Opening Scene Analysis

I choose a french film, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain ("The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain") produced by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, with Audrey Tautou and Mathieu Kassovitz.

Release date: April 25, 2001 (France)

Director - Producer: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Distributor:  UFD (UGC-Fox Distribution).

Genre: Comedy

Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Isabelle Nanty

Runtime: 120 minutes

!SORRY!  Videos in English (or in OV) of the opening scene are no longer available on YouTube. The video below is then in German... (from 00:00 till 3:10)

This opening scene recreates the world of childhood. The actor is young; her costume is typical of a little Parisian girl in the 20^th century. The camera angle is not stable; it looks like if another child was filming her or like a family film that parents do about their children. The quality of the video is not a high quality, it looks old-looking.

The first part of the opening scene presents the events that happened in Montmartre while Mr and Mrs Poulain were fathering Amélie Poulain: a fly landing on St Vincent St in Montmartre; two glasses dancing on a tablecloth; an old man erasing his dead friend’s name… All these events are described with an amazing precision and meticulousness. The music (from Yann Tiersen) in this first part is the theme music, that we will hear several times in the film. The last event is the birth of Amelie Poulain, who is the first character in the movie. Then starts the second part of the opening scene with a music that sounds like a lullaby, which lets also think to childhood. It is the logical suite of Amelie's birth.

The second part of the opening scene is the presentation of the film unit. The font is old-looking. It actually used to be the font employed for the adverts in the Parisian subway (for shows in the welll-known Moulin Rouge for instance) or for the café signs in the street. 

Then we can see a stream of games every child used to do. These plays belong to the knowledge of everyone, every people can recognize it. If it focuses on the childhood, we know that this moment of life will be a determinative item in the movie. In addition to the music, we can hear some characteristic sounds of every game.

Credits:

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