manufacturers work at as well as their posh homes, and the objects that is created. Particularly the little robots and inventions that the Tiny Pete character creates that was built by sculptor Gilbert Pyre. Costume designer Madeline Fontaine does a wonderful job with the costumes by playing to the film‘s look including the clothes that Elastic Girl wear to more straightforward clothes that other characters wear. Sound editor Gerard Hardy does a superb job with the sound work to capture the intimate yet crazy world of the dump-cave and the city locations including the sounds of explosions in some of the action scenes of the film.

The film’s score by Raphael Beau is very good as it features some comical, light-hearted orchestral pieces as well as a few, suspenseful pieces that play throughout the film. Yet, the rest of the soundtrack comes from the music of Max Steiner which plays to some of the dramatic and romantic elements of the film in reference to The Big Sleep as the music is a highlight of the film’s technical work.

The casting by Pierre-Jacques Benichou, with additional work by Valerie Espagne, is brilliant as it features some notable appearances from Noe Boon as the young Bazil, Manon Le Moal as Bazil‘s video clerk replacement, and Lara Guirao as Bazil‘s mother that appears early in the film. Other notable performances in the roles of Bazil’s gang includes Michele Cremades as the quiet yet inventive Tiny Pete, Marie-Julie Baup as the statistics-talking yet charming Calculator, Omar Sy as the cliché-spouting yet kindly Remington, and Dominique Pinon as the brash human cannonball Buster as he also briefly plays the Louison character from Delicatessen in a small scene.

In the roles of the two antagonists, Andre Dussollier and Nicolas Marie are great in their respective roles as de Fenouillet and Marconi as they each bring a big yet funny approach to their characters as two men who become pawns of a scheme to destroy each other. Jean-Pierre Marielle and Yolande Moreau are excellent as the older members of the gang in their respective roles as the encouraging Slammer and the tough yet maternal Mama Chow. Julie Ferrier is wonderful as Elastic Girl, a contortionist whose talents helps Bazil in his plans while dealing with her own feelings towards him as Ferrier displays some great work in her physical flexibility. Finally, there’s Dany Boon in a fantastic performance as Bazil by showing being a calm yet comical guy who can do a bit of mime and be tough as he really brings a lot of charm and wit to his role.

Micmacs is a delightful and exhilarating film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet that features an outstanding phenomenal cast and Jeunet’s approach to bending genres. It is a film that has Jeunet taking on political themes with his own brand of humor as well as providing something that is entertaining without being too whimsical. It’s a film that fans of his work will definitely enjoy while showcasing that there’s more to him than being quirky or romantic. In the end, Micmacs is an amazing yet exciting film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and company.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: Delicatessen - The City of Lost Children - Alien: Resurrection - Amelie - A Very Long Engagement - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

© thevoid99 2011

Amelie

Originally Written and Posted on 6/15/08 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

When French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet arrived to the cinema with 1991's black-comedy Delicatessen with directing partner Marc Caro. It unveiled two new voices in cinema with Jeunet providing a colorful look to the film with Caro providing the effects. The duo scored a much bigger hit with the fantasy film The City of Lost Children that allowed the duo to make a Hollywood film. The project they were given was the fourth Alien film of the franchise entitled Alien: Resurrection with Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon writing the screenplay.

Despite making a profit, the film wasn't well-received with critics and audiences with Jeunet given sole credit as Caro did work on the art direction. Jeunet was disappointed by the experience of making the film despite the clout it gave him as he and Caro parted ways. In 2001, after a break, Jeunet returned with a film that would re-define his career as well as establish himself as one of cinema's finest artists with the film entitled Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain (The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain) or simply, Amelie.

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet with a script he co-wrote with Guillaume Laurant, Amelie tells the story of a shy waitress who makes life better for those around her while struggling with her own isolation. A lighter, more colorful fare than his previous work, the film explores the whimsical world of contemporary Parisian life through the eyes of a young woman. Starring Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Dominique Pinon, Yolande Moreau, and in the voice of the narrator, Andre Dussolier. Amelie is a wonderful, imaginative, and heartwarming masterpiece from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) has always lived a life of imagination despite being born to her antisocial ex-Army doctor father Raphael (Rufus) and her nerve-stricken mother Amandine (Lorella Cravotta). While she had a whimsical life as a child (Flora Guiet), she also had a weak heart condition while her mother died in a freak accident due to the suicide of a Quebecois woman at the Notre Dam Cathedral. While her father would make a shrine for his wife, Amelie's imagination grew as she became a waitress with a group of eccentrics that included its manager Suzanne (Claire Maurier), a waitress named Gina (Clotilde Molett), the cigarette clerk Georgette (Isabelle Nanty), Gina's ex-boyfriend Joseph (Dominique Pinon), and a failed writer named Hipolito (Artus de Penguern).

Despite a lack of a thriving social life and her frequent weekend trips to see her father, she would have strange pleasures that plays to her personality until the death of Princess Diana were she finds a mysterious box in her apartment. After asking her landlady Madeleine Wallace (Yolande Moreau), the market owner Collignon(Urbain Cancelier), and Collignon's parents (Michel & Andree Damant), Amelie is able to find Dominique Bretodeau (Maurice Benichou) with help from her neighbor Raymond Dufayel (Serge Merlin). Leaving the box to Bretodeau allowed Amelie to do good for people to fulfill her own life to deal with her own lonely life

After playing matchmaker to Georgette and Joseph while helping out Lucien (Jamel Debbouze) deal with Collignon. Yet, Amelie find herself falling for a man named Nino Quincampoix (Mathieu Kassovitz) whom she had seen in the train station as he had just lost a book of photos. Amelie decides to play a game with his book in order to get to know him more as she learns about him as he works in a fair and at a porno shop with friend Eva (Claude Perron). With Amelie continuing to help other people while stealing her father's gnome and having a stewardess travel with it all over the world. Nino starts to respond to Amelie's game in hopes to contact her as he uses some unexpected help to reach her.

Imagination is truly one of the strongest forms of escapism and in the vision of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, he creates a film that is dream-like but also whimsical. What this film is about is a young woman, with not much to fulfill her life decides to play a role in being a guardian angel of sorts for the people around her including her father and landlady. Yet, when she falls for a mysterious man who is also lonely and has quirks, she doesn't know how to react nor how to talk to him and such. Yet, amidst all of Amelie's drama, Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume Laurant make a wise decision to profile all of the people that Amelie has an effect on.

The script is wonderfully written that includes an amazing narrative told by Andre Dussolier who reveals the unique world that Amelie lives by as well as the assortment of characters that the audience get to enjoy and care about. Yet, through the center of it all, the main focus is in its title character. The narrator reveals her childhood existence, her odd behavior, and quirky imagination as well as her longing to connect with people in a unique manner. Throughout all of this, the script flows through easily as Dussolier's narration is told in such a manner and style that isn't distracting but an essential part to the story.

If Jeunet and Laurant's script is filled with lots of wonder and humor, Jeunet's direction is the key to the film's unique look and feel. While some might accuse Jeunet of creating a postcard look of sorts for Paris, his vision is more in tune in what Amelie sees in Paris as this dream-like yet beautiful city of full of wonder and life. Yet, with its sepia, dream-like look, it's a film full of energy and life that includes visual effects to play to the film's whimsical nature and oddball humor. Yet, the drama is told with such subtlety, it doesn't pander down to anything over-dramatic and sentimental. The way Jeunet tells the story with such style and warmth for the characters involved is truly magnificent. Even how he presents them through zoom lenses, long tracking shots, and such, he also uses things like films, events, and even the Renoir painting that Dufayel is trying to recreate to tell his story. The result is truly a fascinating, charming, and heartwarming style of direction from the wondrous mind of Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel does a wonderful job with the film's picturesque, sepia-drowned look with yellowish colors and shades of red and such to convey the dreamy mood of the film. Delbonnel's photography is exquisite and stylish for every scene shot as his camera moves with such ease and energy to convey the whimsical nature of the film. Editor Herve Schneid does a fabulous job in the film’s editing including the use of stock footage, old films including the classic Jules et Jim by Francois Truffaut, and TV footage. Schneid's editing also plays up to the film’s whimsical nature as its emphasis on styles moves from a smooth, transitional editing style to sometimes, speed-cutting to add to the film's sense of energy and eccentricity.

Production designer Aline Bonetto along set decorator Marie-Laure Valla and art director Volker Schafer do a fantastic job with the film's look from the real coffee shops and markets that Amelie goes to along with various locations in Paris and France. One of the great set designs is in the fun fair scene where Amelie goes into a ride and the look of it is truly superb. Costume designers Madeline Fontaine and Emma Lebail do a wonderful job in bringing the film's unique look in its clothing from the casual look that Amelie has to the coloring of the clothes that the character wear for the film’s picturesque look.

Special effects supervisor Yves Domenjoud and visual effects supervisor Alain Carsoux do a fantastic job with the film's small but delightful special effects for some of Amelie's appliances and one of Nino's pictures. Sound editors Marilena Cavola, Gerard Hardy, and Alexandre Widmer do a great job with the sound work to capture the atmosphere of Paris as well as the sense of adventure and whimsy that surrounds the film and its character.

The music by composer Yann Tiersen is truly whimsical but also one of the most memorable film scores in film. With the use of the accordion, the music captures the sense of romance and quirkiness that is Paris. Tiersen's music adds to the film's sense of humor and whimsy with the accordion playing speedily but also at times, serene and flutter. For its intense drama, it plays slowly with low notes as it captures the tension and drama of what Amelie is going through.

The casting by Pierre-Jacques Benichou, Valerie Espagne, and Alberte Garo is truly superb as it's filled with a numerous array of actors including several of Jeunet's regulars. Small performances from Isis Peyrade as one of Nino's colleagues from the porn shop, Eugene Berthier as the man whose pictures Nino has been collecting, Amaury Babault as the young Nino, and Ticky Holdago as the man in the photo who talks to Nino about Amelie. Other small but memorable performances from Claude Perron as Eva, Michel Robin and Andree Damant as Collignon's parents, and Maurice Benichou as Dominique Bretodeau are excellent. Flora Guiet is great as the young Amelie while Lorella Cravotta is also great as Amelie's nervous, neurotic mother. Urbain Cancelier is funny as the bullying Collignon who goes nuts due to Amelie's pranks while Yolande Moreau is brilliant as Amelie's landlady Madeleine who is still mourning over the death of her husband and the idea that he never loved her.

Artus de Penguern is good in his small role as a failed writer who observes everything that goes on in the coffee shop. Clotilde Mollet is also good as the flirtatious Gina who makes her ex-boyfriend Joseph jealous. Dominique Pinon is great as the cantankerous Joseph who realizes he has a crush on Georgette. Isabelle Nanty is excellent as the bothered, cranky Georgette who becomes aware that Joseph has a crush on her. Claire Maurier is superb as the coffee shop manager Suzanne who manages everything while is another observant of everything that goes on. Jamel Debbouze is amazing as the bullied Lucien, a man who has a great love for vegetables that he's mocked by Collignon while having a friend in Raymond Dufayel.

Rufus is great as Amelie's antisocial, taciturn father Raphael who, after his wife's death, has refused to go anywhere as his desires to turn her grave into a shrine is suddenly stopped when his gnome is taken and goes all over the world. Serge Merlin is brilliant as Raymond Dufayel, a man trying to recreate a Renoir painting as he observes everything that's around him while being a friend to both Amelie and Lucien as Merlin's performance is a huge standout. Mathieu Kassovitz is great as Nino, a dreamer who likes to collect torn photographs from a photo booth as he had his book lost and then found while being intrigued by Amelie, whom he sees from afar.

Finally, there's Audrey Tautou in her breakthrough role as the title character of Amelie. Tautou's charming, whimsical, and energetic performance is truly intoxicating to watch as is her smile. There’s a sense of spirit to everything she does while in moments where she's not speaking, there's so much life to her performance. When she's sad, she doesn't overdramatize herself or anything but remain subtle. It's a worldly performance from the French actress as she carries the film with such wonder and charisma whether she pretends to be Zorro, Tautou's performance is one of such charm and wit that it will make anyone want to fall in love with her.

Amelie is a colorful, whimsical, and charming masterpiece from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and company featuring a superb, spirited performance from Audrey Tautou. For audiences new to today's French cinema will no doubt place this film as one of the essential while it's also one of the best romantic films of the decade. For anyone new to Jeunet will consider this to be a great start to his film work while also makes a great introduction to the wonder that is Audrey Tautou. In the end, Amelie is one of those rare films that at first viewing, is the kind of film you tend to fall in love with.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: Delicatessen - The City of Lost Children - Alien: Resurrection - A Very Long Engagement - Micmacs - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

(C) thevoid99 2011