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| Special Features: |
The "Look of Amélie" (English) Featurette
Fantasies of Audrey Tautou (French with English subtitles)
Q & A with Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (English)
Q & A with Director and Cast (French with English subtitles)
Auditions -- Audrey Tautou, Urbain Cancelier, Yolande Moreau (French with English subtitles)
Storyboard Comparison
An Intimate Chat with Jean-Pierre Jeunet (French with English subtitles)
Home Movies - "Inside the Making of Amélie" (French with English subtitles)
The Amélie Scrapbook -- "Behind the Scenes," French Poster Concepts
Widescreen anamorphic format |
| Video Format: |
Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
[SS-DL]
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| Languages: |
French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
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| Subtitles: |
English, Spanish.
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| Captions: |
Yes
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| Casing: |
2-Disc Fold-out Case
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By far the best comedy of 2001. Directed by visionary French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet (he helmed the visual feasts Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children), "Amélie" is as magical, mysterious and infectiously funny as any film I've seen in recent memory. The film revolves around adorable prankster Amélie Poulain (the wonderfully captivating Audrey Tautou), who manipulates the fates of her friends and neighbors for the better (and sometimes worse), in the name of goodwill, and at the unfortunate neglect of her own strangely troubled life. Jeunet seamlessly fuses in inventive and brilliant visual effects that not only spice up the film, but also add an extra dimension to the film's vast array of eccentric and quirky characters, something Jeunet cherishes with a fervor that is as endearing as the title character herself.
Click here to read my full review of the film.
Excellent video and audio quality, along with a host of extra-features in this two-disc set (probably the most interesting being the director commentary on the first disc), make "Amelie" a must-buy for film lovers.
Picture Quality: 10/10
Jeunet’s use of hue and saturation shifts gives the film a vibrant and magical quality to it, and the video transfer does the film justice. It’s a delicate balance that is tricky to get just right, and Miramax does a bang-up job here. Jeunet, known for his tendency to occasionally go overboard in his use of extreme cinematography (just take a look at “Delicatessen” and “The City of Lost Children”), seems to have finally found an appropriate balance in “Amelie,” and the perfectly clear and artifact-free widscreen transfer – modified for 16x9 televisions – is fantastic.
Sound Quality: 9/10
The film thankfully comes with only one audio track, French Dolby Digital 5.1. Its left-to-right stereo spread is wide, and bass deep. The surround channels also do their part in creating the proper environmental ambience for each scene. Excellent channel separation and balance.
Menu: 8/10
Very nice, clean menu system.
No easter eggs found during review
Extra Features: 8/10
Disc one contains the widescreen presentation of the movie, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, a French-only spoken language track, English or Spanish subtitles, and seventeen scene selections. There are also a pair of audio commentaries by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, one in English, the other in French. Listening to the English commentary track, Jeunet displays a wonderfully down-to-earth manner and witty sense of humor.
Disc two contains the bulk of the special features. First, there's a twelve-minute set of interviews with the director and the cinematographer, Bruno Delbonnel, called "The Look of Amelie." Herein, the filmmakers discuss what they wanted their film to look like--bright, shiny, and color saturated--and why they wanted it to look that way. "Fantasies of Audrey Tautou," is a two-minute sequence of outtakes with the actress. “Auditions” contains several screen tests of Tautou, Urbain Cancelier, and Yolande Moreau. There's a twenty-four minute "Q & A with Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet," filmed at American Cinematheque (January, 2002), followed by a shorter, five-minute Q & A session with the director and cast. "An Intimate Chat with Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet" is self-explanatory. The disc concludes with a storyboard comparison of the thrill-ride scene; a twelve-minute home movie, "Inside the Making of Amelie"; a brief set of cast and crew filmographies; a group of still galleries called the "Amelie Scrapbook" (misspelled on the back of the DVD case); a pan-and-scan U.S. theatrical trailer and a widescreen French trailer; and various TV spots for U.S. and French promotion.
The Final Word:
Kudos to Miramax Home Entertainment in providing an excellent two-disc set for this wonderful film. It's hard to describe in words how beautiful and magical the film is, as Jeunet has captured something both unexpected and powerful in "Amelie." A must-buy for film lovers.
Stephen Wong
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