Editing plays a critical role in the film Amélie because the producer uses editing techniques to express the personalities and emotions of the characters. For example, the editor adds animations aspects such as stuffed animals and a pounding heart to emphasize character feelings in a scene (Jeunet, 2001). It is also important because without editing, the movie would be boring due to prolonged and unworthy scenes that would not deliver the right message to the audience. Jean-Pierre Jeunet employs both continuity and discontinuity approaches to editing. The continuity, used in most parts of the film, is seamless and unnoticeable. The continuity technique is applied mostly to provide a smooth flow of the story. The discontinuity technique is also deployed in some scenes and is vivid. For example, when Amélie calls the phone booth and Nino answers, the camera shows the fluctuation of conversation back and forth between the two characters in different areas (Jeunet, 2001). Although discontinuity is the least used in the film, its effect is obvious for the audience.
A pivotal scene is Amélie meeting the man she has been chasing throughout the film. In this life-changing moment for the protagonist, both silence and sound are played to portray the couple’s emotions and feelings for each other. In the same scene, Amélie invites the gentleman to her house and a range of sounds here are played (Jeunet, 2001). An artificial crashing sound of finality is played to end the cacophony sound effects used throughout the film. The sound implies the end of dramatic actions of the characters and the movement of the environment around them. A natural sound from a closing door is heard immediately after the crash sound. The sound of the closing door is not amplified and conveys a closure for the main character.
As the couple engages in a kissing bizarre, silence is felt, which reveals that Amélie finally finds peace of heart. It also signifies the end of a chaotic journey and that her time to find happiness has come. The silence at the end of this scene is apparent and significant because it is the first time in the entire movie lack of sound was purposely used to appeal to the audience. The filmmaker wanted the scene to be distinguishable from others.
Music is used in most scenes in a dominating way to manipulate character emotions. While exploring the Amélie world, somber music is played to reveal sadness although felt in a quirky and playful way (Jeunet, 2001). The comic part of this film is expressed using music that is why even though most scenes contain somber music, it is still playful. The type of music is also suitable for imaginative and curious characters with awkward personalities. The fairly audible music closely works with sound to avoid distracting the audience’s attention by focusing on the importance of the message.
The music used in the film is appropriate as it matches the characters and the activities involved in the story. For example, somber music is played when Amélie is sad and devastated while high-spirited music is played when she helps people to solve their problems (Jeunet, 2001). In other words, the music here is deployed to indicate the highs and downs of the protagonist in her struggle to find peace. Another example is the cheery carnival music played in the adventurous scenes to show the mission to spread positive energy in the world.
Reference
Jeunet, J. P. (2001). Amélie [film]. Claudie Ossard Productions.