The Tenant (1976 film)

 

Based on the novel by Roland Topor, The Tenant is the story of a man who rents an apartment in France unaware that its previous tenant had attempted suicide though he believes that something is strange is happening involving its neighbors and landlord. Directed and starring Roman Polanski and screenplay by Polanski and Gerard Bach, the film is the third film in a thematic trilogy set in apartments where it plays into a man dealing with his surroundings as well as people trying to get him to kill himself. Also starring Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Rufus, and Shelley Winters. The Tenant is a riveting and provocative film from Roman Polanski.

The film is the story of a man who rents an apartment as its previous tenant had attempted suicide where the man believes that it wasn’t a suicide as he deals with his elderly neighbors and landlord who make complaints about him while he is baffled by these little complaints. It’s a film that explores a man who just rented this apartment unaware about what happened to its previous tenant as he believed something isn’t right as he grows into paranoia. The film’s screenplay by Roman Polanski and Gerard Brach is largely straightforward in its narrative yet it largely follows the life of its protagonist Treklovsky (Roman Polanski) who arrived in the apartment looking for a place to live as he sees that this apartment has a room opened though the apartment’s landlord Zy (Melvyn Douglas) is reluctant to take him but does under certain conditions. Still, Treklovsky often finds way to agitate other tenants including Zy though he doesn’t mean to while also refusing to sign the petition against a tenant because of the noises her child makes.

The script also has Treklovsky befriend Stella (Isabelle Adjani) who is a close friend of the previous tenant who had died as the two begin a relationship even though she never visits the apartment her friend was in. Treklovsky would learn that the tenant had indeed died from her injuries yet he would also notice little things in his apartment such as a tooth but also the fact that he switched cigarette brands from Gauloises to Marlboro. It adds to these little things that would play into Treklovsky’s psyche as he also believes he’s becoming his previous tenant due to the fact that he’s putting on finger polish and dressing up like a woman.

Polanski’s direction is definitely stylish for the way he uses the crane tracking shot as the opening shot has him going inside the center of the apartment building in Paris to showcase the rooms and other tenants as the building itself is a character in the film. Shot on location in Paris, Polanski does play into a city that is vibrant but also going through changes where the apartment building itself is filled with an eccentric group of people with much of the tenants being elderly including Zy and the concierge (Shelley Winters) running the place as they don’t want any trouble or chaos. Yet, Polanski maintains an intimacy through medium shots and close-ups to play into the dramatic tension as well as the paranoia that Treklovsky would go through. There are wide shots for some scenes in Paris including a scene at a park where Treklovsky is watching kids sailing their toy boats on a fountain where he would act strangely towards a child. Polanski also play into certain visual motifs where mirrors are all over his apartment as it would add to this sense of paranoia that Treklovsky would endure.

Polanski would also play into this world where the city is vibrant where Treklovsky would meet some of Stella’s friends though there is this air of isolation within him as the life outside of the apartment building where his co-workers and the people in his age group or younger are thriving. Still, Polanski would also play into this blur of reality in its third act as it relates to Egyptian imagery that Treklovsky would find in the apartment’s main bathroom as well as a postcard from a man who was in love with the previous tenant. The third act plays into Treklovsky’s paranoia as it relates what he watches as it relates to a couple of tenants whom many have been complaining about where Treklovsky becomes the target. The film’s ending is ambiguous into what Treklovsky experiences as it adds to this idea of reality and fiction as well as his own brief encounter with the previous tenant. Overall, Polanski crafts a mesmerizing and offbeat film about a man who finds himself troubled in a new apartment he bought as well as learning about its previous tenant.

Cinematographer Sven Nykvist does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key lights for many of the nighttime interior/exterior scenes in the apartment as well as its emphasis on cold grey winters for the daytime exterior scenes as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Francoise Bonnot does brilliant work with the editing as it play into the suspense with some unique jump-cuts and other rhythmic cuts that help add to the sense of terror. Production designer Pierre Guffroy, with art directors Claude Moesching and Albert Rajau, does amazing work with the look of the apartment building in its interiors including Treklovsky’s apartment as well as the apartment home of Stella. Costume designer Jacques Schmidt does fantastic work with the costumes from the suits that Treklovsky wears along with some of the fashionable clothing that Stella wears.

Hair stylist Didier Lavergne and makeup artist Ludovic Paris do terrific work with the look of Stella with her hairstyle but also Treklovsky when he goes in drag and wear women’s clothing. Optical effects work by Jean Fouchet does nice work with some of the shots including a key shot late in the film as it play into the terror that Treklovsky would endure. Sound editor Michele Boehm does superb work with the sound as the way noise sounds from another room and such add to the dramatic suspense. The film’s music by Philippe Sarde is wonderful for its orchestral score that feature themes that play into its suspense with its orchestral flourishes as well as somber pieces that play into the drama.

The casting by Catherine Vernoux is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Albert Delby as a neighbor in the apartment, Eva Ionesco as the disabled daughter of a neighbor that Treklovsky helps out, Jacques Monod as a café owner who often gives Treklovsky hot chocolate instead of coffee and Marlboros instead of Gauloises, the trio of Josiane Balasko, Romain Bouteille, and Patrice Alexsandre as co-workers of Treklovsky, Bernard Fresson as a friend/co-worker of Treklovsky in Scope who gives him advice about dealing with the neighbors, and Rufus in a superb small role as a man who was in love with the previous tenant who laments over not expressing his love to her. Lila Kedrova is fantastic as Madame Gaderian as a woman who has a disabled daughter that is getting complaints as she despises her neighbors for being mean to her while she has her own idea of revenge.

Shelley Winters is excellent as the concierge who is a no-nonsense woman that helps run the apartment building though she doesn’t take a liking towards Treklovsky believing he’s causing a lot of trouble. Jo Van Fleet is brilliant in her brief yet effective role as a tenant in Madame Dioz who has created a petition to get rid of Madame Gaderian which Treklovsky refuses to do as she warns him about the trouble she and the others would bring to him. Melvyn Douglas is incredible as Monsieur Zy as the landlord who reluctantly takes Treklovsky in as a tenant while lecturing him about what to do as he brings a lot of ambiguity into his character. Isabelle Adjani is amazing as Stella as a friend of the previous tenant as she befriends Treklovsky that later becomes a romantic relationship as she is this young woman that is just trying to make sense of what happened. Finally, there’s Roman Polanski in a phenomenal performance as Treklovsky as this young man who rents this apartment as he deals with all of the chaos around him where he becomes paranoid and confused where Polanski brings that sense of humility in his physical performance but also some humor when he starts to camp it up in drag.

The Tenant is a sensational film from Roman Polanski that features great performances from Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Rufus, Lila Kedrova, and Shelley Winters. Along with Sven Nykvist’s cinematography, its eerie visuals, chilling music soundtrack, and its exploration of isolation and paranoia in a claustrophobic setting. It is a film that explores a man dealing with his new surroundings while trying to figure out what happened to the previous tenant as he wonders is it really happening to him or is it in his head. In the end, The Tenant is a phenomenal film 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 - Tess (1979 film) - (Pirates) – Frantic - Bitter Moon - Death and the Maiden - The Ninth Gate - The Pianist - Oliver Twist (2005 film) - The Ghost Writer - Carnage (2011 film) - (Venus in Fur) – (Based on a True Story) – (An Officer and a Spy) – (The Palace)

© thevoid99 2022

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

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