The year 2001 marked a turning point for world geopolitics. It is also the year of release of one of the most emblematic films of French cinema. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain by Jean Pierre Jeunet, released on April 25, 2001. This equally special year 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the film's release. Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a shy girl who lived her entire childhood in her imagination. As an adult, she worked as a waitress at the Café des 2 moulins. On a summer evening, Amélie discovers by chance, hidden in the wall, the treasure box of a child. After a careful investigation, she manages to identify its owner. Too shy to meet him head-on, she devised a ploy to return his box. Galvanized by this success, Amélie decided to dedicate her life to making others happy…
A plebiscite for French culture.
The film is both a hymn to love and to France. Filmed in the Montmartre district, a mecca of Parisian culture in the interwar period. The sets of the shooting are now very popular places for tourists who come from all over the world to see them in real life. If you walk around the neighborhood you will surely meet people who are looking for one of the emblematic sets of the film. Like Le café des 2 moulins located at 15 rue Lepic where only the café remains, the tobacco kiosk run by the iconoclastic Georgette (Isabelle Nanty) unfortunately disappeared in 2002 following a change of ownership. Mr. Collignon's grocery store located at 56 rue des Trois-Frères which is actually run by Mr. Ali. There is also the Studio 28 cinema located at 10 rue de Tolozé, which Jean Cocteau said was "the room of masterpieces and the masterpiece of the rooms.Let's not forget to mention the rue Saint-Vincent mentioned at the beginning of the film, which actually hides a tribute to Julien Duvivier's film, La Bandera (1935). Finally, you can admire the front of the prank and catch store where Amélie rents her Zorro costume which is at 11 boulevard Saint-Martin in the3rdarrondissement.
A fantasized visual universe.
The fabulous destiny of Amélie Poulain is above all a fantasy work constructed like a tale. André Dussolier's voice-over reinforces this unreal effect by mixing temporality, chance and encounters. As such, the film conveys the image of a Montmartre dreamed by Amélie, the universe that surrounds it is in her image, idyllic where blowers help her find the best distributions. This vision of a watered-down Paris often criticized for the film is nothing but the result of a very simple process in cinema. That of the point of view. We see the film and everything around it with Amélie's eyes. Point of view is a foundation of cinema in the same way as photography. He is present not only for the film, for a scene but also for a shot. Do not look at the film with a pragmatic look, otherwise, we miss the magic it exudes. Magnified by a photograph signed Bruno Delbonnel who regularly works with Tim Burton. It gives the story a fairytale aspect lost in an idealized Paris. These are very meticulous staging choices that make the film unique and timeless. The fabulous destiny of Amélie Poulain is the perfect example of the power of the seventh art. With a film, seemingly common businesses such as a grocery store or a café become hotspots of Parisian tourism.