Review of Amélie (2001) by Prach P — 14 May 2013

I can see why so many people like it, but I didn't especially like it myself. It's still worth seeing though. I'll tell you why:

Photography is beautiful, though by no means realistic. But I guess realism is precisely what this film tries to stay away from.

It largely succeeds as a comedy film. Witty, funny jokes are very original, creative, completely unconventional.

I don't know if this film tries to be a romance at all. If it does, it fails. It is too introverted to be romantic. Each character is too lost in their private inner world to interact humanly with others.

In contrast with the film's aim to highlight human generosity and desire to help others, I have the feeling that this film even comes out as unhuman at times. (This is probably because the characters' behaviours are too strange to be incomprehensible as human behaviours.) It's not as unhuman as The Wizard of Oz or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it gives a similar impression.

That said, while this film doesn't give much emotional pleasure, its originality is an intellectual entertainment. Only the film's great creativity and originality make the film worth seeing. They outweigh all the drawbacks about it.