The film Amelie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a story about a French girl who’s been suppressed by her parents all her life. Her mother faces death after the beginning of the film leaving her with her dad. Amelie grew up with the lack of love and comfort, her character is portrayed as a unique and innocent person who faces her own isolation through good deeds she offers to the world. The color scheme used in the film help the audience understand the emotions that are felt by the protagonist Amelie Poulain.
The most dominant colors used throughout the film are yellow, red and green. The opening scene of the film, the audience was introduced to the setting when the streets of Paris are presented through a luminous yellow tone, this plays the role of sunlight in a very unnatural matter. This color has been commonly used throughout the film. The color yellow represents liveliness, happiness, joy, and excitement. This element doesn’t cease to exist because the whole storyline is based on the thrilling expedition Amelie is having as she searches for her true identity.
Among the color yellow, red and green were also used throughout the film. The color red represents love and passion. This seems to be a representation of Amelie’s personality, a vibrant character whose purity is exposed through these dynamic colors. In the exposition of the color green, it’s seen in a glass filled with green liquid and accompanied by the clothing Amelie is wearing. It can also be seen in the smallest object used in the background, for example, this color was seen in the extract when she was behind Nino. Green symbolizes peace, nature, relaxation, and calmness. This attribute shows that Amelie remained calm and relax throughout her journey.
Technological factors in the film was a rapid boost of editing equipment and an increase of special effects that stretched the realm of Amelie. The director uses his imagination to a greater extent and allows what appears to be impossible to happen. The use of visual effects was to emphasize a point. In the cafe, the audience saw how Amelie was able to write on the glass in reverse so easy, this gives us the idea that she’s reflecting on her reverse outlook on life. In the extract when Nino left the cafe and seemingly out of her life, it was not enough for Amelie to appear devastating. The director used the metaphor of Amelie dissolving into a puddle of water to provide us with an insight into the eccentric yet intense nature of her emotions.
Mise en scene, staging and lighting plays an important role in establishing the mood and tone of the narrative that is being told. Lighting plays a large role in creating space within shots because it is used to create an effect of isolation and individuality.
Staging and framing throughout the duration of the scene play a role in assisting the narrative. The placement of the characters and objects is a staging shot used to emphasizes certain aspects of the narrative. This relates back to the extract because the director is trying to emphasize the idea that Amelie is discouraged by love.
Music also plays an important role in the film because it helps create the mood and tone for the scenes. Music was used often to express the wonder of Amelie’s world, at times somber music was played to convey sadness but sometimes the music could be heard as playful and quirky. This type of music fits perfectly well with the characters curious, imaginative, but socially awkward personality. Music works in conjunction with the natural sounds and is never distracting or being overly used.
The film is also being told by an ominisicent voice- over narrator. This narrator introduces the character’s life, for example; the voice- over narrator introduces Amelie’s parent and other characters in the beginning of the film. The voice-over narrator is telling the story but is also letting Amelie’s voice come directly through as if the film is being told from Amelie’s perspective.
Throughout the film, social context was shown because dialogue was seen between characters. In the scene where Amelie and the glassman was talking about the painting, it showed that the glassman wants to know more about Amelie but they’re both socially awkward. They both observed the world around them in order to protect their secret place or zone. Amelie doing good deeds for the world showed that although her character is portrayed as someone isolated from the society, she wants the people around her to be happy and enjoy life. Amelie’s good deed made her bump into Nino at the photo booth. He seems like her other half detailed-oriented. Amelie being obsessive starts to make her feel a twinge of loneliness now that she realizes that she might miss something if she stays by herself.
