Amélie Pouulain Analysis

Color and Its Influence on the Representation of Paris in Amelie

The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, a romantic comedy film which was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and released in 2001 represents what can be considered as a capricious depiction of contemporary Parisian life; the main part of the plot is set in Montmartre. In summary, its intrigue tells the story of a shy young waitress, whose role is interpreted by Audrey Tautou. Her character decides to change the lives of those around her for the better, while at the same time she is struggling with her own isolation, which results directly from her childhood. Amélie Poulain, who was raised by unconvential parents — whom were convinced by error that their child had a heart defect

After having failed several times at romantic relationships, she finds fulfillment in the simple pleasures of life and by letting her imagination roam free, creating its own lenses through which her reality is seen. One of the main ways this alternative level of reality and its effects on the way Paris is represented in the film cam be observed is through the unique use of color in the film. In this paper I will examine the way in which color influences not only the way in which Paris is reflected in the film, but also how its use influences the way in which we interpret certain scenes. As explained in the review by Evan Richards, “Desconstructing Amelie:

Amélie has a very specific color palette. It is a very warm film infused with reds and greens. The color blue is only prominent in only a few shots; so few in fact you can probably count them on one hand. Although much of the color of the film was a result of the DI process (graded by Didier le Foues using Discreet Lustre and supervised by Yvan Lucas) some of the daytime images were shot with a 81EF filter to add some warmth and color. Amélie is also a very well lit film. There are virtually no scenes with complete