Introduction
Amélie is an iconic French movie that made its director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, famous. The original style that the director chose for the movie helped this work to become a classic and timeless cinematic piece still renowned among critics and the wider audience. Amélie is a bright example of formalist cinematography: the narrative, imagery, and all the cinematic elements used in the piece work together to create a whimsical, unreal, and almost surreal story. This paper will examine the aspects of formalism applied to build the universe of the movie, evident in the visual and editing style, the use of magical realism, and the traits of the characters.
Visual and Editing Style
Amélie is characterized by a unique, highly recognizable visual and editing style. The first thing that the viewer notices as soon as they start watching it is the bright color palette of the image. The streets of Paris, the characters, the spaces – everything makes the spectators feel as though they are witnessing someone’s dream due to the colors, as real life is far from being that vibrant. The whimsical atmosphere is also enhanced through the way sets are created: Amélie’s apartment, for example, looks quirky and charming, as does the café where she works (Jeunet, 2001).
The editing also aims to achieve the same objective. The voice narrating the whole movie sounds as if the story is a fairytale, helping the audience to better understand the feelings of the protagonist and other characters. All these features suggest that formalism rules the director’s approach.
Magical Realism
Amélie incorporates various characteristics of magical realism, demonstrating the formalist approach employed by Jeunet. As a genre, it creates a world in which the real and the magical become intertwined, combining the elements of both to form a highly unusual and unexpected setting (Angulo, 2018). The world in this movie, at first glance, appears recognizable and not dissimilar from the viewers’ own world. Further on, however, it becomes clear that Amélie’s world is more extraordinary than ordinary.
The fantasies of the main character are presented in a magical manner: she envisions herself as a giant walking through Paris, or imagines the happiness of a photo booth repairman (Jeunet, 2001). The mysterious collisions, such as when Amélie’s bike handlebars collide with Joseph’s chest, give the impression that these coincidences were somehow preordained (Jeunet, 2001). These choices create this half-real, half-imaginary ambience.
Character Traits
The traits of the movie’s characters, particularly the protagonist Amélie, are also dictated by the formalist approach chosen by the director. Amélie is one of the quirkiest main characters known in cinematography. Her habits, thoughts, and imagination, as well as her behavior, are unique and highly eccentric. She is driven by her dreams and by her desire to make others happy; at times, she seems too pure for this world. Nino’s character trait is his pursuit of mystery and his belief in the beauty of chance encounters (Jeunet, 2001).
Other characters are either extremely quirky or extremely villain-like: most characters’ traits are exaggerated to an extent. In formalism, characters do not seem as fully developed individuals (Kornbluh, 2019). This is what happens to the characters in Amélie as the spectator sees only certain traits, such as quirkiness or dreaminess, as the main features that define them, without presenting a full picture of them.
Conclusion
Amélie is characterized by various elements of formalism, creating a whimsical picture and narrative. The visual style is bright and peculiar, immersing the viewers in a dream-like world. Magical realism creates a universe in which the normal and the impossible are merged, while the characters’ traits are quirky and exaggerated. Together, these elements create a harmonious piece that made this movie a famous classic still discussed and watched by many.
References
Angulo, M. E. (2018). Magic realism: social context and discourse. Routledge.
Jeunet, J. P. (2001). Amélie (Film). Claudie Ossard Productions.
Kornbluh, A. (2019). The order of forms: Realism, formalism, and social space. University of Chicago Press.