All together now
All together now is a drama movie that revolves around Amber, who is
an over-optimistic, joyful and volunteer teenager but surrounded with
countless problems. She’s an orphan from her dad’s side and since then
it was as if she was drowning in a whirl of sadness. From afar, you
could swear that her life was normal or even perfect but the truth is
that besides all the things that were happening to her she stayed
strong no matter what and continued to fight, she was living in a car
bus, a thief stole her father’s belongings, and her mom went to live
in the house of a drunk psychopath and violent man, and still moved to
her friend’s home. Yet, the straw that broke the camel's back was her
mother’s death, she entered a phase of depression where she was
rejecting all kinds of help, she stopped school and did all sorts of
odd jobs to pay for her dog’s surgery because he fell sick.
Nevertheless, her entourage was aware that this wasn’t the real her
and they supported her to get through this. The woman that assisted
her the most was an old lady from the nursing home she was a volunteer
at. This film teaches us that even in the darkest moments, you are
never truly alone and that all the good deeds that you do will be
returned to you.
by Kenza El Alami
Amélie Poulain
Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (the Fabulous Destiny of Amélie
Poulain) embodies the art of seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.
The entire film is based on this contrast between the banality of the
events reported and the originality with which Jean Pierre Jeunet
treats them. Basically, the viewer follows the exterior and interior
life of Amélie Poulain, a young, solitary and introverted bar
waitress. He attends her meetings, her relations; terribly banal, but
at the same time terribly exciting. The protagonist's neuroses, hopes
and thoughts, as harmless as possible, turn into scenes that are
sometimes touching, sometimes hilarious.
The characters in the film could be those we meet every day in the
street, and yet this film is the occasion for a lucid and complex
analysis of social ties. Absolutely everything contributes to
transforming everyday life into great cinema scenes: from multiple
historical and cinematographic references to this inquisitive
voice-over.
The life of Amélie Poulain takes on the aspect of a modern tale that
is punchy with humour and overflowing with fantasy; a lively and
sparkling storey thanks to the delicacy of the dialogues and the
photography; a story with magnificent sepia tones and memorable music
(I'm not a fan of piano, and yet ...).
It's hard to find a more endearing character than Amélie, this kind of
discreet and shy personality with whom we immediately identify, as she
sends us back our own reflection or the image of a known person, whose
social isolation isn't equal to inner fantasy. A character whose life
forms the basis of the film, whose depths of psychology are made known
to the viewer by a host of visual and sound techniques. The
opportunity to experience a multitude of emotions, at the same time as
to reflect on themes such as those of exclusion, difference or social
malaise, to try to answer this eternal question: "what to succeed in
life? ".
By a kind of "mise en abyme" (the scenes in which Amélie watches her
life on television bring us back to our image as a viewer watching the
film), thanks to the identification with the character and this
incessant sublimation of everyday life, Jeunet manages to release a
thesis of this poll story: life is the greatest of adventures; As
Hippolyte said in this movie: "life is just the endless repetition of
a performance that will never take place", so let's take advantage of
it and live the moment. Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain is an
underestimated film in France but recognized internationally. A
cinematographic poem that reaches a stage close to perfection; we
watch it without seeing the time pass, and long afterwards reconsider
the depth of its message, the beauty of such a scene, while whistling
the melodies of the soundtrack. A work overflowing with fantasy,
humour, lyricism, lightness and humanism, a unique moment of cinema at
the same time as a beautiful hymn to life, to brotherhood .... And
that's why I love this film so much.
by Lina Amarch