Jeunet said the festival director just “didn’t find the film very interesting,” but there was another twist: the selection committee had seen what’s known as a “workprint,” an unfinished version of the movie that, in this case, didn’t have its music yet. There was a bit of a brouhaha when Amélie opened in France to rapturous reviews and then wasn’t invited to play at the Cannes Film Festival, even though such invitations are common for homegrown critical favorites. THE MUSICAL SCORE-OR LACK OF ONE-MIGHT BE WHY THE FILM DIDN’T PLAY AT CANNES. The soundtrack album hit number one on the French music charts. Scrapping his tentative plans, he invited Tiersen to write the score for Amélie, and ended up including a few of his previous songs, too. “By that evening, I owned all his records,” Jeunet said. But Jeunet had never heard Tiersen’s work until a production assistant happened to play one of his CDs while Jeunet was in the car. YOU CAN THANK A RANDOM PRODUCTION ASSISTANT FOR THAT GREAT YANN TIERSEN MUSICAL SCORE. Jeunet shot there, rather than at home in France, to qualify for tax incentives. THE APARTMENT INTERIOR SCENES WERE SHOT IN A STUDIO. “Let’s just say I tried to exert as much control as I could upon the city’s aesthetic quality.” Post-production digital trickery helped Jeunet achieve his vision. “We cleared the streets of all cars, cleaned the graffiti off the walls, replaced posters with more colorful ones, etc.,” said Jeunet. But recreating the Montmartre neighborhood on a sound stage would have been prohibitively expensive, so Jeunet had to shoot on location, even though the real thing didn’t match the dreamlike version of his imagination. BUT HE SHOT IT ON THE REAL STREETS OF PARIS.Īll of Jeunet’s previous films (including Delicatessen and Alien: Resurrection) had been shot primarily in studios, which he prefers because it allows for greater control (plus you don’t have to worry about what time the sun goes down). JEUNET WANTED TO MAKE PARIS LOOK “FAKE,” AS IF IT WERE A SOUNDSTAGE. The trend was similar in the U.S., with Amélie not among the 1,000 most popular names until 2003, when it suddenly leapt to 839th place and rose from there. The number shot up to 250 in 2002, and by 2007, there were around 1,100 new Amélies per year. In 2000, the year before the movie came out, there were 12 babies in England and Wales given the name Amélie. A WHOLE BUNCH OF GIRLS ARE NAMED AMÉLIE BECAUSE OF IT.Īssuming, in this case, that correlation equals causation. After 10 seconds, I knew she was the one.” 3. “I set up a meeting and she tried for the part. “I was struck by a pair of dark eyes, a flash of innocence, an unusual demeanor,” he said. JEUNET FOUND HIS STAR ON A MOVIE POSTER.Īccording to Jeunet, he was walking the streets of Paris not long after Emily Watson dropped out, pondering her replacement, when he saw a poster for Venus Beauty, featuring one Audrey Tautou. (She made Gosford Park instead.) Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume Laurant changed the character back to being 100 percent French, and changed her name to the more Gallic Amélie. But Watson eventually dropped out of the project, saying she didn’t want to be away from home for six months. When Jeunet realized Watson’s considerable acting talent didn’t come across as well when she wasn’t speaking her native language, he revised the script to indicate Emily had grown up in England. THE TITLE CHARACTER WAS NAMED AFTER EMILY WATSON.ĭirector and co-writer Jean-Pierre Jeunet wrote the part, in French, for English actress Emily Watson, and named the main character Emily. Here are some things you might not know about your favorite Gallic pixie. Amélie made nearly $174 million worldwide, earned five Oscar nominations, won four Césars (the French Oscar equivalent), and reignited everyone’s fondness for crème brûlée. Fourteen years ago, the entirely fictional Amélie Poulain (played by the impossibly cute Audrey Tautou) delighted audiences all over the world in the movie named after her. She was the most charming French character in search of romance since Pepé Le Pew.
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