MOVIE REVIEWS

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Citizen Kane; Produced and Directed by Orsen Welles; Written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles

SYNOPSIS

            Citizen Kane is a story about Charles Foster Kane’s life. The movie started with images of scary view of an isolated mansion in Florida which is called as the Xanadu. Inside the mansion, an old man named Charles Kane can be seen in a critical state of condition. Holding a snow globe, he moans the word "rosebud", and then died.

            Since he has been a public figure being a newspaper business tycoon, his death was sensationalized. A short documentary film is being conceptualized featuring the life of Kane, but the editor feels that until they know who or what Rosebud is, the last puzzling word Kane uttered, they won't have the whole story of Kane. The editor then assigned Mr. Thompson to search for Rosebud.

            Mr. Thompson then starts to investigate. He then first interviewed Susan Kane, the second wife of the man. The woman turned out to be an alcoholic owner of a club. She refuses to tell something about the matter so Thompson visits the personal library of Thatcher.

            Thatcher is a rich banker who served as the legal guardian of Charles Kane when the boy was growing up. Because of the documents found in the library, Thompson was able to know the childhood story of Kane. Flashbacks reveal that Kane's childhood was spent in poverty in Colorado. He learned that at a very young age, he was separated to his parents. His parents chose to send him away to the East Coast of the U.S. to live with Thatcher so that he’ll have a good education.

            All his life, Kane doesn’t seem to give back the love and affection given by Thatcher. Thatcher is doing his best, but he never manages to build a bond with the boy because the Kane believed that guy is the reason why he was given away by his parents.

            At the age of 25, Kane gains full control over his belongings and decides to enter the world of newspaper business with sensationalized yellow journalism. It is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines. Aside from this, Kane also spends money lavishly. These things constantly angers Thatcher, so the relationship of the two never improves.

            Thompson then interviews some of the people close to Kane like Mr. Bernstein and Jedediah Leland. The two are Kane’s good friends and employees at the same time.

            Here Thompson learns the story behind Kane’s first marriage to Emily Monroe Norton, a President's niece and his run for election for the office of governor of New York State. Emily left Kane because of having a mistress, who is Susan. Here, Kane is branded as unprincipled and immoral so he then loses in the elections.

            Kane then loses his fame and popularity. The tycoon has overextended himself and is losing control of his empire.  

            Thompson then is able to finally interview Susan. Flashbacks again reveal that after several years, Kane marries Susan and forces her into an operatic career for which she has neither talent nor ambition. Kane finally allows her to abandon her singing career after she attempted to end her life, but after a cover of time spent in boredom and isolation in Xanadu, she eventually leaves him.     

            Thompson then goes to the Xanadu and had interview with Kane’s butler. The butler then narrates that Kane spends his last years building his gigantic estate and lives alone. He heard that Kane said the word ”Rosebud” while looking at the snow globe after Susan leaves the room.

            When ask by his co-workers, the reporter concludes that he was not able to solve the mystery of the “Rosebud” and quoted that: "Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted, and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get, or something he lost. I guess Rosebud is just a piece in a jigsaw puzzle... a missing piece."

            At the ending of the movie, it was revealed that Rosebud was the name of the sled from Kane's childhood.

MAIN CHARACTERS

·         Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane

      Charles Kane is the main character of the movie; he is the owner of the newspaper publishing house named the New York Inquirer. At a very young age, he was separated to his parents. His parents chose to send him away to the wealthy man named Mr. Thatcher so that he’ll have a good future. Because of this, he grows to be an arrogant man who had everything he wishes for in life.

·         Agnes Moorehead as Mary Kane

Mary is the mother of Charles. She seemed to be unaffected and cold in giving away his son when she comes into a wealth to Mr. Thatcher.

·         Harry Shannon as Jim Kane

Jim Kane is Charles’ father. If Charles’ mother seemed to be emotionless on giving his son away, in contrast, Jim expressed that he wanted to raise his own son.

·         George Coulouris as Walter Thatcher

Thatcher served as the legal guardian of Charles when growing up. But Charles doesn’t seem to give back the love and affection given by Thatcher. Thatcher is doing his best, but he never had a chance to build a bond with the boy because the boy believed that he is the reason why he was given away by his parents.

·         Joseph Cotton as Jedediah Leland

Leland is a close friend of Kane. In fact, he gives high regards to Kane's optimism and idealism about the newspaper business when they start working together at the Inquirer. But along the story, they have been cold with each other when Kane become unprincipled and immoral in the eyes of the people because of his affair with a girl named Susan.

·         Ruth Warrick Emily as Monroe Norton Kane

Monroe Kane is the first wife of Charles Kane. She is the niece of President Monroe. She was not married by Kane because of love, but because she has a great connection to her Uncle. Eventually, they got separated when she learned that Kane had a mistress.

·         Dorothy Comingore as Susan Alexander Kane

Susan is Kane’s mistress and eventually became his second wife. Kane have manipulated her every action, he have even pushed her to sing at the opera even though she’s not a mainly talented singer. Because Kane have been controlling her life, she decided to leave him.

·         Everett Sloane as Mr. Bernstein

Mr. Bernstein was the only one who truly loved Kane despite of being arrogant and unprincipled. He’s a loyal employee of Kane in the newspaper publishing.

·         William Alland as Jerry Thompson

Mr. Thompson is a reporter who has been given the task to find out the meaning of Kane’s last word, which is “Rosebud”.

FILM CRITIC

 

NARRATIVE FORM

GOOD POINTS

• The film opens as Charles Foster Kane is uttering his last word "Rosebud". This act leaves the journalists with the task of attempting to discover what the significance of this is.  This immediately captures the attention of the viewers. In this way, it encourages the viewers to observe the scenes intently and analyze each prospect.  This also persuades the audiences to let them think critically and let them be able to guess which or who is pertained to as Rosebud. So the director was successful at adding a glimpse of mystery and thrill to the viewers.

•  One of the story-telling techniques used in Citizen Kane is the flashbacks and symbolisms, those were utilized professionally. The flashback using different points of view has been an effective technique compared to the traditional linear and chronological narrative story-telling. This alerts the viewer to know that the action shown is from the past and then when it goes back to the present. This also draws the viewers into the film and causes them to actively participate in solving the plot instead of sitting back watching the plot unravel.

• The parallel scenes seen in the movie gives us the hint to clearly distinguish the story as it moved forward, to the climax and until it was resolved. It can be clearly seen that the movie started of showing images of the isolated mansion of Kane called Xanadu and then the scene where Kane uttered the word “Rosebud” was next. At the end, we can see again images of the isolated mansion of Kane called Xanadu and then the scene where the word “Rosebud” appears in the sled from Kane's childhood. Here, we can see that the scenes are properly segmented and well conceptualized.

• The movie also properly emphasized and showcased it’s themes on the difficulty of interpreting a person’s life once that life has ended, power, corruption, media, innocence and the tension between the public actions and the private life of a major figure like Charles Foster Kane. The film also has successfully shown its motif like isolation, old age, and materialism.

BAD POINTS

•  The narration on the first part of the story seemed to be too long and boring.

It could have been better if the narration was only limited for 1-2 minutes. Long narratives are not successful form in which to tell a screen story.

•      Kane's heart and soul has been forgotten. What was weighted more in the movie is his arrogance and selfishness.

The movie seemed to emphasize the arrogant image of Kane. Audience tends to not fully appreciate that Kane is just like us, humans, who have a soft side. The only thing that was justified and was given weight about Kane’s soft side was at the ending when it is revealed to the audience that Rosebud was the name of the sled from Kane's childhood – an allusion to the only time in his life that he was truly happy. Here we can see that Kane has a soft heart, he was longing for love and affection of his parents and if given a chance would rather embrace the kind life he had at first. The writer could have at least put some weight on the soft side attitudes of Kane in each scene, just like for example, his figure as a father to his son. They could have included scenes where the father and the sons spent quality time with each other in a form of bonding or whatsoever.

• There was only a little detail on Mary Kane that we never fully understand the strong reason why she abandoned Kane.

The mother seemed to be emotionless in giving away his son when she comes into a fortune to Mr. Thatcher. This can raise a question in the audience’s mind that did the mother really love her own child that she have afforded to send away the boy effortlessly? I guess the writer could have given a more heavy and depth reason for the parents of Kane to end up sending him away in their homes.

SETTING, LIGHTING AND COLOR

           

            The most essential stylistic element of Citizen Kane is the lighting. The film’s color is black and white. In the introduction of the place Xanadu, the cinematographer used a low key lighting.

            At the start of the film, the dark color and low key lighting gives us a spooky feeling about the setting. It feels like it is a horror movie. We can see that the castle is located at the center of the hill. This goes to show that the place is somewhat isolated.

            Inside the mansion, the huge rooms and the gigantic statues of Xanadu dwarf its inhabitants, creating wide spaces between them that stress their individual isolation.

            The cinematographer utilizes unconventional lighting in which shadows play significant part in the film’s unique visual style. 

The first part of the film was a perfect example of a scene where the use of lighting managed to convey meaning, because of low key lighting; the atmosphere seemed to be melancholic as if something sorrowful will happen. This was justified when the next scene was viewed that inside the mansion, an old man can be seen in a critical state of condition. Clutching a snow globe, he mutters the word "rosebud", and then died. The gloomy atmosphere seemed to establish a sad mood.

        Another scene which I have seen that has used the significance of lighting is the scene of the Declaration of Principles. 

Here, the cinematographer also used a low key lighting. But the lighting gives a visual metaphor. It has imparted a meaning to the viewers about the certain intention of the character.

In this scene, Kane is being shed in the shadow when he was reading the statements in the declaration of principles. We can notice that after he reads it, his face can now be seen in the light. This might tell the viewers that he is not totally preserving the principles stated or his heart wasn’t totally devoted to following the principles he has stated.

            The film also used extreme backlighting to the extent that figures appear as silhouette. One example of that scene is when the journalists and editors were gathered around in the room trying to conceptualize Kane’s story.

PROPS

The following props that were seen in the movie are the following:

The drug that Susan intakes when she attempted suicide.

            The drug has a significant role because if it was not for that, Susan may not have almost killed herself, then she might not be able to escape and to let Kane finally allow her to abandon her singing.

            Next prop, the snow globe seemed to be Kane’s only witness for all his sorrows and his death. After Susan left him, he went frantic but when he saw the globe, he suddenly became calm and his tears suddenly came down rushing.

The most significant prop in the movie is the sled on which he called as “Rosebud”. The sled on his childhood was an allusion to the only time in his life that he was truly happy.

            The set decoration of the props, furniture and other objects in Xanadu establishes a meaning that life is boring in the place. We can conclude that through proxemics and staging positions. The huge rooms and the gigantic statues of Xanadu dwarf its inhabitants, creating wide spaces between them that stress their individual isolation.

           

            The mirrors in the Xanadu also had significant role in the movie. The reflection of Kane walking alone in the mirror creates an emotional impact that all this time, he never really felt the feeling of complete happiness. He was all along alone facing the playful destiny. 

COSTUME, HAIR AND MAKE-UP

            The costume, hair and make-up of the characters obviously signify that the film was done in the 1940’s.

            The female characters have an American vintage hairstyle---perfectly styled, voluminous hair. We can see pin-curls in most of the women. Meanwhile, the men had the crew cut hairstyles; the hair was cropped or shaved very shortly on the man’s head sides and left slightly longer on the top of the head.

            For the costume, the male characters generally wore plain, functional suits in solid, plain colors like navy or black, with plain white shirts, and very little embellishments.

            Some of them can be also seen wearing double-breasted jackets that featured center vests and peaked lapels. Meanwhile, for the women, they wore full skirts and waist-cinching jackets and Fur-trimmed wool suit.

            Since the movie is black and white, we can’t entirely judge the make-up quality that was applied to the characters. But here are just some noticeable details: face powder was used by women to match the skin or to give a nice rosy glow for their face. For the eye, dark brown or black mascara and small eyeliner was used.

                The hair, make-up and costume of Kane showed how the character grows.  At first, the young Kane can be seen as stylish and attractive. This showed the character follows the clothing trends on that time. He is more happy-go-lucky and carefree. As he grows old, Kane became overweight and wore functional suits in solid, plain colors like navy or black, with plain white shirts, and very little add-ons. This means that there was maturity developed in the way the character dressed. 

POSITIONING OF OBJECTS AND CHARACTERS WITHIN THE FRAME

         

          An example of the deep focus positioning of objects in the frame was the scene where Susan attempted suicide.  

The bottle of medicine was in the foreground, Susan in a state of unconsciousness in the middle ground and Kane knocking on the door in background. By this positioning, the director was successful at a showing significance of the scene, we can already have an idea of the scene that it has something to do with suicide. Having objects like the empty bottle of medicine, the glass, and the spoon, with Susan in bed covered in shadow, we can feel the depressed atmosphere. We then see Kane break down the door, frustrated, and we see that he recognized the situation immediately also.

           

       Another great example of good positioning of objects in the movie was the scene where the sled in being burned.

            Here we can see that the sled was taken a close-up shot while the fire was eating it. The sled was in the foreground. This part intended to reveal the mystery of the “Rosebud” and give emphasis to the viewers that before Kane’s death, he had been longing to come home to the place where he truly belongs. For him, his childhood was the days of his life where he had experienced true happiness.

            An example of great positioning of characters in the movie is the scene where young Kane is playing outside while his parents inside together with a man is having negotiations. 

 The scene was successful at showing that the mother was signing the paper emphasizing that she agrees on the terms on the paper to send his son away while his son outside was innocently playing, not knowing that his life will be changed. The feeling of being emotionless of the mother, the innocence of the child, the father’s disagreeing emotion are all showcased in the particular scene.

FILM REEL

            My rating for this movie is 2 (Rating from 1-5, 1 being the highest and 5 as the lowest). Story wise, it was well conceptualized and narrated but I guess the story is not new in the ears. The actors and actresses gave justice to their roles; they have exhibited such enormous acting ability. They are like theatrical actors. Emotions are there, facial expressions can be seen clearly and the attitudes of the characters were well portrayed. For the direction, I have to commend the director for featuring such great directing skills. It was like as if I am watching a film and at the same time having a film lecture about proper story-telling techniques, cinematography and mise en scene. Mentioning the cinematography, I guess that made the film highly incredible!  With all those noteworthy camera angles, stage decorations, editing transitions, and visual metaphors…I guess I couldn’t ask for more. And considering that it’s a film taped way back 1940’s, it’s surprising to see such innovative idea that broke down all the norms on filming that time. The film is indeed worthy to be named as one of the greatest films of all times.

            Others might not want to watch it because it’s outdated, but I guess they will miss one half of their lives if they wouldn’t give it a try.

DIRECTED BY Jean-Pierre Jeunet WRITTEN BY: Jean-Pierre and Jeunet

                                         Guillaume Laurant

SYNOPSIS

            Amélie is a movie about the life of Amélie Poulain, the only daughter of Raphaël and Amandine. Her parents have their strange behaviors. Raphaël is a doctor who enjoys lining up all his shoes and shining them; he also enjoys emptying his toolbox, and eventually cleans it and put the tools back in an arranged manner. Meanwhile, her mother Amandine is a school teacher who doesn't like for people to touch her hands. She also enjoys emptying her handbag, and eventually cleans it and put the things in her bag back in an arranged manner.

            Amélie, reaching the age of six, she wants to be hugged by her father, like any other daughters. But her father is so distant to her.  He never touched her except to give her monthly health check-ups. At those times of check-ups, she would get too excited so her heart would pound extra fast, and her father would confuse it with her having a heart failure. This causes Amélie to be kept at home and schooled by her mother.\

            Because of being kept at home, her only friend a goldfish named Bubba. Unfortunately, one day Bubba decides to jump out of his tank because of too much loneliness and isolation. This causes Amélie’s mother so much anguish, so she decided that Bubba will be poured out into a lake. Now, the poor child was left with no choice but to imagine things and have imaginary friends.

            One day, Amélie is brought by her mother to Notre Dame. But upon walking outside, her mother was fatally crushed by a suicidal tourist jumping from the roof of Notre Dame. Because of the tragic event, Amélie is left alone to be raised by her father, who is completely obsessed with creating a shrine to reminisce his beloved wife.

            When Amélie reached her legal age, she left her hometown and moves into a little apartment in Montmartre. There, she works as a waitress at Café des 2 Moulins. Every Sunday, she pays a visit to her father.

            She finds contentment in living a very simple life, meanwhile her imagination at that stage roam free like a bird in the sky. In fact, Amélie is a keen observant. She can barely see small details that cannot be noticed by viewers when watching a movie on a theater. And she amuses herself by wondering how many couples are having an orgasm at that exact moment.

            In August 31,1997, as narrated, Amélie is in the bathroom applying perfume while listening to the television. She then hears the news of Princess Diana’s death. Thrilled and shocked, she accidentally drops the perfume bottle cover. As she kneels down to pick it up, she notices a loose tile at the bottom of one wall. She removes the tile and finds that it's a hole, and inside it is a little box covered in dust.

            The small box contains pictures and toys from years before. Amélie decides to find the box's owner to return it, and if he is touched by the gesture, she promises that she will dedicate her life to such acts of kindness.

            She then finds out that the owner of the box is Domonique Bredoteau. Her neighbor Dufayel provides her with the correct spelling- Bretodeau- and Amélie is able to track him down. When the owner found the small box on a payphone, the old man was brought into tears. He then recalls his childhood memories. After stalking the old man who enters into a bar, Amélie learns that her act had inspired him to visit his long separated daughter and his grandson. Because of the event, Amélie is delighted and is now inspired to touch people’s lives.

            Now, she has been convincing her father to travel. But her father refuses to do it saying that it was once his dream to travel together with his wife.

            Seeing that her father is still living in the past with the memory of her mother, Amélie decides to steal her father's garden gnome and sends the gnome all around the world through the help of her friend who is a flight attendant. Her friend then takes pictures of the gnome at the various locations and mails them to Amélie’s father.

            On the train station, she sees Nino Quincampoix. Nino accidentally drops one of his photo albums when chasing a mysterious man through the station. When Amélie takes a glimpse of it, the man Nino was chasing appears many of the torn photos throughout the album, and so she concluded that Nino has intended on discovering his identity.

            She then decided to look for Nino. Upon finding where he has been working, she sets up a series of clues for him that would eventually bring them together. In her quest to return this photo album, she develops a huge crush on Nino, but is too timid and shy to initiate a romance.

            Meanwhile in the café, she sets up Josef and Georgette. The two soon had a mutual understanding.

            She also makes a fake letter for Madeleine, she writes a letter saying that her husband loved her after all before he died in an accident. She also takes revenge of Lucien by playing practical and silly jokes on Colingion. She records interesting clips from TV and takes the recording to Mr. Dufayel.

            Amélie tries to improve the lives of the people around her in increasingly weird ways. But despite helping people’s lives, her friend Duyafel, who has been recreating the same Renoir painting for 20 years, reminds her that, despite her intentions to help others, she is neglecting her own chase for happiness.

            Nino on the other hand, is persistent enough to meet the mysterious woman who sets up a series of wacky clues for him. In Amélie’s chance to meet Nino, she is too shy to address him, even when he gently confronts her with the note. So she hands a note her co-worker Gina.

            The next day, while Amélie was out in the café, her fellow waitress Gina asks Nino to talk with her in private just to ensure that her friend Amélie will not be hurt by him. And after speaking with Nino, Gina sees that he is after all, a good man. But in the café Josef told Amélie that Nino and Gina are dating. So Amélie, after hearing the news, felt broken hearted.

            At her apartment, Amélie cries while baking a cake. She also daydreams about Nino, but inside her, she is hurting. She then is startled when her doorbell rings. She is surprised and tensed when she heard the voice of Nino calling her name, but she is too nervous to answer it. So Nino slips a note under her door, assuring her that he will come back.

            Amélie then finds a personal videotape from Mr. Dufayel, in which he encourages her to pursue the man she loves, or risk eternal unhappiness.  Because of this, Amélie faced Nino and the two ends up making love with each other.

            At the end, Bretodeau has met his separated daughter and grandson, Hipolito sees one of his sayings written on a wall, Mr. Dufayel painting on Renoir's 'Luncheon of the Boating Party' was finished, and Amélie’s father, Raphaël finally decided to travel.

            This just proves to show that the goodwill toward others eventually takes Amélie on a journey to finding her true love.

MAIN CHARACTERS

·         Audrey Tautou as Amélie Poulain

·

            Amélie Poulain is the main character of the movie, she is a 23-year-old Parisian girl who devotes herself to secretly helping those people around her, but it is only because she's afraid to go after love, herself. This is her journey of finding the true meaning of love and pure happiness in a world which can leave you feeling solitary at times.

·         Mathieu Kassovitz as Nino Quincampoix

·

            Nino Quincampoix plays as the love interest of Amélie. He is a young man who collects the discarded and torn photographs of strangers from passport photo booths.

·         Rufus as Raphaël Poulain

·

            Raphaël Poulain is the father of Amélie, he is a doctor. He is distant to her daughter and never makes physical contact with her except for a monthly medical checkup.

·         Lorella Cravotta as Amandine Poulain

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            Amandine Poulain is Amélie’s mother. She is a school teacher; she died on the spot when fatally crushed by a suicidal tourist jumping from the roof of Notre Dame.

           

·         Serge Merlin as Raymond Dufayel

·

            Raymond Dufayel is an old lonely artist, a painter in particular. He’s one of the neighbors of Amélie in the apartment.

·         Jamel Debbouze as Lucien

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            Lucien is the clumsy employer of Colignion’s vegetable stall. 

           

·         Clotilde Mollet as Gina

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            Gina is the co-worker of Amélie, and is stalked by her ex-boyfriend named Josef.

           

·         Dominique Pinon as Joseph

·

            Joseph is obsessed ex lover of Gina. He stalks her every day in the café and jealously spies on her all day and records notes into a tape recorder.

·         Isabelle Nanty as Georgette

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            Georgette is the hypochondriac co-worker of Amélie. She has been set up by Amélie to Joseph.

·         Artus de Penguern as Hipolito

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            Hipolito is a failed writer.

·         Yolande Moreau as Madeleine Wallace

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            Madeleine is one of the neighbors of Amélie in the apartment. She has been left by her husband because of another woman.

·         Urbain Cancelier as Collignon

·

            Collignon is the owner of the vegetable stall and he has been cruel to his employer Lucien. He often insults him in front of many costumers.

·         Maurice Bénichou as Dominique Bretodeau

           

            Dominique Bretodeau is the owner of the old box found by Amélie in her bathroom. The box was filled with his childhood memories. He has been   longing to meet his separated daughter and his grandson.

FILM CRITIC

NARRATIVE FORM

GOOD POINTS

• Amelie's life was first introduced through narration. On the first part, the narrator tells us about her mother and father and describes their strange behaviors. Because of those strange behaviors, Amelie wasn’t treated that well by her parents, so upon growing up, that was the main reason why she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. So we can conclude that this is where Amelie gets her strange traits, which we later encounter as we see her as a young woman on her own. It was good that the writer gave us a glimpse of origin why the protagonist had that kind of attitude. So a clear explanation was given already. The movie won't have audiences asking for any clarification because it was well polished and stated at the very beginning.

•  The director specifically emphasized the smallest details in the movie. For example again is in the beginning of the movie when he is introducing the characters, for each character he gives us the things they like, and hate. This makes us get to know the character better.

• Its narrative is quick and was told with wit, lively jokes and in-depth storytelling, the entirety of the film becomes so incredibly easy on the eye for the average viewer. The humors inserted were an effective way to capture the attention of the viewers.

• The character Amelie being a humanist, like helping an old blind man cross the street while describing to him what she sees in the street, giving him the light and hope to picture out the world, made the character lovable to the eyes of the viewers.

• The story was successful in giving examples that we can help other people to improve their lives in our little way. It doesn’t require us to be rich or famous to do that, all we need to have is the courage and determination. Perfect example was when she was able to inspire the old man Bretodeau to finally meet his daughter and grandson just by returning his old small box. There are still a lot of scenes where Amélie tries to improve the lives of the people around her in increasingly bizarre ways that ended successfully.

•  It was good that the director gave Amelie love interest. Because the event made the protagonist braver to face the reality that she should not neglect her own pursuit for happiness and that she should take the risk to love.

•  'Amélie" is a satire that transcends reality. Although the director had inserted humor in the movie, the characters are somewhat weird and the scenes can be doubt to happen in real life (such as: Talking pictures, figurine and many more, we can still see the aim of the director to relate in real life. The director was successful at showing the audience the call to see the world through the eyes of innocence and to find joy and laughter in all things. And in also imparting a lesson that every one of us can change the course of this world in our own little way.

•  There is no violence or anything really unsightly anywhere to be seen so that makes the story a complete “good vibes”.

BAD POINTS

• The film started with the series of unconnected clips. Like the a fly being run over by a car, and then it switch unexpectedly to the next scene which is a drinking glasses dancing on a white cloth being blown by the wind, and then a man erasing the telephone number from his address book of a friend who has just died.

This portion made me confused of what the film was all about at first. Upon watching the movie until the ending, I’m still confused why those images were flashed on the first part. The only thing that was somehow connected to film that was shown in the first part was the meeting of the sperm cell and egg cell that led to the conception of the main character who is Amélie. The director could have just somehow deleted the series of unconnected films or might as well put scenes that are more relevant, like scenes showing how Amélie’s father and mother met, their short love story perhaps, and then followed by the scene of the meeting of the sperm cell and egg cell.

• The movie’s concept theme is one of childlike fancy, but there are unmistakable hints of vulgar and malice. There are comic but explicit sexual situations that are not suitable for very young audiences.

           

Parents need to know that the movie still contains of clips that aren’t suitable for their children. As written in the MDB, they have listed the explicit sexual situations that can be seen in the movie and they are: quick shots of fifteen different couples having sex at the point of orgasm, we can see each couples who are nude, exposing bare breasts, backs and shoulders and hear the sounds of climax. Several scenes take place in a pornographic video store where we can also see some sex apparatus some nude breasts, some penis-shaped items, videos, magazines, and we see a woman with a small costume on dancing suggestively in a room; she later removes the top and dances with bare breasts and bare buttocks.

My suggestion is that, the director could have been censored those scenes because it was kinda vulgar. The movie can be beautifully told without those obscene scenes so I think those were not necessary.  It didn’t even add to the humor of the movie. So I guess the movie can still stand without those scenes.

•  I still consider the movie as over unrealistic that even the beggars are happy with their lot in such a pleasant and calm Paris and bear their fate with dignity. It can be seen in the scene where Amelie rushes to catch a train on Sunday she stops to donate a money to a tramp slumped against a railing with his dog. But the beggar rejected the donation saying that, “I never work on Sundays.”

The humor and comedy is there but I guess this scene is just unbelievable for me. It’s too much. Beggars don’t actually act that way, as much as possible they work hard on asking mercy to the people because of their condition. I guess this scene is irrelevant. So this scene can perhaps be deleted.

STYLISTIC FORM

            The film has a running time of 2 hr 2 min (122 min) with an aspect ratio of 2.35 : 1.   It has a printed film format of 35mm.

LIGHTING AND COLOR

            Throughout the film, color yellow was the dominant. The director intended to use color correction to give the film a "storybook" or" fairytale" feeling. This also gives the viewer of an “instagram” effect.  The color is appropriate because color yellow signifies happiness and joyfulness. Since the movie is a romantic comedy, the color brightens each scenes and characters and produces a feeling of good vibes to the viewers. The setting also added up a romantic feeling to the viewers. Since the scenes were taken at France, and the concept was finding truelove and pure happiness, the warm tint effect is just perfect for the movie.

SETTING AND PROPS

              It is also noticeable that we can see a lot of paintings in the movie, even when the character goes to the subway station, in the market and etc. This just goes reflect the place’s nature. Paris here is emphasized as a place that is artistic in every way. Although the setting is an unrealistic Paris, it still reminds us of the true beauty of life all around us and what is truly important- that love and humanity will always prevail, no matter what evils may creep around in the shadows of our lives. We can also see the symbolism of the painting about the girl drinking from a glass cup. The painter told Amelie that girl's strange nature makes her so difficult to paint perfectly. The director's intent with using subtext is that he wants to have Amelie do some self evaluation.

                It is also surprising to find out that the director was also creative in creating a child-fantasy environment in the film. 

The bunny cloud image.

The bear cloud image.

               In this scene, we can see that the clouds captured by the little Amelie forms a shape of a teddy bear and a bunny. This goes to show that the director wants us to see the world on Amelie’s perspective. We are meant to see everything vivid and alive because we are seeing the 'world' through Amelie's mind- one that is truly swirling with the unlimited ability of a child's imagination. Yes her growth wasn’t normal; she is deprived from experiencing a normal child growing, going to school and playing with playmates, but still, Amelie is still a child that wants to play and through imagining things, she is able to fulfill the feeling of happiness and satisfaction.  The album also is considered as a significant prop of the movie, because that album brought her closer to the one she loves.

 POSITIONING OF CHARACTERS AND OBJECTS WITHIN THE FRAME

              The film used different shots of different perspective of the scene. This is effective in giving stress and weight to the specific scene. One example is when the pet of Amelie jumped out of the fish bowl.

         When the pet of Amelie jumped out of the fish bowl, we can see a full front wide shot, angle shot upward and angle shot downward of the little Amelie screaming.

       Several close-up shots were also effective in emphasizing the facial expression of the protagonist, Amelie. Some examples are the following: One of the reasons for the film to be remarkable is the signature innocent and enchanting smile of Amelie.

       Amelie is very much of a visual film, not only from the expressive facial expressions we get from Amelie, but also through the amazing cinematography and art direction. The production value of the film is highly remarkable. We really could feel what it would be like to live in Paris during that time period. That and the timeless story and characters are what make this film worthy. The goofy special effects and animation keep the movie light-hearted and fun. All in all, the movie’s cinematography is incredible, from the great setting to the costumes and sets and details, the director has succeeded in creating a world so real that it pulls us in immediately.

         The background music and sound effects was also chosen well by the director, like for example some of the scenes that are quite intense, like the meeting of Nino and Amelie, it was a suspenseful music accompanied by piano. As the music plays, the audiences get more excited and tense as we believe that destined lovers will finally meet each other.

BAD POINT:

·         There are just some draggy scenes in the movie. Like for example when Amelie was riding a train and she was searching for Bretodeau. And the last scene where Amelie and Nino is riding a motorcylce.

As for the scene when Amelie was riding a train and she was searching for Bretodeau, I guess the fast forward effect was good, but the shaky effect wasn’t good enough. It made me bewildered. As for the last scene where Amelie and Nino is riding a motorcycle, a slow motion effect would have been perfect for the scene because it will add up a romantic feeling to the viewers.

FILM REEL

            My rating for this movie is 2. The movie has a great storyline. The director has crafted something that already feels like a classic film. The movie won't have audiences asking for more because it was well polished and directed with skill. All the roles are beautifully performed by a top-notch cast. Every character gave justice to their respective roles. They savor every moment of their work and the result is a movie full of memorable, brief performances. It is also not just a movie with an objective to plainly entertain the viewers…but it is a movie that has a life-changing lesson. It is a beautiful escape and an inspired reminder of how we are capable of changing each other’s lives. This motion picture proves that two hours can pass very quickly if what's being projected on screen truly deserves its running time.