When I was spending time in Lake Tahoe, I had occasion to catch "Amelie" at the local Reno cinema. Surprisingly, I returned within a week to view it again, so struck was I by the shear bravado of the filmmaking. One would be hard-pressed to imagine making this film 20 years ago, given the number of shots and setups that telling the story (and tell it well, it does!) involves. Jean-Pierre Jeunet has pulled off nothing less than an international coup!

Now that I am out in the wilds on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, I can only get foreign films through DVD and when I realized that I had several houseguests arriving who had not seem “Amelie” I got it. What a delight! The DVD has extra commentary tracks (in either English or French) where the director talks through various sequences (as seen on other DVD commentary tracks) but his comments are wonderfully self-effacing and open. (What a truly NEAT idea to make a film that basically encapsulates various episodes that have happened to one’s life! I’m ready to do MY film, Mr. DeMille!)

The cast is totally magnificent, with even “small” characters richly played (notice the twin lesbians as background in one of the produce store sequences). Amelie’s mother practically has no lines at all and manages to come across richly portrayed.

I have absolutely no restraint about recommending this film to almost anyone with a more than passing interest in warmth, beauty and the liberal pursuit of happiness!