This allows us to understand her character isn’t so much impish as she is innocent and imaginative. Amélie (2001) – source: Miramaxĭirector Jean-Pierre Jeunet has explained her background through a short stylistic chronology of her childhood including a “neurotic” mother and an “iceberg” father, a home-schooled education, and no friends beyond her imagination, due to a perceived health condition by her father. The latter is just one of many reasons why Amélie doesn’t fall into the Manic Pixie Dream Girl category. Amélie strikes me as this type of character initially but, rather than doing so to benefit the male characters in the film, she seems to be doing so for audience members who are missing the zest for life. Manic Pixie Dream Girls have no story arc or development that would lead a character to have depth - they’re merely cute, quirky, and frequently childlike or mischievous.

These characters don’t exist for themselves within the confines of the film but rather for (generally-speaking) male characters who need to learn to have a zest for life. Oftentimes quirky or whimsical women in film tend to fall into the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” such as Kirsten Dunst in Elizabethtown or Natalie Portman in Garden State. Middemb Is Amélie a Manic Pixie Dream Girl?Īmélie is a quirky, charismatic, whimsical film and so is the titular character.

Amelie french movie