The Film That Changed My Life: Amelie (2001) Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

I really wanted to start this post in a dramatic fashion; "it was a cold night in November 2001 when I stumbled across this peculiar looking French movie called 'Les Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Pou..."....which isn't too far from the truth to be honest. However, I'm going to ramble on in a more laid back fashion about why Amelie changed my life.

Saying a motion picture changed my life is a bold statement. But I'm going to stick with it. Prior to Amelie I had seen some pretty damn good films; some of which I'd probably say are better movies than Amelie. However at the time I wasn't exposed to the world of independent cinema and minus 100+ bollywood films in the background, this was the first foreign language film I'd watched. My love for cinema reaches most genres but I will be more excited about seeing the independent film that did well in Cannes as opposed to this year's Jerry Bruckhiemer explosion-fest.  I believe I have Amelie to thank for that. Upon first viewing, it blew me away. I'd never seen anything quite like it; the originality of the story for instance is a basically a loner's love story but presented in such a unique fashion. The look of the film is immediately recognisable as Amelie, thanks to director Jeunet's emphasis on green. The score is beautiful and corresponds with the film perfectly and is to do this day is the only film score I actually own and listen to frequently.  Even though the film is obviously centered around the character of 'Amelie', the rest of the characters are a wonderful assorted of the whacky, wise and (can't complete the alliteration, damn) and down right horrible; yes I'm talking about the grocery store owner. 

In a way, 'Amelie' got lucky. The film that could have changed my life could have been 'La Haine' (1995), an equally brilliant and movie film (also french) or even the Brazilian gangster epic that we know as 'City of God' (2002); all 3 films I saw roughly around the same time. Amelie came first, stole my heart and now I'm babbling about it 10 years on. For those of you that haven't seen it, well here's what Total Film said about it: "Quite simply, it's perfect". 

My Life in Films

Yesterday, I turned 25. That's a quarter of a century I've inhabited the world and roughly for the past 11 or so years I have been a film junkie. 25 to me at least sounds like a monumental age and therefore I have decided that I'm going to do a series of post's about the films that have had the biggest influence on me over the years. However in this particular post I'm going to just tell you what the first film I ever saw in the cinema was;

Paddy Considine: Top 3 Performances

I love Led Zeppelin. I believe they are the greatest musical outfit of all time. But they're not my favourite artist. They probably wouldn't even come in my Top 5. When it comes to actors I feel a similar way; if I was to do a Top 5 I'll probably go for the pretty obvious choices; Pacino, Nicholson, Brando, etc. But my personal favourite actor at the moment (and has been for a while) is Midlands born indie hero, Paddy Considine. Every film I have seen Considine in he outweighs and steals the show. Here are my top 3 Paddy Considine Performances:


'Morell' in A Room for Romeo Brass (1999) Dir. Shane Meadows
Paddy's debut in acting is undoubtedly one of his most memorable performances, playing Morell in this Shane Meadows indie classic. Morell is a confused oddball who yearns importance and companionship in his small district in Nottingham. Paddy brings out a laugh-out-loud funny performance whilst being genuinely scary at the same time.

 

'Richard' in Dead Man's Shoes (2004) Dir. Shane Meadows

Dead Man's Shoes has often been described as 'Taxi Driver set in the Midlands'. Rightfully so. Considine's portrayal as Richard is like having our very own Travis Bickle (who drinks tea instead of coffee). Hella intense, this is arguably one of the best performances I've seen, probably ever on screen. Considine more than often plays more comedic roles but in Dead Man's Shoes he's stone serious and we've never forgot about it since.

'Alfie' in Last Resort (2000) Dir. Pawel Pawilkowski 
A lesser known movie and lesser known performance by Considine; Last Resort is the story of a Russian woman and son who illegally come to England in hope to find her fiance. However, when he doesn't turn up she and her son are forced to live in political asylum. Considine plays Alfie, a well known man around the area however a soft and regretful man also. A more laid back performance than the previously mentioned however it shows Considine's humble side and he's ability to still deliver.