Writer/Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet talks to The Inside Reel about inspiration, environment and approach in regards to the 22nd Anniversary theatrical re-release of “Amelie” from Sony Pictures Classics.
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00:37 And do you know--
00:38 by the way, do you know the short film I made,
00:40 "The True Story of Amélie Poulain,"
00:43 "La Véritable Histoire d'Amélie Poulain?"
00:45 But please, watch the short film.
00:47 I made that last year.
00:50 It's six minutes, and it's a total stupid story.
00:53 I read it in six minutes, and it explained
00:59 she was a spy for the KGB.
01:02 It's totally stupid.
01:03 Look at that.
01:04 No, no, look at that.
01:05 No, it will.
01:06 You'll find that on your magazine.
01:07 Yeah, yeah.
01:07 No, what was it?
01:09 Did you re-edit certain things, or did you
01:11 shoot some new things with André?
01:12 I put stock footage and a frame, a picture of Amélie.
01:18 And voiceover is the same guy.
01:20 André Desauliers, the voiceover, he is the same guy.
01:23 Wow, and where is that available?
01:25 Just YouTube or--
01:26 On YouTube, YouTube, for free.
01:28 Yeah.
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03:00 Well, based on that, Amélie-- well, all of your films,
03:05 and we've talked for a couple-- it's all about perspective
03:07 and perception, how we see the world.
03:11 How has your perception of the world
03:13 changed as far as approach in filmmaking,
03:16 versus when you first made Amélie?
03:19 Obviously, the streaming is taking over,
03:21 but has it changed the creative vision of what you do?
03:26 You know, the world's still the same, more or less.
03:30 When we had an amazing screening in Toronto Film Festival,
03:35 and it was the 10th September, the day before the event.
03:41 So it was a tough world at this time,
03:44 and it's still the same now.
03:46 So I think it's important to imagine some positive story
03:49 to give some joy to the people.
03:52 This is the minimum I can do.
03:54 I'm not good to have some messages,
03:57 but I'm pretty good to tell some stories with anecdotes,
04:00 funny stories, good memories, and blah, blah.
04:04 This is something.
04:05 It's not nothing.
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04:12 (soft music)
04:14 (indistinct chatter)
04:17 (soft music)
04:19 (indistinct chatter)
04:23 (heart beating)
04:37 - Hey.
04:43 Hey.
04:46 - Baby.
04:47 - What's up?
04:48 (soft music)
04:51 (indistinct chatter)
04:55 - I mean, could you talk about Amelie as a character?
05:14 Why she is so beloved?
05:17 I mean, I watched the film in maybe about five, six years.
05:21 I watched it again last night
05:22 and it's still as hopeful and prevalent
05:27 and vibrant as it was then.
05:29 Was that just because of what you were doing in the moment?
05:32 Why do you think it stands the test of time
05:36 as much as it has?
05:37 - First of all, it's more or less a timeless film.
05:42 You cannot tell except the story of the character
05:47 Lady D, Lady Di.
05:49 But except that, it could be during the 50s, the 70s.
05:53 You don't know exactly.
05:55 And when I had the idea,
06:00 I decided to make something positive.
06:02 I thought it has to be positive.
06:04 I don't want to make something too much sugary,
06:07 but I want to tell a positive story.
06:09 I was back from LA after Alien Resurrection
06:13 and I watched my city, Paris, like the first time.
06:17 And I thought, this is a beautiful city.
06:21 I have to show that to the Parisian people.
06:22 And we cheat, we got rid of the dog shit on the street.
06:25 We changed the poster on the walls.
06:28 So we cheat a little bit,
06:29 but I wanted to make a beautiful city,
06:31 a beautiful film with colorful and, you know, fun film.
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07:36 - Well, I mean, was it a completely different experience
07:46 at that time?
07:47 'Cause obviously before Alien Resurrection,
07:50 you know, city was completely shot in studio.
07:53 There was nothing outside.
07:54 It was all practical, right?
07:55 - Yeah, yeah.
07:56 Yeah, it was the first time.
07:57 It was the first time for me to shoot outdoor.
08:00 And I have to say, I don't like that.
08:03 I like to shoot in locations, yeah,
08:05 like in the cafe or whatever.
08:07 But outdoor, when you are looking at the sky
08:11 to wait for clouds or the sun, I hate that.
08:14 And in France, it's not easy.
08:16 For example, we were shooting in the square
08:18 and a guy with a bike, you know,
08:20 I think he was a dealer of drug or something.
08:23 He kept going here, "Action, action."
08:26 Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, "Cut."
08:28 "Action." Ding, ding, ding.
08:30 You know what I mean?
08:32 With a bike.
08:33 And also a guy parked his car
08:35 just in front of my camera one day.
08:38 And he said, "I (beep) the cinema."
08:39 And we had to wait one hour.
08:41 So I hate to shoot outdoor.
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09:51 - Well, I mean, but the cinema experience,
09:53 that's why it's so great to have it back in the theater.
09:56 The cinema experience can't be replicated.
09:58 You know, what has been your sort of purview of that?
10:02 Recently, I watched obviously "Big Bug"
10:04 and I wish I could have seen that on the big screen
10:07 because it's about how your eye moves within a frame.
10:12 "Omily" is the same.
10:13 But can you talk about that sort of visual medium
10:15 as important?
10:18 Obviously it is, and many directors have talked about this,
10:21 but from your perspective.
10:23 - Yeah, if you speak about the form,
10:25 it's very important for me
10:27 because the cinema I loved, Sergio Leone,
10:30 once upon a time in the West, Stanley Kubrick,
10:35 they love to play with the cinema.
10:38 Sergio Leone was used to say,
10:40 "The subject of my Western, it's not a Western,
10:43 "the subject is the cinema."
10:45 And the pleasure to make,
10:47 this is my reason to live.
10:49 I love to make.
10:51 I am a big admirer of the people
10:53 able to build some bridges, some tunnels, some big stuff.
10:57 I love a megastructure on National Geographic, you know.
11:02 And so this is a pleasure to make,
11:04 and I love to play with everything in the box.
11:08 The sound designs, the costume designs,
11:10 the production designs, the music, the editing,
11:14 the dialogue, the acting, everything.
11:17 So it's very important for me
11:18 because it's like a toy, it's like a game.
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12:11 - The one thing that I did want to say about Amélie,
12:14 when she breaks the fourth wall,
12:17 was that always part of it, just to have her
12:19 have that communication with the audience?
12:21 'Cause Audrey probably had to do it very specifically.
12:24 And of course, your casting's always fantastic,
12:26 and you use a lot of your same sort of performers.
12:30 But can you talk about finding sort of that trust
12:33 with the audience or trust with the camera
12:35 with an actress like that?
12:37 Obviously, you've worked with her many times.
12:39 - You have to believe, you have to be sure.
12:42 And for that, sometimes you're right,
12:44 thinking about an actress.
12:45 It was the case for Amélie, but it wasn't Audrey Tautou.
12:49 The first time it was Amélie Watson,
12:52 and she left for personal reasons.
12:53 At this time, you are in the deep shit,
12:56 because you are lost and you want to die, you know?
12:59 And I make a casting, and luckily,
13:02 she was the second one.
13:03 I saw just two actresses, a kind of miracle.
13:06 But this film is full of miracles,
13:09 full of coincidences, you know?
13:11 And I saw her in a poster for a little French movie,
13:15 and I saw the small face like an elf,
13:18 like a small cartoon character.
13:22 And immediately when I started the test,
13:24 you can see that on the bonus of the DVD.
13:27 Immediately, I said, "Oh, where do you come from?"
13:29 I knew I had my Amélie.
13:31 It was a miracle.
13:33 - This is Amélie.
13:35 With the discovery of a simple childhood treasure,
13:40 she begins a quest to fix other people's lives.
13:44 And perhaps her own as well.
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