AMELIE PAPER – 2010
Section 1
A Identify one theme or issue from your close study film (1)
Answer: Jeunet’s 2001 film ‘Le Fabuleux Detstin d’Amelie Poulain’ or ‘Amelie’ deals with the theme of simplicity. (1/1)
B. Briefly describe what the film suggests about this theme or issue (3)
Answer: The film suggests that the simple pleasures in life can bring much satisfaction to the characters. For example, the cracking of Crème Brule and the skimming of the pebbles. The film suggests all the characters have very simple interests and that everyone, as Collignon sys ‘needs to find a way to unwind’. The film focuses on simplicity rather than extravagance and the characters seem contents with fairly old fashion lives (3/3)
c. How is this theme or issue explored in a key sequence from your film (6)
Answer: In the opening sequence where Amelie displays the simple interests closest to her heart, the lighting and colour is used to enhance the feeling of joy ach one gives her. As the camera pans over Amelie on St Martin’s canal, the motion is almost majestic. The camera movement is used to show the feeling of pleasure Amelie feels within as she skims pebbles. All the colours in her surroundings have been strongly lit – highlighting the variety of greens from the canal and Amelie’s costume. This creates an idyllic image, almost fairy-tale like. It is the worlds beauty from Amelie’s own perspective. All the debris or litter which might be found realistically, have been edited out to preserve the image of perfection. At one point Amelie fixes a stare directly at the camera as she holds a spoon before cracking her crème Brule. This breaking of the fourth wall emphasises how personal this is to Amelie and how strange her personality is. It is as if the audience is another of Amelie’s imaginary friends. (6/6)(EXCELLENT)
Section2
Choose one important setting from your chosen film (1)
Answer: The town environment of Montmartre is Paris. (1/1)
Briefly describe the setting (3)
Answer: In the film, Montmartre is displayed as being rustic and charming. It has old architecture and French culture is strongly portrayed through its neat Parisian streets. Montmartre is Amelie’s home and the setting in which she develops her quirky personality and her base of operations to help those around her. (3/3)
c. what does this setting suggest to audiences? (6)
Answer: Montmartre is represented as the art haven of which it is famed for. The way in which it is lit (particularly in the sequence where Amelie helps a blind man across the street) makes colours vivid and full of life. Audiences are provided with an almost fairytale landscape where they believe anything can happen. Montmartre is portrayed as slow, peaceful and tranquil. No-0one is rushing around and there is no traffic. It has an idyllic quality. Montmartre lives up to its artistic reputation, so audiences immediately know the film will be very stylish. It suggests the film will favour imagery over action and that is is unconventional. The peaceful environment makes it adamant that the film with be part of the new wave of cinema du look. The film itself is a work of art. (6/6) (EXCELLENT)
d. Choose a key scene from your film. Explain how one of the following is represented in it
- age, gender, ethnicity, social class, disability. (10)
Answer (AGE): One of the first opening scenes, showing a projector film-like sequence of Amelie’s childhood focuses on the theme of age. The little games she plays and childish characteristics bring viewers back to their own childhood/ As the film does throughout, Jeunuet makes the sequence nostalgic. Audiences miss doing the things they did in their own care-free days. The way the sequence is shot, as though using an old film camera enhances the tone of age and the past – perhaps symbolising the fact the past is gone and old and cannot be brought back. The soundtrack in the background is nostalgic too. It isn’t sad, though more reflective than happy. Amelie is represented as young in age – with youth’s naivety and innocence. Audiences watch her fulfil the childhood games they also enjoyed – only she is completely alone in the footage. This represents the fact that childhood can be a lonely experience and can affect people as they develop though age. The footage is cut so that it gives the impression the audiences are following Amelie through her childhood and thus they feel they almost know her – even though the sequence is just 2-3 minutes long. Age is not only represented in human years . It is represented through the times. The old footage features very old fashion games for example the making of paper-chain people. Technology has been completely removed from the sequence giving it a very period feel. One could not know when the film is set exactly, purely through this particular sequence. It is devoid of modern features. (10/10) A RANGE OF THOUGHTFUL OBSERVATIONS, EXCELLENT)
Section 3
Write either a blog entry or an internet film review focusing on why you think people should go and see your close study film. Include some of the following. (20)
ANSWER: Jean Pierre Jeunet’s heart-warming nostalgic piece ‘‘Le Fabuleux Detstin d’Amelie Poulain’is certain to keep viewers enthralled in the rustic and often bizarre world that is conjured up before them. Known for his visually stunning features ‘Delicatessen’ and ‘City of Lost Children’, Jeunet triumphs again. Though Amelie is not as fantastical as his previous works, the film paints a beautiful image of scenic Montmartre. Nor is Amelie as darkly humorous as Delicatessen, yet it is just as, if not more, witty and sweet. Like Jeunet’s previous films, Amelie contains an ensemble cast of characters who though strange and unconventional – are all charming and wired. A circus performer, a failed writer, a main with bones as brittle as glass; these are just some of the strange characters which are so endearingly portrayed. None shines more so than the central character Amelie Poulain played by actress Audrey Tatou. Amelie takes viewers on a visually captivating journey through the Parisian streets of France as she fulfils her ambition of changing the lives of others. Amelie- a lonely and isolated child – grows p with an ex-army doctor for a father an a mother who is killed in a frak accident (Jeunet;s dark humour at its height). Once an adult, Amelie is inspired to improve the lives of those around her after she discovers a treasure trove a little boy hid in the brickwork of her apartment some decades before. As Amelie devotes her life to helping her peers in strange yet effective ways, she must also learn that she herself is not exempt from happiness and must pluck up the courage to speak to the eccentric Nino Quimcompix played by Mattieu Kassovitz.Her lack of interpersonal skills barricades her into a life of potential solitude. Amelie is a warm and charming film, shot with an artistic flair and idyllic backdrop of Parisian France. Jeunets weird and wonderful take on a 21st century RomCom with a distinct and tasteful quirk.(19/20) EXCELLENT< CONFIDENT< EXCELLENT LANGUAGE)
