Amelie is a French production about how a girl who aims to satisfies others as opposed to herself, and in the process of doing so, she finds compassionate love. In this particular image, Amelie is an adolescent who is smiling, portraying a sense of good will; on the other hand, the use of a strong, directional light for the background light, leaving lack of illumination to expose an underlying deviousness within her character. The cinematographer chooses to abuse the use of directional lighting to create an attached shadow with fast fall-off to hint the audience of a partial cynicism in this character which is shown when Amelie sabotages the grocier with the toothpaste and the slippers. The cherries on Amelie's ear exemplifies her unorthodox vision in the world which she continuously demonstrates as she grows up in the adult world. The style of text enhances the director's development of Amelie's character which, in turn, establishes the beginning of the plot.
In this scene, Amelie gets a knock on the door from the person that she loves, but she doesn't answer it. After she gets back to what she was previously occupied with. As she does this, she thinks about the guy and possible scenarios if she let him enter. The audience see's her thoughts through the use of a PIP(Picture in picture); A visual representation of her thoughts because it is strong and clear. At the end of the PIP the man caresses the beads on the veil, making them move, and when she snaps back into reality the veil matches the movement of the veil when he touches them, showing a direct parallel action. Considering that this draws to to the climax of the plot, this expresses Amelie's overbearing love for the man, enriching the plot with overwhelming love.
In this scene, Amelie wants to see the man she has been looking for, so she goes to the haunted house, for she hears that this was the man's job. The motive of this scene matches the cinematography. The lighting design and the actions resemble eeriness which parallels the tone of this scene as the man is somewhat obscure to the idea that his love is in front of him. The dull lighting combines with the smoke to suggest a sense of weariness in the situation between the two, clarify his confusion. Amelie is not subject to be a victim in this haunted house for her curiosity is predominant in the situation. This scene stands out from others for it's setting is quite curious for a movie revolving around the complications of love, but in turn, its unusual staging depicts the in and outs of love.
