Normally Little Amélie or the Character of Rain is not the sort of film that I would normally go to the cinema to see however as it has been nominated for a BAFTA and I am trying to watch all the nominated films, I find myself sitting in a cinema on a Sunday evening in Glasgow watching a film that looked in the trailer I saw during GOAT like it was done on MS Paint. Things didn’t start great as a group of people seemed to be out to cause trouble as during the Super Mario trailer applauded when it finished and then when the credits for the film started seemed to be mumbling something to the extent that another person in the screening “Could you shut the f**k up?” I wish I had the courage to say that sort of thing and the best part was that it worked as we never heard another sound from them. Anyway the story of the film sees Amélie born and after starting life as a vegetable becomes verbal on her second birthday and after biting on some chocolate starts to see the world differently and thanks to her live in nanny Nishio-san she takes to thing around her and when her family has to move back to Belgium she is heartbroken to be separating from Nishio but after a near death experience (her second in the film) she learns to live with the realisation that she isn’t the god she thought she was but a normal human.
Despite my initial thoughts about the film, I thought this was a fantastic film. A bit strange in the opening moments but when the film gets going then it becomes this lovely and heartwarming story. The film is set in 1960’s Japan and there is a character called Kashima-San who has a bit of a dislike for the family and it stems from Nishio losing her family during the Second World War and Kashima feeling that Nishio is betraying her family. That is the closest that the film gets to conflict but the film isn’t really about conflict, it's about watching this little girl find her place in the world and as she says during the film ‘When You’re Three Years Old, You see everything and understand nothing.’
This is an astonishly good film and one that caught me off guard. If you are expecting Pixar level of animation and nothing else will do then this film will not be for you but if you don't mind a film that uses mainly pastel colours then you will enjoy this film. I am grateful to BAFTA for nominating this film because I definitely would have given it a miss and think that lovely charming films can and should win the top awards which is what i hope this film does come the end of award season.
No comments:
Post a Comment