Amelié Personal Lessons and Insights March 1, 2002 1. Brief Plot Summary The life of a light-hearted woman who discovers love in France while improving other's lives. 2. Interesting Character I thought Lucien, the aid for the grocer, was an interesting character. At the grocery stand, he was publicly humiliated on a daily basis by his boss, Collignon, for making clumsy mistakes. Collignon labeled him as 'slow', and would cause Lucien to drop things and be further humiliated by cruelly taunting him in front of local shoppers. However, after work, Lucien proved to be considerably deeper than Collignon made him look. He would smuggle fine wine and food up to Raymond, a man who had not left his apartment in 20 years due to bone disease. Lucien would brighten Raymond's day, who would in exchange teach Lucien both to paint, and to express his anger towards Collignon. 3. Interesting Scene An interesting scene occurred while Amelie was visiting Raymond, the glass man, in his apartment. She learned that for the past 20 years, he had been annually completing a copy of Renoir's "Le Dejeuner De Canotiers". He was troubled because he could not understand the essence of one of the characters, a girl drinking a glass of water. He used the girl's expression to describe to Amelie her own situation, and to force her to notice her own being and emotions. As the story would continue to twist, Raymond would offer Amelie a straight look at the situation and at her feelings about the situation, passing by all of the extra clutter that was preventing her from truly comprehending what was happening both within and around her. 4. Something this film made me think about. Amelie's lust for improving other's lives seemed to be both an honorable goal, and a curse when it came to her own life. While her round-about tactics were often useful in helping others achieve happiness without providing a specific person to acknowledge, it seemed to be a horrible plan when dealing with her own attempt at love. Although she probably thought she was just applying her usual technique, I believe she did not realize that, for once, she was one of the active, unobfuscated players. Although I can understand the honorable bonuses of keeping yourself a mystery while effecting other people's lives, when it comes to my own I feel straightforwardness and honesty are very important. If Amelié had not forced her would-be courtier to go through such a well crafted maze of clues at a citywide level, they both could have been saved grief. Although it could be said that such trickery added some spice to their blossoming relationship, it also caused her to suspect betrayel by the man whom she had not even met yet. Original Web Upload March 2002 Last Update: March 10, 2002