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IR Interview: Jean-Pierre Jeunet For “Amelie” (22nd Anniversary) [Sony Pictures Classics] - Part I
The Inside Reel
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2/11/2024
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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🎥
Short film
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00:00
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:06
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:09
[MUSIC PLAYING]
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.
01:29
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
01:32
[MUSIC PLAYING]
01:35
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
01:38
, [SPEAKING FRENCH]
01:41
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
01:44
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
01:48
[MUSIC PLAYING]
01:51
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
02:04
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
02:07
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
02:11
[LAUGHTER]
02:12
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
02:15
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
02:19
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
02:23
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
02:26
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
02:29
[MUSIC PLAYING]
02:32
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
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.
04:06
[MUSIC PLAYING]
04:09
[MUSIC PLAYING]
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.
06:36
(dramatic music)
06:39
(speaking in foreign language)
06:43
(upbeat music)
07:03
(speaking in foreign language)
07:07
(upbeat music)
07:10
(speaking in foreign language)
07:33
(upbeat music)
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.
08:44
(speaking in foreign language)
08:50
(speaking in foreign language)
08:54
(speaking in foreign language)
08:58
(speaking in foreign language)
09:23
(speaking in foreign language)
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.
11:21
(speaking in French)
11:25
(speaking in French)
11:28
(speaking in French)
11:32
(speaking in French)
11:35
(speaking in French)
11:38
(speaking in French)
11:42
(speaking in French)
11:45
(speaking in French)
11:48
(speaking in French)
11:51
(speaking in French)
11:54
(speaking in French)
11:57
(speaking in French)
12:00
(speaking in French)
12:03
(speaking in French)
12:06
(speaking in French)
12:09
(speaking in French)
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.
13:51
[explosion]
13:53
[screaming]
13:56
[explosion]
13:58
[explosion]
14:00
[explosion]
14:02
(upbeat music)
14:04
[BLANK_AUDIO]
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11:24
|
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