Amelie Textual Analysis

From the quirky film Amelie we can see numerous stylistic devices that the director uses to draw the viewers into the story of Amelie and those she effects with her "good-doing". Here are four stylistic devices that are used:

1. Detailed Narration

Throughout the movie, but especially at the beginning, the narrator goes into deep details about each the characters, showing their small, seemingly meaningless quirks, like liking to touch grain in a bag and cracking creme brulee. The detail in this narration gives insight to the idiosyncrasies of the characters, giving highlight to the small details that most other movies miss out on or do not highlight in any particular way.

2. Ornate Set Design




Many scenes involve set designs that have numerous nick-nacs and details. Paris by nature is an artsy city that has a lot of detail in the streets, buildings and businesses, and even the hometown of Amelie is portrayed in such a way. I think that this device is used to make everyday life, even the mundane tasks of going to the market and the subway station, more interesting, emphasizing the value of everyday life, of everyday wonder. Even small details in life are worth taking a look at to appreciate, and since this is a movie, the viewer can be directed to these details that they normally wouldn't notice in life. Appreciating the "small things" is an important theme in the movie, and is essentially Amelie's mission throughout the movie to bring to quite a number of random people.

3. Detail in Minor Characters

In the film, I see how the director has a lot of minor characters that only show up for a total of a few minutes in the film, but it is interesting to note how these minor characters serve as catalysts for change in the more major characters and symbols of certain ideas. A lot of possibilities arise in the way that these characters can effect the major characters in a sometimes minute, but noticable way. For example, the character seen above had his pictures collected by Quicompoix when they fell under the photo booth, leaving Amelie to think that he perhaps left his potraits around with the same stoic face each time so that he could be remembered by someone picking up his portraits scattered around Paris even after he died. This idea of wanting permanence is an interesting idea that the characters may desire in the movie, since Amelie and Quicompoix both interpreted it that way, but the only reason his pictures were all around Paris like that was because he was the repairman for the photo booths. A sense of wonder in the small things is created.

4. Warm Tint




A warm tint is used throughout the film to cast the characters in a benign, joyous light in order to make the viewers warm up to the characters. I really like how the director decided to use these warm tints to make darker scenes and lighter scenes all flow together in one movie, making the movie very cohesive between its different themes. A sense of wonder is created in how the movie looks different from real life with richer colors richer colors that attract interest.