Amélie

"She’ll change your life."

2001 2h 2m FR

🙌

7.9

BANGER

🔥

90%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

8.3

IMDB

★7.9TMDB · 12,716🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes●70Metacritic★8.3IMDB · 839,094

ComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

At a tiny Parisian café, the adorable yet painfully shy Amélie accidentally discovers a gift for helping others. Soon Amelie is spending her days as a matchmaker, guardian angel, and all-around do-gooder. But when she bumps into a handsome stranger, will she find the courage to become the star of her very own love story?

“She’ll change your life.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Audrey Tautou
Amélie Poulain
Mathieu Kassovitz
Nino Quincampoix
Rufus
Raphaël Poulain
Serge Merlin
Raymond Dufayel
Jamel Debbouze
Lucien
Clotilde Mollet
Gina
Claire Maurier
Suzanne
Isabelle Nanty
Georgette

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Writers: Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Languages: French, Russian
Countries: France, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $174M — a 17.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, shot by Bruno Delbonnel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Yann Tiersen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hervé Schneid shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Audrey Tautou and Mathieu Kassovitz and Rufus carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs. Bruno Delbonnel behind the camera. Yann Tiersen scores. Hervé Schneid cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France, Germany. Dialogue in French, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $174M — a 17.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
225 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Russian.
4International production across 2 countries: France, Germany.
5Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, shot by Bruno Delbonnel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Yann Tiersen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Hervé Schneid shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Audrey Tautou and Mathieu Kassovitz and Rufus carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "She’ll change your life.".
10IMDB entry: tt0211915 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1112,716 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
12Classified under 24 themes, including "daughter", "paris, france", "love triangle", "photography".
13Released under 23 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel
Original score: Yann Tiersen
Editing: Hervé Schneid
Production design: Aline Bonetto
Costume design: Madeline Fontaine
Makeup / hair: Karina Gruais
VFX supervisor: Alain Carsoux
Sound: Vincent Arnardi
Stunt coordinator: Patrick Cauderlier
Runtime: 122 min · 2h 2m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $173,921,954
Return: 1739% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Amélie (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 70/100
IMDB rating: 8.3/10 · 839,094 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 5 Oscars. 60 wins & 74 nominations total

European Film Award for Best Cinematographer
Lumière Award for Best Film
European Film Award for Best Film
Lumière Award for Best Actress
Amanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film
Lumière Award for Best Screenplay
Crystal Globe
European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director
European Film Award for Best Director
Silver nugget for the best foreign film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb673088792023-09-21
Watched this movie solely because of an edit. Watching that edit made me think it would be a psycho-type of movie. However, after watching it now, I have to say it went over my head. I'm not saying it's bad; I had high expectations for it, but it couldn't deliver as much as I hoped. Nonetheless, the amount it did deliver was nice. What I liked the most about this movie is its cinematography, especially the zoom-in shots. Overall, for me, it falls into the 'good' tier. It might be because I had such high expectations for it, but it is what it is.
CinemaSerf2026-01-31
★ 7/10
“Amélie” (Audrey Tautou) has had something of the girl in a bubble upbringing thanks to her dad and so now in adulthood isn’t so adept at interacting with real folks. Indeed, she spends much of her time living in her own fantasy world as she takes a job in a Parisian café and begins to see something of real people in the real world. In her flat she discovers something left by the previous occupant and so she decides to repatriate it. His delight in her doing so inspires her to do more to help others, and so what now ensues sees her sometimes seriously and sometimes mischievously set about sorting out problems for some of her family and her new found acquaintances. This provides her (and us) with a myriad of scenarios from ghosts, hypochondriacs and even her dad’s favourite garden gnome but it also showcases her own need for something fulfilling to happen in her own life. That’s where the charming “Nino” (Mathieu Kassovitz) might just come in, if she can but summon the courage to leave her own psychologically gilded cage. I found there something engagingly mercurial about Tautou here who reminded me quite a lot of Audrey Hepburn. Her eyes and her smile help to portray a character with an huge generosity of spirit, and with a strong ensemble cast to keep this fun it still makes a few more salient points along the way. It looks good, it sounds good and I found it remarkably unsentimental as it reminds us that a little kindness and trust can go a long way.

Production companies