Amelie (2001) is an amazing movie. We’ve all grown to become obsessed with it. Anybody can find something to love, whether you are enamoured by the young and charming Audrey Tatou, its splendidly warm photography, its lavish art direction and production design, or the quirkiness of its characters and the thrilling melodies of Yann Tiersen. There’s no doubt that this Jean-Pierre Jeunet film about a girl who tries to help those around her as they go through life is one of a kind.
Yet, there are dozens of movies that are as quirky, artful, and heartwarming as Amélie. Whether you like its French straight-forward humor, how it weaves a world that lies between dreams and reality, or how it teaches us that love and sense of purpose are found in the most unexpected places, you’ll surely be delighted to watch any of the following films.
The Science Of Sleep (2006), Michel Gondry
Starring a young Gael García Bernal and a dashing Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gondry’s follow-up to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) tells the story of eccentric Stephan, a young man who can’t tell apart the real world from his fantasies. When he falls for his neighbor Stéphanie, this becomes an obstacle for the two of them. To go through this, Stephan digs deep into the surreal world of his unconscious, searching for a way to win Stephanie’s heart despite his distorted sense of reality.
The Hedgehog (2009), Mona Achache
Based on Muriel Barbury’s bestseller The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Mona Achache’s film tells the story of quirky Paloma, an 11 year old girl who, in spite of her intelligence, has grown deeply bored of her life with her bourgeois parents. Because of this, she decides to commit suicide on her twelfth birthday. However, during what she thinks will be the last months of her life, she slowly starts finding a new light to life by looking closer at the lives of her grumpy concierge, Mrs Michel, and her new mysterious and gallant neighbor, the widowed Mr. Ozu.
Good Bye Lenin! (2003), Wolfgang Becker
What would you do if you suddenly woke up and your country didn’t exist anymore? Would you like to know how it happened, or would you just rather die without knowing? Set in East Berlin in 1989, Becker’s film tells the story of the fall of the communist block through the eyes of Alex (Daniel Brühl), a young man who tries to disguise the arrival of capitalism to his city, so his mother (Katrin Saß), who missed the fall of the Soviet Union during a coma, won’t get relapse due to a heart failure. A quirky and deep reflection on how we’re all agents of history.
Little White Lies (2010), Guillaume Canet
A tightly knit circle of friends reunites every August on the beach home of Max (Francois Cluzet), a very successful restaurant owner. Just a few weeks before the summer break, one of them — Ludo (Jean Dujardin)— gets hit by a truck while driving his motorbike and ends up in a coma. The rest of the friends, however, decide to go on the trip. But Ludo’s accident will slowly start unravelling all those little white lies they’ve told each other throughout the years, and even worse, to themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHU-nmf3aug
The Spanish Apartment (2002), Cédric Kaplisch
Xavier (Romain Duris), a 24 year old student, moves from Paris to Barcelona as an exchange student. There, he ends up living with people from several different nationalities. Facing a cultural and linguistic barrier, the young student will slowly lower his guard and experience the wonders the world has in store for him.
Harold and Maude (1971), Hal Ashby
A strange story of how a rich, young man obsessed with death is suddenly swept off his feet by a septuagenarian woman, who changes his whole outlook on life forever. Plus, all the songs in the masterful soundtrack were written by Cat Stevens.
Rushmore (1998), Wes Anderson
Anderson’s sophomore film tells the story of Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), the ace of extracurricular activities at Rushmore preparatory school, who ends up being put on probation because of his poor academic performance. Afterwards, he falls for Miss Cross —a teacher at the elementary school—, which only serves to stir up conflict with the school’s principal, played by Bill Murray.
The Purple Rose Of Cairo (1985), Woody Allen
Living a harsh life in the city of New Jersey, Cecilia (Mia Farrow) is obsessed with going to the movies as a means of escaping her rough day to day life. Wishing to be with a man as the ones she sees on the screen, one day a character in the film she’s watching breaks the fourth wall and walks into her world. But will this fantasy make her happy as she thought it would?
Fanny and Alexander (1982), Ingmar Bergman
Even though Bergman’s usually known for doing dark and profound movies, the last of his repertoire was done with a very different take. Instead of exploring the shadows of our psyche through cold and tormented Scandinavian characters, it focuses on the perspective of children and how they perceive the turbulent adult world. A sublime expression of how we need fantasy to cope with the harshness of life.
You might be interested:
The Film That Explains Freud’s Theory About Our Wild Behavior
10 Foreign Films That Will Widen Your Horizons
***
References
Roger Ebert
