The Color Palette For "Amélie"

Amélie was made in 2001. It was written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The film is still highly stylized, but it is about Amélie finding simple pleasures in life. 

Jeunet collected stories—some of his own; some told to him by other people—for 25 years. These stories were brought together to create the script for Amélie. Amélie is Jeunet's first film shot on-location, so it is interesting to see how he used color (and digitally saturated it) because he did not have the control of shooting everything in a studio. The whole title is The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain. The film intertwines destiny and chance. Jeunet sees destiny and chance playing key roles even in the making of the film.

Amélie sees things in a very childlike manner. Adult themes (like sexuality) are presented almost in a childlike way. This is demonstrated in the way the film was made. Look for how this is conveyed through color. The characters each have an object that is associated with them—kind of like a child who collects stamps, micro machines, etc. or who has a favorite thing like rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings. Amélie seeks small pleasures, but these small pleasures are presented in a very ornate and beautifully-crafted film.

The cinematography and art direction is very painterly. In fact, in the optional article above, Jeunet states, “I believe that every shot should be a painting.” Additionally, he says that his motto is: one idea per shot. In the film, Amélie is actually friends with a painter, who keeps painting the same painting. That painting has a girl with a glass. Ask yourself, “Is that girl supposed to be Amélie?” Why or why not? Look specifically for color. The color is very saturated. Jeunet wanted “an explosion of color.”

Amélie’s color scheme is saturated with reds and greens with accents of blue and yellow. It’s works hand-in-hand with plot and tone, putting in a warm world when appropriate, then shifting to a cooler look as the emotional emphasis shifts. The bright colorful world of Montemarte matches up exactly with her happy-go-lucky, optimistic persona.  Color is used in the props or scenery to create an atmosphere of heightened color. Objects (mis-en-scene) are selected to create a specific and recognizable color scheme or palette.

The world in which Amelie lives is a very different one from our own, where there is no litter or graffiti in the streets and colours practically pop out of various inanimate objects. Jeunet used digital colour grading to achieve the rich visuals and added a green bias to most scenes, and while at times the saturation threatens to overwhelm, this simply adds to the feeling of make-believe propagated by the movie.