‘Amelie’ is a romantic comedy movie, produced by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, in 2001. He became famous for this film. He was not only making romantic movies, but also, he was making horror action movies, such as ‘Alien: Resurrection’. Before this movie, he already used a lot of digital processing technology and he had his unique world. According to Jeunet’s interview article, he said that his idea was to tell a positive story. Amelie is quite depressed, pretty lonely, and quite neurotic, but she's got to stay positive all the time. That is my first note. We wanted to smile at the audience, but we didn't expect that much success. It was a very small movie and I was talking about kindness. It is little bit risky, because lots of current films speak about violence (2001). However, this movie has been loved in many other countries, as well as in France. This film recorded an excellent hit all over the world. The action, colors and sound effects made this film a success.
One of the reasons for the success of this film is that many people were attracted to Amelie’s pure heart through her actions. This film’s catch copy is to be happy. Amelie does not have enough communication skill with other people. Her actions seem like she is not without thinking much, at first glance. However, her conduct is based on a pure feeling that is not looking for reward. Usually, many people want to make others happy, but somewhere else they are looking for a reward. On the other hand, Amelie, the main character of this film, is giving happiness to others with a secret miracle direction. She really enjoys helping people to be happy from the bottom of her heart. In addition, her actions are based on just what she likes. Not only Amelie, but the other characters in this film, live by doing anything they want, without worrying about other people’s eyes. The diving force of Amelie is very clear and simple and many people resonated with her. Additionally, there are many steps to becoming happy through analyzing Amelie’s action, such as the importance of living with your own initiative, meet a good, understanding person, and live in your own way. Amelie teaches viewers how to be happy casually, through her action in this film.
The second reason for the success of this film is color. A unique filter draws the entire film. The color scheme used in the film allows the protagonist, Amelie, to understand the emotions felt. Yellow, red, and green are the dominant colors used throughout the film. The uncomfortable yellow color is not confined to the opening scene. It becomes, in fact, a typically used color in this film. The warm color of yellow is used to reflect, such as happiness, wonder, and joy. The yellow expresses her curiosity in this movie. Looking at the scene, there are few scenes where whites are usually in charge. For example, it is the wall color and refrigerator. However, a very different shade of yellow is used instead. Viewers can immediately see what is unusual with this color. In addition, red is used continuously from the begging scene through the ending scene. This color represents love and passion. Amelie is always looking to find love to find towards the end of the movie. People can read the kindness and strong will inside Amelie, from this color. Red also has the effect of adding beauty to the image as well. Additionally, usually green means relaxed and nature, other than instability and uncertainty in the Western countries. The pool table and game table draw in green from this influence. The uncertain results of gambling are expressed in green. This color also expresses anxiety in Amelie’s mind, too. As viewers can see, color is one of the attractions of this film. Viewers can feel various Amelie is various emotions and her unique world, through the colors.
The third reason for the success of this film is the sound effects. All of the sounds are magnified when Amelie has a life-changing moment. It is not a clear, heavy way. It is a way in real life. Recognizing the importance of something slows down time and makes every sound are clear to hear. For example, when Amelie finds the box, the focus is on the sound of her breath to remove the dust. Normally, such a tiny sound is removed. On the other hand, in this film, it emphasizes the excitement of discovery, by using all the little sounds and enhancing the singularity. This effect also creates cuteness at the same time. In addition, the soundtrack had a big influence on this effect. Yann Tiersen’s music makes this movie romantic. His light and bright music boosts the film’s tempo. The piano sound is nostalgic and draws the viewers interest a lot. For this movie, lovely but mysterious music that supports the adventure of Amelie, is significant.
In conclusion, the action, color and sound effects are important elements that greatly support this film. These are packed with many devices that are sympathetic to a lot of viewers especially young women. They were fascinated by the cute and mysterious Amelie. Additionally, Jean-Pierre Jeunet gained great notoriety with this film, because he succeeded in a completely different film from the previous film. This film is a French movie, but it has had a great impact all over the world.