Amelie Analysis

Amelie’s Wish
In one of the last scenes of Amelie the director conveys Amelie’s internal struggles about accepting or rejecting her feelings for Nino through music and camera movements.
The scene begins with the soft playing of piano that is quickly buried under rain -which is imagined by Amelie- but grows as her imagination of Nino purchasing yeast for her continues. The piano reaches its highest point just before her doorbell’s harsh ringing and is abruptly cut off. The softness of the music at the beginning signifies her mind moving away from the task she is performing -which is opening a packet of yeast to add to her flour mixtures. The sound of the piano is wistful and it is that wistfulness that grows in intensity. By starting the piano instrumental at a soft pace it is clear that Amelie’s mind is drifting away from the present into imagination. As the scene cuts to Nino walking up the stairs after leaving the store -where he purchases the yeast- the piano’s pace increases. Amelie imagines Nino walking up the stairs to her apartment and sneaking up on her and only announcing his presence by playing with her beaded curtains. At this point, the piano’s pace is nearing its peak. Once she is brought back to reality by her cat -who she assumes is Nino- brushing against the beaded curtains the piano increases fully in both pace and speed and Amelie starts to cry upon realizing that it is not him. From this, it is inferable that the more Amelie thinks about Nino the more she entertains the idea of being with him yet she holds back herself. The increase in the pace of the music signifies a sort of longing and wistfulness Amelie has for Nino. She wants to be with him but something holds her back. Having the piano abruptly cut off halts all her imagination and brings it to life -Nino is the one …show more content…
The scene starts with a close up on Amelie’s kitchen table -which is cluttered with ingredients- and slowly moves up to a close up on her face. This shot establishes what she is doing and what she is currently feeling. There is then a deep focus shot that shows Amelie mixing her batter and imagining Nino out in the rain getting her yeast at the local store. This is to establish Amelie’s mind wandering away from her task. As the shot/ her imagination continues she stops what she is doing completely and submerges herself in it. Her facial expression is one that shows longing. This combines shows that she is imagining what life would be like with Nino and is somewhat willing to give in to a life such as that. There is then a follow shot that follows her curtains -which she imagined was touched by Nino- down to her cat who walked through the curtain. This shot signifies her expectation and confirms her disappointment that it is not Nino. By doing this the director shows that Amelie wants to be with Nino yet all of her previous actions in the movie shows that she is hesitant to allow herself this happiness. This fits into the movie’s big picture theme by confirming to viewers that Amelie does like Nino and does want to be with him. It also establishes that she is holding herself back from being with him. It shows that Amelie has not afforded herself the