Writer/Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet talks to The Inside Reel about casting, connection, intent and timelessness in regards to the 22nd Anniversary theatrical re-release of “Amelie” from Sony Pictures Classics.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 [MUSIC]
00:37 Did you have to do how much did you have to direct her versus like the visual?
00:40 Was there a certain thing you had to discuss with her about who she was?
00:45 No, every director will tell you the same thing.
00:47 The work of the director consists to make a good casting.
00:52 If you don't make any mistake, it's done.
00:54 Of course, you have to help sometimes to find some ideas.
00:59 And sometimes the actors say, no, I don't feel that.
01:02 And we have to listen because they are often right.
01:06 Even T.S. Pivet, the kid on the previous movie,
01:10 sometimes he would say, no, no, I don't think so.
01:12 He was right because they are under the skin of the character.
01:18 They know better than you sometimes.
01:20 [MUSIC]
01:49 Hey!
01:50 [MUSIC]
02:14 [MUSIC]
02:24 I mean, but the one thing that is always permeating through is the sense of
02:39 need for connection, the need for love, very long engagement.
02:42 We talked about that for obviously Amélie, you know, even Big Bug.
02:46 It's about them wanting to connect when everything's disconnected.
02:50 Can you talk about sort of the metaphor of love and connection,
02:54 especially in your movies, because they're always hopeful in certain ways.
02:58 I mean, you know, there are other things going on beneath, of course.
03:02 But can you talk about sort of those meanings for you?
03:05 I don't know if I can speak about that.
03:10 But one day a critic told me something, it was true.
03:14 For one time, the critic was right.
03:17 I'm kidding.
03:19 No, it's all right.
03:21 It's a subject.
03:22 That's all it is.
03:23 The subject of all your films, it's Tom Fummes.
03:28 You know the story Tom Fummes, the little kid lost in the forest.
03:31 And he put some stones to find the way back with his brother.
03:38 You know, it's a fairy tale.
03:40 Yeah.
03:40 This is the subject of all my films.
03:43 A kid fighting against a monster.
03:47 And for that, he uses imagination.
03:50 So somewhere, this is my story.
03:52 Amélie, it's not so obvious because the monster is introverted.
03:57 On Alien Resurrection, it's obvious there are real monsters.
04:00 The Butcher and Delicatessen.
04:02 When young girls go to make their portraits, they look at their ears and go "Ooooh"
04:08 by gently caressing their necks.
04:11 That's when they get caught.
04:12 Mr. Cacopois.
04:13 Who are you?
04:19 Page 51.
04:21 [Squeals]
04:23 [Squeals]
04:25 [Squeals]
04:27 [Squeals]
04:29 [Squeals]
04:31 [Music]
05:01 And you know, I worked three years on Life of Pi.
05:04 And it was a kid against the tiger.
05:08 So each time there's a kid against a monster.
05:10 Amélie is a kind of kid somewhere.
05:13 You didn't know I worked on Life of Pi?
05:15 No, no.
05:16 I was supposed to make this film and I wrote a beautiful adaptation.
05:22 It was very interesting.
05:23 20th Century Fox loved that.
05:26 The author of the novel loved that.
05:29 It was just a question of money because it was too early to imagine the tiger in CGI.
05:34 So we had to work with a real tiger, a real kid and the real sea.
05:39 So it was very difficult.
05:40 So I told 20th Century Fox to wait for three years and we will be able to make the tiger in CGI.
05:47 And in fact, they hired Ang Lee.
05:49 And the cost of the budget was double.
05:54 [Music]
05:56 [French]
05:59 Merci.
06:01 [Music]
06:03 [Music]
06:05 [Music]
06:07 (light jazz music)
06:10 (light jazz music)
06:13 (dog whining)
06:22 (speaking in French)
06:39 (speaking in French)
06:42 - Do you like, I mean, the thing is obviously
06:58 the practical effect, you're just using practical.
07:01 I mean, the montage sequences in "Amoly"
07:03 are so beautiful because of the way they jump,
07:06 and that has to do with editing and practical use.
07:09 But, you know, considering like the advent
07:11 of all the technology, does that affect
07:14 how you use practical use of camera
07:16 versus actual digital use?
07:19 Because sometimes that can be a shortcut.
07:21 - You know Michel Gondry, the French director?
07:25 He loves to do everything on stage.
07:28 But I think it's probably, it's very funny to make for him.
07:33 But for "Zero Durance," "Zero Durance" doesn't care
07:35 if you use CGI or practical VFX, they don't care.
07:40 So it's just tools.
07:43 And the most important thing is the mind behind the tools.
07:46 And I love to play with everything.
07:48 Even with Marc Caro, we started to, for "Delicatessen,"
07:51 we were the first to play with video visual effects,
07:56 video, not digital at this time.
07:58 We made the mixing of "The City of Lord Shadwen" in digital.
08:01 We were the first.
08:03 And I shot "T.S.P. Vette" in a real 3D.
08:05 So I love when it's very complicated.
08:08 I love that.
08:09 (laughs)
08:11 (speaking in foreign language)
08:17 (speaking in foreign language)
08:21 (gentle music)
08:24 (speaking in foreign language)
08:29 (gentle music)
08:31 (speaking in foreign language)
08:51 (speaking in foreign language)
08:55 ♪ After I've taken the blame ♪
08:59 ♪ You say you're through ♪
09:01 ♪ You've got your way ♪
09:03 ♪ But I'll always feel just the same ♪
09:07 ♪ Maybe I'm wrong ♪
09:09 ♪ Maybe I'm wrong ♪
09:11 ♪ Loving you dear like I'm ♪
09:13 (static crackling)
09:16 - And my last question, I'll let you go.
09:17 Thank you very much.
09:18 It's so wonderful to talk to you,
09:19 especially since you were one of my first interviews
09:21 back in the day, so thank you.
09:23 Is the aspect of watching a body of work, of a legacy,
09:29 but looking at something like "Ombly,"
09:31 having young people rediscover it or discover it,
09:35 what do you sort of, 'cause it's,
09:37 do you think it's because it's timeless,
09:39 they can understand and they can do it,
09:41 especially whenever he wants quick cuts.
09:43 It's really nice that it's almost like a dance.
09:45 It's like a flow,
09:47 which you don't see much in current cinema.
09:50 - I don't know.
09:53 I just know some kids, very young, love the film.
09:56 Some old people love the film.
09:58 So probably because it speaks about generosity.
10:02 Amelie does that and she doesn't ask for anything in return.
10:06 She, of course, she wins love,
10:09 but she doesn't want at the beginning to do that.
10:12 So it speaks about something strong, I think.
10:16 And also because we speak also about the small details
10:21 of the life, I love to take some notes.
10:23 I made a short film, "Things I Love, Things I Hate,"
10:25 on this concept.
10:28 For example, when she put the hand on the grain,
10:30 you know what I mean?
10:31 And everybody knows that it's pretty funny.
10:34 And also because a very beautiful city, a fake Paris,
10:38 and some very funny anecdotes,
10:41 like the garden gnome traveling.
10:44 So it's full of different ideas.
10:47 A lot, in fact, a lot.
10:48 I should make five movies instead one.
10:51 - This is Amelie.
10:52 With the discovery of a simple childhood treasure,
10:58 she begins a quest to fix other people's lives.
11:02 And perhaps her own as well.
11:07 (explosion booms)
11:13 (dramatic music)
11:16 (gunshots)
11:19 (dramatic music)
11:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]