For French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet, learning that Amélie had been nominated in five categories at the 74th Oscars was the cherry on top of what had turned out to be a year of surprises. "It was a dream the entire time," he says.
Jeunet made his feature debut with 1991's acclaimed dark comedy, Delicatessen, which he co-directed with Marc Caro. He and Caro reteamed for 1995's The City of Lost Children before Jeunet briefly decamped to Hollywood to direct 1997's Alien Resurrection. Once back in Paris, he began working on Amélie — or, Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain — a whimsical comedy about a shy waitress (played by Audrey Tautou) who makes it her personal mission to uplift those around her.
"All throughout that year, we experienced good surprises and good news," Jeunet recalls. "We won at the BAFTAs and the César Awards. We won over the critics and the general audiences. We had made a hugely successful French-language film throughout the world, and then we got nominated for the Oscars."
France chose Amélie as its official Oscar entry, and the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (now called Best International Feature Film), as well as Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, and Best Sound.
"When you write something very personal, it's supposed to be a small success. I was ready for it to earn 1 million euros, and that'd be it," Jeunet says. "And then it became more than just a movie."
Below, Jeunet shares with A.frame five of his favorite films.
Directed by: Sergio Leone | Written by: Sergio Donati and Sergio Leone
The most important film of my life is Once Upon a Time in the West, because it was a complete revelation to me. I saw it when I was 17, and I couldn't speak for three days afterward. I was in total shock, and my parents were very concerned! They were like, 'What happened? Are you sick?!' And I said, 'No! You just can't understand what I've experienced.' For me, it was the sound design and the close-ups with the short lenses. Sergio Leone plays with everything, and the real subject of the film is cinema itself. It was a big, big influence on me.
Directed by: Federico Fellini | Written by: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, and Tullio Pinelli
I love everything about La Dolce Vita. I love 8½ as well, but La Dolce Vita has always stood out to me. It's five stories, and every one of them speaks to me. There's this character in it who wants to be a writer but he can't, because he's quite weak. That's not me. I like to think I'm different, because I do what I want. But I still find it very, very touching, especially the end with the young girl. He leaves with the bad people and waves goodbye to her and can't hear her. It's so great. Everything about it is f*****g great.
Directed by: Marcel Carné | Written by: Jacques Prévert
I can't avoid mentioning Port of Shadows, a French film from the 1940s made by Marcel Carné. He made Children of Paradise, which is more well-known, but it's not my favorite film of his. Port of Shadows has been a huge influence on me. I've collected and studied everything I can about Marcel Carné and about the film, from the production design to the press book that was released for it. Everything.
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola | Written by: Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo
It's difficult to avoid The Godfather when you're making a list like this. It's a cliché to include it, but it's such a huge masterpiece. Both it and Part II are great, and it's good to watch them both together. But I prefer The Godfather just because Part II is a bit complicated; some parts are more difficult to grasp at first. But they're both masterpieces. I had the chance to be on a jury with Francis Ford Coppola once, and I just love his work.
Directed by: Mikhail Kalatozov | Written by: Viktor Rozov
The Cranes Are Flying won the Palme d'Or in 1958, but I only discovered it one year ago. I was very happy, because even though I'm 70 now, I realized that I can still make some big discoveries. The film is so perfect in terms of form and content; every shot is a masterpiece. It's just pure art.
