FILM STUDIES

FILM LANGUAGE ANALYSIS

A report on the analysis of the different facets of the language of the film

AMELIE
aka Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amlie Poulain or The Fabulous Destiny of Amlie Poulain

Kiruthika Mani

0908112

III B. Sc Visual Communication

INTRODUCTION THE LANGUAGE OF FILM
A film, to a commoner, is a form of entertainment. A means to escape the world
around him. It is his transcendence from the present reality into the world of the
film, into the reality of the film. But this reality is not very easily achieved. The
reality of a film is the result of a lot of visualization, preparation and execution from
the films crew the director, the art director, the cinematographer, the
scriptwriter, the music composer, the cast, etc. What they work towards is
communication of a particular message through the film.

A film, like any other medium, is a form of communication. It is capable of

communicating a particular message to the audience. And like any other form of
communication, film too has a language. This language of film facilitates the
communication of the desired message to the audience. Like any other language, film
language is also governed by certain principles, common codes of meaning, guidelines
and norms. Film is a very flexible medium as it characterized by vast perimeters. It is
an audio-visual medium, it is extremely popular with a wide reach and it is one of the
most revolutionary tools in both the conception and transfer of new ideas. Therefore,
it is understandable that this entity called film is held together by a powerful
language which is an avenue of study in itself.

The study of the language of a film requires an examination of the various facets of
film language the mise-en-scene, the cinematography, the editing and the sound in
the film. An understanding of all these factors and how they are related to each other
results in a deeper, clearer comprehension of what the film is trying to say and how
the films creators went about saying it.

The first aspect of film language is the mise-en-scene. It is a theatrical phrase which
means putting on the stage. In a film mise-en-scene refers to placing within a shot.
Because a film is predominantly a visual medium, what is present in every shot is
crucial to what is being communicated. The different elements incorporated in the
mise-en-scene concept are (1) The Setting (2) Props (3) Costume (4) Performance (5)
Composition (6) Lighting and (7) Color. Together they determine the visual content of
the film and therefore play an important role in the perception of the film by the
audience.

The second aspect of the film is the cinematography. While mise-en-scene refers to
what is put within a shot, the cinematography deals with how this shot is represented.
Concepts like framing, shot size, length of take, camera movement, camera angle and
depth of field are included in cinematography.

Now that the content and its representation are dealt with, the third aspect of film
language enters the scene editing. Editing in short is the process of compiling. It is
the process of selecting and putting together different shots from the film. It is in
fact editing that makes a film move. There are two major kinds of editing continuity
and discontinuity editing, each with its own characteristics.

The last aspect of mise-en-scene is the sound. It includes all the aural content in the
film from dialogues and voiceovers to ambient sound, sound effects and the
background score. It again consists of two major categories Diegetic and non-
diegetic sound and is of two kinds parallel and contrapuntal.

This report is an analysis of the language of the film Amelie. It examines the four
facets mentioned above with respect to the entire film and also provides specific
illustrations in some cases with pictorial support.
AMELIE THE FILM
Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amlie Poulain, popularly called Amelie is a 2001 romantic
comedy French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. It tells the story of Amelie
Poulain, a shy waitress who deals with her loneliness by finding joy in making others
happy. The film is set in the French coastal town of Montmartre and it represents a
very idyllic, rosy, dreamy and whimsical version of contemporary Parisian life. The
story unfolds through the words of a detached narrator (Andre Dussollier) who has
nothing to do with the characters themselves. The narrator begins the story with
Amelies birth and goes on to describe her lonely, love starved childhood and how she
seeks refuge in her imagination.

The film follows Amelie into adulthood as she works as a waitress in a Montmartre
caf called The Two Windmills. It establishes the routine of her life and the lives of
those around her. Events start happening when Amelie discovers the childhood
memorabilia of the previous occupant of her apartment. That night, she experiences
an epiphany of sorts and decides to become a do-gooder from then on. The film now
follows Amelie through all her matchmaking and guardian angel activities, her
growing friendship with her old neighbor Raymond Dufayel and her fascination with
fellow dreamer Nino Quincampoix, whom she identifies with as a kindred spirit.

The film stars Audrey Tatou as Amelie Poulain, Mathieu Kassovitz as Nino Quincampoix
and Serge Merlin as Raymond Dufayel in the leading roles. The main crew includes
Jean-Marc Deschamps; the producer, Jean-Pierre Jeunet; the director, Bruno
Delbonnel; the cinematographer, Herve Schneid; the editor, Aline Bonetto; the
production designer, Volker Schafer; the art director, Madeline Fontaine and Emma
Lebail, the costume designers and Yann Tierson; the music composer. The movie is 1
hour and 56 minutes long.

Amlie won Best Film at the European Film Awards; it won four Csar
Awards (including Best Film and Best Director), two BAFTA Awards (including Best
Original Screenplay) and was nominated for five Academy Awards (Art Direction,
Cinematography, Foreign Language Film, Original Screenplay and Sound)
MISE-EN-SCENE

Amelie is very popular for its visual content. The visuals strive to reinforce the image
of a very romantic, idealistic way of life in a French small town. The reality of life in
the film is far removed from actual reality but it provides the perfect backdrop for
Amelies affectionate, charming and wistful nature. All her romantic notions and
clever little strategems make sense when they are viewed through the quixotic
social values set by the films mise-en-scene.

SETTING

The film takes place mostly in and around the caf that Amelie works in, The Two
Windmills in Montmartre. This further increases the impression of a small town; that
of unusual lives lead quietly, detached from the rush of city and all that is normal and
conventional. The early part of the film takes place in Amelies childhood home.
Although its location is not specified, the cottage like appearance of the house and
garden imply a suburban, shabby-genteel lifestyle.

Figure 1 Amelie's home as a child Figure 2 The Two Windmills Cafe where Amelie works.

PROPS

The props in this film are a major part of its aesthetic quotient. They show a great
attention to detail. The props inside the caf especially serve to increase its
authenticity. In some cases, certain props have been selected to convey certain
impressions. For instance, the bedraggled teddy bear that Amelie possesses in her
childhood is a symbol of Amelie herself as a child lonely, neglected, and adorably
pitiable. The box full of childhood memorabilia that Amelie discovers is very
important in the movie because it spurs Amelie on in her new effort to become a do-
gooder. Each item in the box has been selected with care, as later, an explanation is
provided for the presence of every item in the box. Ninos album plays a pivotal part
in the film as it sparks Amelies interest in Nino. Throughout the movie the album has
a merry ride as Amelie leads Nino through a cat and mouse game in the streets of
Montmartre using the album as leverage because she is too shy to meet him.

Figure 3 Amelie discovering the box of memorabilia. Figure 4 The properties inside the box.

Figure 5 Amelie plays with her teddy bear after her Figure 6 The teddy bear lies forgotten. Amelie waits to
mother's death. be old enough to leave home.

Figure 7 Amelie looks at Nino's album. Figure 8 Amelie shows NIno's album to Dufayel.
COSTUME

The costumes in this film again reflect a working class way of life. All the characters
in the film wear sturdy, durable clothes, Amelie is shown to wear usable, working
class boots throughout the film. The apron Amelie wears and the tray she carries
become part of her costume and define her role as a waitress. There are few
interesting variations in the costumes used in a few scenes. When Amelie carries out
her stratagem to meet Nino in secret, her active imagination compels her to assume
a role akin to a spy/secret agent. When she executes her stratagem she takes to
wearing shades and masks to hide her identity. Silly, useless and whimsical as it may
seem in reality, these costumes completely suit Amelies childish endeavors and her
thirst for adventure.

Figure 4 Amelie shows the album to Dufayel.

Figure 9 Amelie surreptitiously watching Nino's progress Figure 10 Amelie wearing a Zorro mask and costume to set
through her shades. up a meeting with Nino.

PERFORMANCE

Despite the film being character-centric with the Amelie receiving the most focus, the
director has made a great effort in the development of his other characters also. This
can be seen through the innovative introduction that each character receives. The
likes and dislikes of each character, however silly it may be, are explained and this is
perhaps to help the audience relate to the characters in the film. Amelie herself is
the most complex character in the film and the director has put in a lot of work in
making sure that we are with her throughout the film. The film takes the time to
illustrate her small fancies and eccentricities. There are instances in the movie where
Amelie directly talks to the audience, usually to confess or reveal a secret and this
act makes the audience involve themselves in Amelies life. The non-verbal cues that
Amelie provides are more indicative of her character than anything else and helps the
audience place themselves into Amelies own private little world. For instance, when
Amelie is introduced the narrator explains that she enjoys small pleasures like dipping
her fingers into sacks of grain and skimming stones at St. Martins canal. Throughout
the film, at odd instances, Amelie picks up little pebbles and puts them in her pocket
and it is recognizable later that she is collecting stones to skim. This consistency of
characteristic is innovative and endears Amelie more to the audience.

Figure 11 Amelie dipping her fingers into a sack of grain. Figure 12 Amelie skimming stones at the St. Martin's
Canal

Audrey Tatou, a promising young actress when this film was produced, immortalizes
Amelie as one of the greatest heroines in film history. Her performance epitomizes
Amelie as a figure of compassion, quirkiness, eccentricity, sweetness and generosity.
Tatous role as the innocent young Marie in her previous film Venus Beauty Institute
has also helped in reinforcing the innocence in Amelies nature as the audience are
more inclined to perceive Tatou and hence Amelie that way.

LIGHTING

For the most part, the film retains its image as an airy romantic comedy by
illuminating its frames with a mellow, diffused light. There are scenes in the film
where extremely bright natural light or low key, mysterious light has been used to
indicate the characters emotions or state of mind. For instance, when Amelie
successfully accomplishes her first good deed, she feels confident and happy and as
the narrator describes it, Amelie suddenly had a strange feeling of absolute harmony,
in that instance the frame is lit by extremely bright sunlight as Amelie makes her way
along the road. In another scene, where Amelie plans to break into the grocer
Collignons apartment to punish his unjust treatment of his assistant Lucien, her
emotions are anger, mischief and a sense of purpose. These shots are illuminated by a
key light with only Amelie clearly visible.

Figure 13 Bright, diffused light as Amelie walks, Figure 14 Low key lighting as Amelie makes her way
feeling perfectly in peace with the world. through Collignon's apartment

COLOR

Color is the most element in the mise-en-scene of this film. The film is dominated by
the use of reds and greens in almost every frame. These two colors can be seen in the
background, the props, the actors costumes, etc. The tone of the film is also green
throughout. Amelie herself appears mostly in red. As red represents love, warmth,
comfort, excitement and intensity, the use of red to represent Amelie is completely
understandable. The use of green throughout the film to set the tone helps in bringing
out a feeling of tranquility and timelessness which only serves to increase the
romantic feel of the film.

Figure 15 The diffused green tone used throughout the Figure 1 The diffused green light used throughout the
film. film.
 Figure 2 Use of reds in the props and setting Figure 18 Use of reds in Amelie's costume

The reds and greens are punctuated in certain instances by blues and oranges. Orange
is mostly used in Amelies childhood, prominently seen in her costume and her pet
fish. Blue is used as an accent color to brighten up certain frames that are too
diffused by red and green.

Figure 19 Use of orange in young Amelie's costume. Figure 3 Use of blue in property.

COMPOSITION

The shots are mostly composed with asymmetrical balance irrespective of whether
they are filled with content or relatively empty. The director has stuck to the
guidelines regarding compositions leading to classic, clean frames that do not confuse
or mislead. The character or object of focus is mostly in the center or located a little
to the left or right (following the rule of thirds). These simple compositions serve to
increase the classic feel of the movie making it a pleasant watch.
Figure 21 Assymmetrically balanced compostion with less Figure 4 Assymmetrically balanced compositon with
visual content. abundant visual content.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The cinematography in this movie is characterized by close frames, long, smooth and
slow camera movements punctuated by sudden fast zoom-ins that create anticipation
among the audience. The cinematography can be explained through an examination of
the following four factors.

FRAMING

The framing of shots in Amelie is very definitive. The visual content in most shots is
abundant with a lot of properties, a lot of bright colors and a lot of action among the
characters. If the film where to have contained a lot of long or mid shots with much
of this visual content included in every frame, the audience would have had a hard
time following the story as they would be busy observing and keeping track of all the
visual detail in the frames. However, the director has vetoed a lot of long shots (they

Figure 523 An interesting frame where Amelie's face is Figure 6 An interesting frame where Amelie's gaze is not
partially hidden and the hand that hovers over her face given enough lead room. This is used to convey her
is also only partially revealed. anxiety.
are used only during the establishment of a scene or setting) and has made sure the
audience stay with the story by using close shots of the characters most of the time
with the background blurred.

SHOT SIZES

As already observed in framing, most of the shots in the film are extreme close ups
that focus on the characters emotions and reactions, especially Amelies. Since this
is a character centric film whose storyline depends on the actions and reactions of the
characters, the use of such intense close ups is justified as that is the only way in
which the audience would understand and get involved with the story. Most scenes
begin with an establishment shot or a mid long shot and whatever follows would
generally be close and mid two shots or extreme close ups.

Figure 25, 26 Two similar close two shots

Figure 8 Close up Collignon's face as he finds something Figure 7 Close up Amelie's mother as she panics. The
amiss with his door handle. close up escalates the magnitude of the emotion.
CAMERA MOVEMENT

The most identifiable camera movement in the film is the zoom in which happens
with every shot. Whenever a character is the primary subject in the frame, the
camera begins with a mid or close shot and zooms in and stops at an extreme close
up. This zoom in can be gradual one where the character is in the middle of an action
and the audience is curious as to what is happening. The camera then slowly moves
forward and gives the audience the answer. For instance, a scene ends with Nino
discovering the torn pieces of a photograph and the next scene begins with a mid shot
of him busy with something in his desk. The audience wonders what he is doing and if
the torn photograph is in fact a message from Amelie. The shot zooms in slowly to
increase the audiences anticipation and finally ends with a close shot of Nino
assembling a photograph of Amelie, thus giving the audience their answer.

Figure 9 Mid shot of Nino working on his desk. Figure 10 Close shot of Amelie's photograph being
assembled by Nino.

While gradual zoom-ins are used to increase anticipation, abrupt, fast zoom-ins are
also used frequently to communicate the anticipation of the character itself. Quick
zoom-ins of Amelie with an accompanying swishing sound are used whenever she is
about to indulge in a new piece of adventure or when she waits impatiently for the
results of one of her strategems.

Figure 31, 32 Quick zoom in of Amelie's face as she gleefully observes the results of her
matchmaking.
The movie also has a lot of sweeping crane shots that make the maximum use of the
beauty of the setting with stylish, flowing camera movements. Most of the scenes
with begin at the train station begin with a sweeping establishment shot that begins
from the roof of the train station. There is also one very famous crane shot in the
movie which shows Amelie skimming stones in the St. Martins Canal.

Figure 11 A 180 degree crane shot of Amelie skimming stones at the St. Martin's canal.

CAMERA ANGLES

The camera angles in this film are also interesting. Apart from the normal straight
angles, a lot of tilted angles, low angles, upgrades and downgrades have also been
used. Downgrades can mostly be seen when Nino is introduced and when Amelie is
watching him. These downgrade angles represents Amelies point of view and increase
the impression that she is avidly observing him. Downgrades can also be seen in
Amelies childhood and communicate the message that she is small and also
effectively dominated by her parents. Low angles shots are sprinkled here and there
and are usually combined with long takes that serve to increase the drama as the
camera moves from a low angle shot to a high perpendicular shot in the same scene
giving a sense of speed to the film.

Figure 13 A tilted angle that represents Amelie's Figure 12 A tilted angle to represent speed and urgency
confusion as she ponders over a problem. as Amelie travels in a fast train.
 Figure 15 Low angle shots used in the movie.

Figure 14 Downgrade shots

DEPTH OF FIELD

The movie, because of its abundant close ups is characterized by a shallow depth of
field in most parts. It is obviously the intention of the director to make sure that the
audience concentrates only on a particular subject when they view a particular shot.
Shallow depth of field is also used in Amelies case for a few reasons. When she is in
the frame with somebody else and she is the only person in focus, the director is
trying to draw the audiences attention to Amelies reaction (generally her reaction
to the other person in the frame). Through shallow depth of field shots, that is shots
in which Amelie is in focus and the background is blurred, the director is trying
visually symbolize the fact that Amelie lives in her own separate world, removed from
others by her imagination.

Figure 41, 42 Shots with a shallow depth of field where Amelie is in prime focus.
EDITING

The editing in a movie determines its pace and Amelie is, in its essence, a slow
movie. It takes the audience through an almost day by day representation of events.
The director takes a lot of time in letting characters and events unfold, but these are
intermixed with sudden fast sequences that make sure that the audience is never
bored. The film majorly employs a continuity editing technique (where the shots in a
scene are related to each other and this is how they are linked together) with a few
instances of discontinuity also (where shots are not related to each other but gain
meaning through the way they are linked together). There are a few aspects of
continuity and discontinuity editing that are present in the film and can be analyzed
as follows.

CONTINUITY EDITING

The film follows Amelie through the days of her life, as she goes from childhood to
adulthood, her increasing craving for love and affection and her quirky mannerisms
and behavior. Most scenes incorporate continuity as follows,

1 Movement and speed

The movie is generally slow with events unraveling gradually, so the movement and
speed of the shots in one scene are easily consistent. The pace of these slow scenes is
balanced by a few unexpected, quicksilver ones which pull the audience out of a
feeling of impending monotony. For instance, after her first good deed, Amelie walks
in the bright sunshine and deliberate slow motion is used to help us understand that
she is savoring the moment. This is immediately followed by Amelie helping a blind
man across the road. This is one of the fastest and clutter filled scenes in the movie
as Amelie provides a graphic description of the street they are walking through. The
editor has made sure that the shots of the street are intermixed with shots of Amelie
and the blind man describing the scene before him. Given its speed it is one of the
most difficult shots to maintain speed and movement continuity in and the editor has
managed it with racy skill.

Figure 16 Amelie describing the surroundings to the blind Figure 17 Amelie describes the chickens roasting
man.

2 Shot size

As mentioned before, this movie has a lot of close ups and zoom-ins. There are shots
however, where the scene is emotionally fraught, which veto the zoom-in in favor of
a transition of mid long shot to a close shot. This gives a feeling of abruptness,
confusion and urgency which is what the director wanted to communicate.

Figure 18 Transition from a mid long shot to a close shot when Amelie is screaming in panic at her dying pet fish.

3 Shot/Reverse shot

Since the movie focuses mostly on Amelies one-man army activities, the movie has
lesser dialogues than usual. However, an effective use of the shot/reverse shot
editing technique can be seen wherever dialogues are present. One particular
example is that of the conversations that occur in and around the grocer Collignons
store in the morning. A mid shot encompassing all the characters in the conversation
is shown followed by either an over the shoulder shot or a close shot of the
customers, the grocer Collignon and his assistant Lucien individually. This helps us in
understanding the perspective of each individual along with establishing the spatial
relationship between them as they converse across the vegetable trays.

Figure 19 Different perspective / shots and reverse shots shown in the same conversation.

4 Eye-line match

The movie, as mentioned, has a lot of close ups. So most of the time, when a persons
gaze is shown, the close up prevents the audience from knowing who they are looking
at. This is where the eye-line match technique of editing comes into play. There are
no mistakes in the eye-line match in this movie and this flawless execution
compensates for the abundant use of close ups that leave a lot of visual information
out.

Figure 49, 50 Eye line match as Amelie and Nino see each other for the first time.
5 Cutaway shots

There is an interesting use of cutaway shots in this film. Whenever a character is

introduced by the narrator, he elaborates on the characters likes and dislikes. At
times like those, the scene cuts away from the character to show a visual explanation
of what the character likes or dislikes. For instance, when the caf owner Suzanne is
introduced, the narrator explains that Suzanne likes the sight of athletes crying with
disappointment and dislikes men being humiliated in front of their children. As the
narrator explains, the scene cuts away from a shot of Suzanne to show a shot of an
athlete crying and a shot of a man being humiliated in front of his son. These shots
are however still related to the main scene.

Figure 20 Shot of Suzanne followed by a cutaway shot of what she likes (in black and white)

6 Cross cutting

The slow pace of the film and its focus on one character decreases the probability of
several events happening at once and therefore decreases the opportunity for cross
cuts. There is however, one scene where cross cutting is very clearly used. After
successfully returning the album to Nino, Amelie works on her plan to set up a
meeting with him. Shots of her going into a costume store are intermixed with shots
of a man (only his bright red sneakers are shown) leaving his home and walking on the
road. As Amelie reaches the train stations photo booth, the man parks his car outside
the same station. These two events collide at one point at the photo booth. As Amelie
finishes having her photos taken and steps out of the booth she almost bumps into the
man with the red sneakers who is about to step in. This shot holds significance in the
movie as the man is revealed to be the mystery ghost that Amelie and Nino have been
searching for. His identity is now revealed to Amelie.

Figure 53, 54 A shot of Amelie outside a costume store followed by a shot of a man with red sneakers who leaves
his home at the same time.

7 Wipe

The movie also uses the wipe editing technique to show the passing of time. At one
point Amelie is shown to be a little girl waiting to be old enough to leave home. The
camera pans down from her face in the window to show her abandoned teddy bear
outside in the garden. The frame remains static as one shot overlaps into the other,
the teddy bear is shown in different seasons spring, monsoon, winter and summer.
At the ends of the summer shot the camera tilts up and pans left to show an older

Figure 55, 56, 57, 58 The passing of time shown through wipe and the changing seasons.
Amelie walking out of the house with suitcases in her hand. Therefore, the changing
seasons have been shown through wipe to indicate that a lot of years have gone by.

DISCONTINUITY EDITING

The movie majorly moves through continuity editing. But there are three distinct
places where discontinuity editing in the form of montages has been used.

(1) In the beginning of the movie, the narrator describes abstract scenes and
happenings before going to the main scene. He describes a road in which a
bluebottle fly lands. He describes wine glasses dancing as the table cloth they
are placed on flutters in the breeze. He describes an old man who scratches
out his friends name from his phone book after going to his funeral. He then
comes to the main scene with the conception of Amelie. This is perhaps to give
the audience a feel of what the film will contain; the pace, the tone, etc.

Figure 21 A montage of unrelated shots (first three) followed by the main scene
(2) The titles have an interesting montage of shots. These shots are all close ups
of the young Amelie as she indulges in childish games. But her activities
curiously match the titles and the whole ensemble forms an interesting
montage.

Figure 22 A few shots from the titles.

(3) At the end of the movie, the narrator again deviates from the story to describe
events that are not related to the characters or the storyline before going back
to the main scene. He describes a marshmallow machine twisting marshmallow,
a man reading a park, nuns playing tennis before he comes to the final scene of
the movie, that is Nino and Amelie on Ninos bike, in what is obviously the
beginnings of a relationship.
 Figure 23 A montage of unrelated shots (the first three) before the last scene.

SOUND
The film has a healthy use of both diegetic (sounds originating from the world of the
film) and non-diegetic (sounds originating from outside the world of the movie)
sounds.

The dialogues in the movie, the sound effects and the ambient sound are all part of
diegetic sound. The dialogues in the movie are varied and they also help in reflecting
the nature of every character in the movie. Apart from the dialogues involved with
Amelies angelic activities, there are a lot of coffee table conversations and grocery
store conversations that add to the authenticity of the social values put forth by the
film and also help the audience in understanding that there is a kind of quirkiness to
almost every character in the film. The sound effects in the movie are very
noticeable, be it the falling of a bottle cap or the pressing of a doorbell, or even the
dropping of a pebble inside a pocket. The effects have been provided with great
attention to detail and work with the background score to increase the dramatic
quotient of the film. The ambient sound in the movie, to quote a few examples,
includes the sounds that one might usually hear in a caf, like the clanging of tea
cups, scraping of chairs, etc, the sounds that one hears in a train stations, the train
horn, the sound of the wheels of the train on the rails, etc.

The background score and the voiceover in the film are part of the non-diegetic
sounds. The background score is delightful. It covers every facet of Amelies character
from her happiness, loneliness, despair and joy to her charm, jauntiness,
mischievousness and thoughtfulness. The voiceover is the most important aural
component in the film because it is the most necessary element that makes the
audience make sense of and understand the story of the film. The narrator, Andre
Dussollier, has no part to play in the film but it is his dryly humorous, insightful words
that bring the film to life for the audience more than any other element in the film.

The sound in the movie is parallel and not contrapuntal. But there is one instance in
the movie where parallel sound is used in the most literal sense and that makes it
seem almost contrapuntal. This instance is appears in the scene where Amelie tries to
cheer her innkeeper whose husband has left her. Amelie steals the letters that the
innkeepers husband had written to her when he was in an army camp. As Amelie
reads the letters, she understands that some letters have been written when he was
in camp, in the middle of a storm, in the rain, near a church, etc. She takes parts of
these letters and pieces them together to form a new letter in which he apologizes to
his wife for having run away from her. She makes sure this letter reaches the
innkeeper. As the innkeeper reads the letter, a moment which is very touching is
accompanied by different sounds. As she reads the letter that consists of different
parts of other letters, the sound of army trumpets, rain, storm, church bells all
combine into a medley in the background letting the audience know that this letter is
in fact a combination of all the previous letters. This gives a contrapuntal slant to the
sound.

CONCLUSION
Amelie Poulain is a balance of comedy, poignancy, tenderness and romance. Its
idealistic approach was not considered serious enough and therefore it was not
nominated for the Cannes Film Festival. Despite that, the director and crews skill in
combining all these elements together harmoniously should be appreciated. Their
work is the creation of a visually appealing, emotionally touching, quaint film that
just begs for you to relate to it and lingers long with you after you have watched it.