Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain

This is a short clip from the film 'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain', this particular clip is called 'El beso de Amélie' or 'Amélies Kiss'.
I was finally able to watch this film when I found a copy at our local video/dvd rental outlet.
My friend Alexander had recommended the film to me, he had also posted some film clips on his own blog ... I am so grateful that he did ... ♥

It is a truly delightful, entertaining, romantic comedy, it is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story of Amélie, a shy, innocent and naive girl living in Paris; with her own sense of justice, she decides to change the lives of those around her for the better, while struggling with her own isolation ... along the way she discovers love.

I loved this film, so enjoyable, it takes you on quite a journey of fun and a little innocent mischief and one can't help but love Amélie for she is such a sweetheart and she so deserves to find happiness and love ... you just want her destiny to be fabulous ...
One person can change your life forever, it is true, she has changed mine.


The wonderful soundtrack to the film was composed by Yann Tiersen, it carries you along with the magic of the film.

I bought a dvd copy of another film which I think is the favourite of Alexander, it is 'La Double Vie de Véronique' and highly recommended by him, he has reminded me of this on a number of occasions, unfortunately the English subtitles do not show on my dvd player, so I am searching for a copy of that film which I will be able to watch and understand, without lip-reading a language I do not understand so well. :)

Qu'est-ce qui vous m'avez dit Alexandre? "Un ces des jours, Dianne."
Oui! Cher Alexandre, un ces des jours ... ♥


Some notable quotes from the film:

"Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's"

"Times are hard for dreamers"

"A woman without love, wilts like a flower without the sun"

"Love is a great beautician"

Amélie Poulain - Audrey Tautou
Nino Quincampoix - Mathieu Kassovitz

32 comments:

darkfoam said...

dianne,
you are a dreamer, aren't you?
:)

dianne said...

Yes Foamy dear, I am a dreamer and a foolish and hopeless romantic, but I have grown in the last 6 months and have no expectations of the romantic kind or of anyone coming to rescue me.

Have you seen this film? I just loved it and the character of Amélie. xo ♡

darkfoam said...

i've seen snippets of the first movie. i didn't continue to watch it since i didn't manage to see it from the beginning. i think i would enjoy it. i have not seen the 2nd movie.

dianne said...

It is certainly worth watching Foamy dear, at a time when there aren't the usual interruptions from others demanding your time :/ ...

The story moves along fairly quickly and there are many subtle moments not to be missed.

You most likely speak and understand the French language, I know very little, I had to rely on the imagery and sub-titles, but then again there is so much to be perceived from imagery. :) xo ♡

darkfoam said...

no, no ..
my french is very rudimentary ..
et c'est vrai .. :)

dianne said...

Mine is very elemetary, yours is ..
meilleur que le mien mon petit ami.:)

What do do think of Nino?
I think he is very sweet and I love his 'nose'. :) ♡

Mayden' s Voyage said...

"Love is a great beautician"

Indeed it is, and I can produce photos that prove it :)
Hugs and happy February! ♥

The Phosgene Kid said...

I prefer Kung Fu movies in Cantonese. No kissing, but lots of ass kicking.

Ruela said...

You are romantic!
Are you a dreamer when it comes to love?

dianne said...

Thanks Mayden dear ...

Love is a great beautician, when I am in love I just glow with happiness. xo ♡

Hugs to you too sweet Mayden. :)

dianne said...

Phossy dear, you might prefer Kung Fu movies in Cantonese and no kissing, but I am sure you are a romantic when it comes to your lovely wife. xo ♡

dianne said...

Yes Ruela dear, I am romantic, that's not a bad thing is it?
And yes I am a dreamer when it comes to love but sadly I dream alone. ♡

Anonymous said...

hey dianne,

thanks for your comments
and
the Valentina vidi link @ codepo()

pleasant dreams :)

× × ×

/t.

dianne said...

Hey /t. dear

thanks, you are most welcome
I hope you enjoyed the vidi link.xo ♡

Anonymous said...

The Double Life Of Veronique is about loneliness but also responsibility as Kieslowski commented: “This concerns all of us because the paths - these people and their destinies - cross each other all the time, whether we are aware of it or not.”

You had some questions to ask, dear Dianne. I will try to answer them if I can or admit I can't. (A.F.)

dianne said...
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dianne said...
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dianne said...
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Anonymous said...

One doesn't need to touch hands. Two suitcases checked in, side by side. Not looking at each other... Yes, I am anonymous. Having a name does make people feel more comfortable but, even so, at the end of one's life we may never really know someone even if we know their birthname, their hobbies, their interests, etc. That could all be just external. The coat we cover ourselves with. Does anybody know the real me? Does anybody know the real you? Not the one we would like people to see. You see it is difficult with things. Leaving things, little by little, one gets closer to who one essentially is. Until one is standing really naked. Not even with skin to hide behind. This is where God delves. He examines livers, as the Bible says, and hearts. And yet sometimes, we find someone who seems to understand something. Kieslowski denied knowing such things, and yet, lying on the floor a metre away from Irene, listening to her almost silent breathing, watching her skin move, a lowering of her eyelashes, a top lip just touching a bottom lip, a slip of hair from behind her ear, a pained silence in the room... And then. Something tangible yet very subtle slowly forms there and then. He knew that someone else might feel it too. Just as one might feel a sound of a leaf on a branch in a tree, whilst another might simply pass by, oblivious.

Veronique was already in love before meeting Alexandre in the restaurant and hotel. Did she leave him? Kieslowski did not say. He suggested to viewers that she might have felt used because of the book but he did not say what happens later to both of them. A proverb says that a fool is quick to take offense and it is true that Veronique did not understand the hidden feelings of Alexandre even as the last frames of the film are shown with her touching the tree supposedly sometime later. Kieslowski was one who left things open. Six of one and half a dozen of the other. It was hard to know what part of himself he put into his films. But he said those parts of himself he did put into his films, no one would ever find out, not even his wife. It was something sacred almost. After living in a country where everything was everybody else's business, where nothing was truly private, who can blame him.

It is dark outside now. I am going to slip into a bath now with a small red candle in the far corner and I am going to hide beneath the water if that's OK with everyone here... Until next Sunday. A.F.

Anonymous said...

And here's some music in the meantime...

dianne said...
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dianne said...
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dianne said...
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Anonymous said...

Dear Dianne. You have always had the good sense to appreciate the propriety of virtue. I did nothing but to remind you that which you have always treasured.

Regarding the subtle virtues, proverbs and sayings inspired by God and written down by human scribes within the Bible canon and that which Kieslowski and Rohmer touch on - they are thought by many today as belonging to people who live in the past. But I do not think so and neither, I am convinced, do you.

The film, “The Green Ray”, touches upon such subtle things. I am glad you understood why Delphine was right to remain true. It was not about her being a perfectionist. And, of course, I was not inferring that I or you or anyone was to be represented by any of the characters in the film. That would be both demeaning and incorrect for we are, surely, individual and defy comparison.

I will say though that we must be careful with our hearts, lest we imagine a thing not real to actually happen, as Miss Gainsbourg evidently did in this film extract.

Friendship... that does venture onto what I understand. I do remember it when someone offers me friendship principally because it has been such a rare event in my life. It is not something I forget, even if, at first glance, it might appear so.

A bientôt, ma chère sœur.
A.F.

PS: Keep the messages for the present time. Someone might be reading them...

dianne said...

Have to go out, I shall return later with a reply,Alexandre, mon ami. xo ♡

Anonymous said...

OK Dianne. I hope your day is calm and pleasant.

Yes, you can delete the messages. You ought. We don't need to keep messages. They are words in the past after all. In fact, it's hardly a measure of trust when one deletes public messages and yet keeps a secret copy to return to, for private reading again later. There then is a real risk of living again in the past.

We have suffered such hurt in the past and there is a determination on our part to not go back there again... unless, of course, we can make some sense of it, learn from it or whatever. Re-reading old letters and little messages. Thinking of those events from the past. Thinking about the meanings of a phrase or sentence, again and again, that was said or written by us or another person. Discerning if possible a deeper or more relevant meaning, one perhaps that we should have given greater attention to.

Wikipedia says this about nostalgia:

The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form. The word is a learned formation of a Greek compounds, consisting of νόστος, nóstos, "returning home", a Homeric word, and ἄλγος, álgos, "pain" or "ache". It was described as a medical condition, a form of melancholy, in the Early Modern period, and came to be an important topic in Romanticism.

Continuing, Wikipedia adds:

During the early 17th century, a curious cultural and literary cult of melancholia arose in England... In music, the post-Elizabethan cult of melancholia is associated with John Dowland, whose motto was Semper Dowland, semper dolens. ("Always Dowland, always mourning.")

In comparison, la vie quotidienne, appears trivial. We think about love. We write concerning it. What can be more important than love?

What kind of love? Love of people in general? Love of a one particular person? To be loved by someone? Do we really know what we want? Acceptance of ourselves before our lives finally flicker and extinguish? I assure you, it would be foolish to ask an individual like me, Dianne, what love is all about for I have little knowledge on the subject. But feelings, I do have. Many, in fact. Take care for now, Dianne. A.F.

dianne said...
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dianne said...

Thank you dear one for restoring your comments that you left last year, I still have no idea how you removed them or why, it is so lovely to see them returned.
You see your messages are important to me, it is not foolish to keep things from the past when they mean so much.
Avec amour, Dianne xoxo ♡

Anonymous said...

Dear Dianne,

I am sorry to hear that you were rather rushed yesterday with one thing and another. I hope you awoke today more together in yourself. First, breakfast. Surely. Before switching on the computer. No?

I wanted to mention risk - supposing that I say to you I will be sitting on the rocks at Garie this Wednesday lunchtime to say good-day to you. But first you had to promise me that you would dispose all the messages of our correspondence before you came... and there would be no guarantee that I might materialize. That journey from such great heights might then be wasted.

Would you take that risk when you could still keep all those messages and treasure them instead? Also to add to your worries, when you arrive you might discover that I might be bald, have white hair down to my elbows, smiling to you from a wheelchair, half your age, twice your age, have long side-burns, the possibilities are endless...

Yes, it is a hypothetical illustration. My point is that sometimes you have to lose or let go to gain. There might be no other way. And that is scary when keeping the status quo going instead is so much more calming and reassuring. Frightened little children. We all are. With brave faces we face the future.

As for Charlotte Gainsborough, she is an actress. Just as Johnny Depp is an actor. Paid to play roles. The audience project onto her what they feel that she must be feeling. In the lift, she might be thinking about what she needs to buy from the shops later that afternoon - we just don't know what she is thinking in reality. We just don't know what she thinks inside her mind to play her part convincingly.

If an actress looks or behaves much the same from one role to another there is the danger that she might get type-cast. Meg Ryan is one who seems to have suffered from this.

Philippe Volter, originally an actor from tthe stage, much less so, and clearer after one has viewed all of the films he appeared in.

So. Films. And Three Colours Red. Kieslowski hoped that his audience would ask questions of themselves after viewing that film. That's what he stated he wished for. I don't know if a modern audience can do it. I don't know anymore. I was judging by my reactions. I once believed that the auditorium would be filled with people who could understand, who could take the large step required.

It's now eight of the clock this evening. I feel a little tired and I want to close my eyes and float away for a while. Will I be back? Questions, questions. Adieu, chère Dianne. A.F.

dianne said...
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Leovi said...

Amélie saw when released in Spain. It's a very poetic film not only in his script but in the entire environment, with beautiful colors and excellent photography.

dianne said...

Dear Leovi , I am so pleased that you have seen this film, it is a lovely story, amongst my favourite films, the colours, the music, the photography, all fantastic and the character Amélie, she is just delightful.

Saludos xoxoxo ♡