AMELIE (DVD/2 DISC/WS 2.35 ANAMORPHIC/FR-DUB/ENG-SP-SUB) DVD

Amélie
One woman decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows in this charming and romantic comic fantasy from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Amelie (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amelie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Her mother Amandine (Lorella Cravotta) died in a freak accident when Amelie was eight, and her father Raphael (Rufus) had limited contact with her, since his presence seemed to throw her heart into high gear. Despite all this, Amelie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. When Princess Diana dies in a car wreck in the summer of 1997, Amelie is reminded that life can be fleeting and she decides it's time for her to intervene in the lives of those around her, hoping to bring a bit of happiness to her neighbors and the regulars at the cafe. Amelie starts by bringing together two lonely people -- Georgette (Isabelle Nanty), a tobacconist with a severe case of hypochondria, and Joseph (Dominique Pinon), an especially ill-tempered customer. When Amelie finds a box of old toys in her apartment, she returns them to their former owner, Mr. Bretodeau (Maurice Benichou), sending him on a reverie of childhood. Amelie befriends Dufayel (Serge Merlin), an elderly artist living nearby whose bones are so brittle, thanks to a rare disease, that everything in his flat must be padded for his protection. And Amelie decides someone has to step into the life of Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a lonely adult video store clerk and part-time carnival spook-show ghost who collects pictures left behind at photo booths around Paris. Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amelie Poulain received unusually enthusiastic advance reviews prior to its French premiere in the spring of 2001, and was well received at a special free screening at that year's Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast Audrey Tautou as Amélie Mathieu Kassovitz as Nino Quincampoix Rufus as Raphael Poulain (Amélie's father) Yolande Moreau as Madeleine Wallace Artus de Penguern as Hipolito (the writer) Urbain Cancelier as Collignon (the grocer) Dominique Pinon as Joseph Maurice Bénichou as Bretodeau (the box man) Claude Perron as Eva (the strip teaser) Isabelle Nanty as Georgette Claire Maurier as Suzanne Serge Merlin as Dufayel Clotilde Mollet as Gina Jamel Debbouze as Lucien André Dussollier as Narrator Michel Robin as Old Man Collignon Lorella Cravotta as Amandine Poulain Flora Guiet as Amélie (8 years old) Armelle as Philomene Amaury Babault as Nino (as a child) Jean Darie as The Blind Man Ticky Holgado as The Photo Booth Man Marc Amyot as The Stranger Andrée Damant as Mrs. Collignon Dominique Bettenfeld as The Screaming Neighbor Frankye Pain as The Newsstand Woman Eugene Berthier as Eugene Koler Marion Pressburger as Credits Helper Charles-Roger Bour as The Urinal Man Luc Palun as Amandine's Grocer Fabienne Chaudat as Woman in Coma Jacques Viala as The Customer Who Humiliates His Friend Fabien Behar as The Humiliated Customer Jonathan Joss as The Humiliated Customer's Son Jean-Pierre Becker as The Bum Thierry Gibault as The Endive Client Franois Bercovici as His Buddy Guillaume Viry as Dominique Bredoteau Woman Valérie Zarrouk as Bretodeau as a child Marie-Laure Descoureaux as The Dead Man's Concierge Sophie Tellier as Aunt Josette Gérald Weingand as The Teacher Francois Viaur as The Bar Owner Paule Dare as His Employee Myriam Labbe as The Tobacco Buyer Robert Gendreu as Café Patron Julianna Kovacs as Grocer's Client Mady Malroux as Twin Monette Malroux as Twin Valériane De Villeneuve as The Laughing Woman Isis Peyrade as Samantha Raymonde Heudeline as Phantom Train Cashier Christiane Bopp as Woman By The Merry-Go-Round Thierry Arfeuilleres as Statue Man Jerry Lucas as The Sacré-Coeur Boy Patrick Paroux as The Street Prompter Francois Aubineau as The Concierge's Postman Philippe Beautier as Poulain's Postman Régis Iacono as Felix L' Herbier Frank Olivier Bonnet as Palace Video Alain Floret as The Concierge's Husband Jean-Pol Brissard as The Postman Jacques Thebault as Frederic Mitterrand as

Crew Volker Schaefer - Art Director Jean-Louis Le Bras - Boom Operator Pierre-Jacques Benichou - Casting Valerie Espagne - Casting Edouard Dubois - Consultant/advisor Véronique Elise - Costume Designer Madeline Fontaine - Costume Designer Emma Lebail - Costume Designer Sylvie Bello - Costume Designer Anne Wermelinger - Continuity Jean-Pierre Jeunet - Director Herve Schneid - Editor Antoine Simkine - Executive Producer Veronique Boitout - Hair Styles John Nollet - Hair Styles Alain Mougenot - Location Manager Yann Tiersen - Composer (Music Score) Nathalie Tissier - Makeup Aline Bonetto - Production Designer Bruno Delbonnel - Cinematographer Arne Meerkamp Van Embden - Producer Claudie Ossard - Producer Aline Bonetto - Set Designer Oliver Gleyze - Special Effects Les Versaillais - Special Effects Noël Chainbaux - Special Effects Yves Domenjoud - Special Effects Thierry Reymoneno - Special Effects Jean-Baptiste Bonetto - Special Effects Daniel Lenoir - Special Effects Vincent Arnardi - Sound Mixer Sophie Chiabaut - Sound/Sound Designer Jean Umansky - Sound/Sound Designer Vincent Arnardi - Sound/Sound Designer Guillaume Leriche - Sound/Sound Designer Gerard Hardy - Sound Editor Patrick Cauderlier - Stunts Sébastien Seveau - Stunts Pascaline Girardot - Stunts Jean-Claude Lagniez - Stunts Rémi Canaple - Stunts Stéphane Bourdon - Technical Advisor Christophe Maratier - Technical Advisor Guillaume Laurant - Dialogue Writer Guillaume Laurant - Screenwriter Jean-Pierre Jeunet - Screenwriter Françcois Paumard - Additional Cinematography Claudia Dummer-Manasse - Production Assistant Svetlana Novak - Production Assistant Alain Carsoux - Visual Effects Supervisor Duboi - Visual Effects Supervisor Isabelle Sauvanon - Publicist Duboi - Digital Effects Alain Carsoux - Digital Effects Cavalier Bleu - Executive Music Producer Jacques Smerlak - Executive Music Producer Matthieu Bastid - First Assistant Camera Christophe Vassort - First Assistant Camera Dominique Lepage - Grip Laurent Thiery - Grip Kenneth Cornils - Grip Robert Dona - Grip Tim Liehr - Grip Bruno Dubet - Key Grip Jean-Marie Vives - Matte Painting Supervisor Edouard Valton - Production Supervisor Marc Grewe - Production Supervisor Jean Marc Deschamps - Production Supervisor Pascal Roy - Second Assistant Director Dinah Rauenbusch - Second Assistant Director Laurent Kossayan - Sound Effects Director Patrick De Ranter - Steadicam Operator Bruno Calvo - Still Photographer Luc Desportes - Storyboard Petra Klimek - Assistant Art Director Daniel Kolarov - Assistant Art Director Dagmar Wessel - Assistant Art Director Thorston Sabel - Assistant Art Director Eric Duchene - Assistant Location Manager Nicolas Davy - Assistant Location Manager Kerstin Krotz - Assistant Properties Marilena Cavola Hardy - Assistant Sound Editor Alexandre Widmer - Dialogue Editor Marc Von Kuk - Electrician Andreas Theiner - Electrician Vlasta Kostic - Electrician Thomas Brügge - Electrician Olivier Cazzitti - Electrician Yves Kohen - Electrician Yvan Quehec - Electrician Timo Von Burgsdorf - Electrician Alberte Garo - Extra Casting Jean-Pierre Lelong - Foley Artist Céline De Seynes - Post Production Assistant Sophie Vermersch - Post Production Assistant Christophe Perotin - Second Assistant Camera

Amélie
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, previously best-known for his collaborations with Marc Caro in Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children, Amélie exhibits the same brand of wicked humor and off-kilter humanism seen in those earlier films. Its plot revolves around its eponymous heroine (played by Audrey Tautou, channeling equal parts Audrey Hepburn and Olive Oyl), a wistful, lonely dreamer driven by her desire to help others. The product of an unhappy childhood -- mom was squashed by the suicide leap of a tourist from Quebec, dad was emotionally distant -- Amélie also craves love. In particular, she craves the love of Nino (director Mathieu Kassovitz), an equally wistful and completely adorable janitor/porn shop cashier she meets at a train station photo booth. Plot, however, tends to take back seat to style, which Jeunet layers on with the subtlety and glee of a drag queen who has just been given lipstick and a mascara wand. Through his eyes, Paris is less a city than an ongoing festival, resplendent with verdant vegetable stands, eccentric old artists, charming cafés, bubbling canals, endless blue skies, and -- as one sequence hilariously illustrates -- numerous couples who have no trouble attaining simultaneous orgasm. This vision raised the ire of a few French critics, who accused Jeunet of portraying Paris as little more than a close cousin to Euro Disney (where is Montmartre's graffiti? Where is its racial diversity?), peopled solely with the kind of cuddly if curmudgeonly characters found more typically in Tin Tin cartoons and Robert Doiseneau photographs. But such criticism misses the point. In Amélie, as in Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children, Jeunet has made a pure fantasy; its reality is that of a parallel universe, where perverse humor co-exists comfortably with genuine, if somewhat manic compassion. Whether he shows Amélie taking innocent pleasure in cracking the surface of a crème brulée or one of her co-workers engaging in a round of (literally) earth-shaking sex in a café bathroom, Jeunet portrays his characters with both loving self-indulgence and a keen appreciation for the absurd; he's aiming for light-hearted comedy, not kitchen sink realism. It is Jeunet's ability to temper his self-indulgence with absurdity that prevents Amélie from drowning in saccharine sentimentality. It is a "feel good" film, no doubt, but not the sort that people offer apologies for liking. Jeunet's energy, wit, and visual ingenuity are infectious. Even if we know that Montmartre is really strewn with trash and that Paris is often rainy and cold, it is hard not to be seduced by both Jeunet's vision of kind hearts, earthy humor, and fortuitous happenstance. Amélie was nothing less than a cinematic phenomenon in France, where it took in 40 million dollars, won an endorsement from President Jacques Chirac, and brought a new wave of tourists to Paris' Montmartre district, where its story is set. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
 

Aline Bonetto: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Aline Bonetto: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Production Design (winner) Aline Bonetto: French Academy of Cinema, Best Art Direction (winner) Audrey Tautou: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Actress (nominated) Audrey Tautou: Chicago Film Critics Association, Most Promising Performer (winner) Audrey Tautou: European Film Academy, Best European Actress (nominated) Audrey Tautou: French Academy of Cinema, Best Actress (nominated) Bruno Delbonnel: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Cinematography (nominated) Bruno Delbonnel: American Society of Cinematographers, Best Cinematography (nominated) Bruno Delbonnel: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Cinematography (nominated) Bruno Delbonnel: European Film Academy, Best European Cinematographer (winner) Bruno Delbonnel: French Academy of Cinema, Best Cinematography (nominated) Claudie Ossard: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Foreign Language Film (nominated) Claudie Ossard: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Picture (nominated) Gerard Hardy: French Academy of Cinema, Best Sound (nominated) Guillaume Laurant: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Screenplay (nominated) Guillaume Laurant: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Original Screenplay (winner) Guillaume Laurant: French Academy of Cinema, Best Screenplay (nominated) Guillaume Leriche: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (nominated) Herve Schneid: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Editing (nominated) Herve Schneid: French Academy of Cinema, Best Editor (nominated) Isabelle Nanty: French Academy of Cinema, Best Supporting Actress (nominated) Jamel Debbouze: French Academy of Cinema, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (nominated) Jean Umansky: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (nominated) Jean Umansky: French Academy of Cinema, Best Sound (nominated) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Foreign Language Film (nominated) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Screenplay (nominated) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Director (nominated) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Foreign Language Film (nominated) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Original Screenplay (winner) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: European Film Academy, Best European Director (winner) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: French Academy of Cinema, Best Director (winner) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: French Academy of Cinema, Best Screenplay (nominated) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Toronto Film Critics Association, Best Director [Runner-up] (winner) Madeline Fontaine: French Academy of Cinema, Best Costume Design (nominated) Marie-Laure Valla: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Rufus: French Academy of Cinema, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (nominated) Vincent Arnardi: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (nominated) Vincent Arnardi: French Academy of Cinema, Best Sound (nominated) Yann Tiersen: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Film Music (nominated) Yann Tiersen: French Academy of Cinema, Best Original Music (winner)

Broadcast Film Critics Association, Best Foreign Film (winner) Broadcast Film Critics Association, Best Foreign Language Film (winner) Chicago Film Critics Association, Best Foreign Film (winner) European Film Academy, Best European Film (winner) French Academy of Cinema, Best Picture (winner) Golden Globe, Best Foreign Language Film (nominated) Independent Spirit Awards, Best Foreign Film (winner) National Board of Review, Best Foreign Film (nominated) Telluride Film Festival, Film Presented (nominated) Toronto Film Critics Association, Best Picture [Runner-up] (winner)

General Specifications: Language Options: French Subtitle Options: English, Spanish Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel Additional Features: cc "The Look of Amélie" "Fantasies of Audrey Tautou" Q & A with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet Q & A with director and cast Auditions Storyboard comparison "An Intimate Chat With Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet" "Home Movies: Inside the Making of Amélie" TV spots: English & French Theatrical trailer: U.S. & French Cast and crew filmographies The Amélie scrapbook Original language track (Parisian French) English & Spanish subtitles Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Widescreen (2.35:1) enhanced for 16x9 televisions DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1: Cinemascope MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 122 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- Feature 1. Opening Credits: Amélie's Childhood [9:04] 2. Montmartre [5:09] 3. The Memory Box [7:15] 4. Looking for Bredoteau [9:09] 5. Amélie, Guardian Angel [8:18] 6. Soul Mates [8:35] 7. Amélie Strikes Again [17:28] 8. Grumpy Collignon [7:43] 9. Amélie Looks for Nino [6:17] 10. Games [5:57] 11. New Strategies [8:07] 12. The Mystery Man Unveiled [7:05] 13. "When and Where?" [6:24] 14. Rendezvous at the Photo Booth [6:11] 15. "Absence Makes..." [6:28] 16. Seeing an Opportunity [5:53] 17. End Credits [4:14]