{"id":378907,"date":"2026-04-02T22:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/378907\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:04:11","slug":"french-favourite-gets-anniversary-re-release-in-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/378907\/","title":{"rendered":"French favourite gets anniversary re-release in Ireland\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty five years ago, Audrey Tautou\u2019s Am\u00e9lie first walked the cobbled streets of her neighbourhood Montmartre in Paris \u2014 and sowed the seeds of what was to become a cinema classic.<\/p>\n

The then relatively unknown Tautou, filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet and screen writer Guillaume Laurant combined to make movie magic. The story of a quirky and lonely woman who set out to find joy in the everyday through small acts of kindness resonated with audiences the world over.<\/p>\n

\"Am\u00e9lieAm\u00e9lie screen writer Guillaume Laurant pictured at UCC when he visited for the Cork French Film Festival. File picture: GMC\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeunet\u2019s film, an ode to the City of Light, is both a fairytale about the power of love and human connection and a parable about the value of kindness. As it returns to our screens in celebration of its 25th anniversary, its message feels more potent than ever. Jeunet had already enjoyed success with the much-loved Delicatessen a decade earlier. But Am\u00e9lie was on another level \u2014 and turned the then 24-year-old Tautou into a star.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was huge,\u201d says Parisian woman Aur\u00e9lie Godet, who has made her home in Cork as director of programming at Cork International Film Festival. \u201cShe wasn’t known, she was selected through audition – her audition tapes are available online. It’s super sweet and interesting to watch, because you feel the discovery. You see the character being born and taking shape, and it’s already really her. It’s Am\u00e9lie there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tautou could never have anticipated how the iconic role would put her in the spotlight. \u201cShe became known by absolutely everybody,\u201d says Godet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"(Left(Left to right) Am\u00e9lie star Audrey Tautou and director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. File picture: Francois Guillot\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cJean-Pierre Jeunet says that it was difficult for her, the sudden intense fame and attention. She was quite resistant to it. He cast her again in his following film, A Very Long Engagement. In fact, that’s the project they had before Am\u00e9lie and that they couldn’t get financed. Not only did the success of Am\u00e9lie enable the financing and the making of that film, but they had a double \u2014 they collaborated on two beautiful films and different characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Am\u00e9lie not only enchanted audiences worldwide \u2014 it arguably changed how audiences viewed French cinema. The film was not only a huge hit in its native France, but went on to become the most successful French film in the world \u2014 a record that would stand for a decade until the release of The Intouchables 10 years later. It was released in 50 countries, finding an audience of 23 million people on its initial release and taking \u20ac133.5 million at the box office \u2014 a number usually connected to Hollywood blockbusters.<\/p>\n

Perhaps inevitably, this mainstream success led to a pushback against the film both in its native France and among divided audiences. \u201cIn France, what happened is that the reality is people liked it, and a lot of people saw it,\u201d says Godet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then when there’s such a sudden, huge out-of-the-blue success, French people like saying no! They would say that this was an image of Paris and of France turned to the past, which didn’t correspond to the reality of Paris, and so it was kind of reactionary.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time I was sensitive to the arguments of the people who were a bit vexed about how their city was pictured. But I enjoyed myself watching it. I liked very much all the actors. You have Jamel Debbouze, who was a very popular comedian at the time, and Mathieu Kassovitz who is very known as a filmmaker and a brilliant actor. It was all very entertaining and enjoyable and quite touching.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Aure\u0301lieAure\u0301lie Godet of the Cork International Film Festival. Picture: Franc\u0327ois Berthier\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Irish audiences, too, fell in love with Am\u00e9lie, and many cinemas nationwide have jumped at the opportunity to re-release the film for its 25th anniversary. They include Cork venues the Arc and Triskel, both screening the Parisian classic in April.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would have had a lot of demand around something like this coming back, putting it out again after 25 years,\u201d says Niamh Warner of Triskel. \u201cBut I think it fits really well overall into the Triskel programme, because there are elements of it that are art-house film, which is what we try and promote here. It’s really accessible to an audience as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“And I think for a lot of people, it’s probably one of the first non-English language subtitled films that opened their mind up to cinema. It\u2019s been cemented now as a modern classic and that\u2019s why we\u2019re bringing it back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The visual beauty of Am\u00e9lie is part of its enduring appeal. Set in the bohemian, hilly streets of the north of Paris \u2014 where many narrow cobbled streets lead to Sacr\u00e9-C\u0153ur Basilica \u2014 this is Am\u00e9lie\u2019s stomping ground. It\u2019s the place where she works in a caf\u00e9 as she devises secret strategies to better the lives of those around her \u2014 while wondering whether to grasp her own chance of happiness, too.<\/p>\n

\"AA scene from Am\u00e9lie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Parisian district and look of the film feel like characters of their own, Warner says. \u201cIt has this incredible set design. The streets of Montmartre and the colour palette is so rich with the red and blue and yellow that it employs. It has this really iconic score by Yann Tiersen. It’s really beautifully composed in terms of framing. There are all of these technical and formal qualities that make it beautiful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But she also feels that the story\u2019s big heart is what ultimately makes the film resonate with audiences.\u00a0 \u201cAt its heart, it’s really funny, unexpectedly funny. It’s really moving without being sentimental or cloying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The film is about Am\u00e9lie being this person who is by herself, not isolated necessarily, but she goes on this journey of self discovery, and it has this very enduring message of doing these small acts of kindness and how they can be really transformative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It has a lot to say about empathy and the human spirit and her life changes because she reaches out to people with these small, little acts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n It’s a really hopeful film, and I think that’s why it really affects people and really resonates.\n <\/p>\n

The film\u2019s release was a punctuation point in French cinema, with its strong indigenous industry and history of films across many genres, including comedy. But mainstream international audiences perhaps associated France with the more art-house and serious films that reached their shores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was suddenly an attention given to French cinema that was definitely revived,\u201d says Godet, who adds that she\u2019s glad to see the film return to our screens.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say it’s very important, including for me, as a programmer of a big festival, to look back, because it’s these classics, certified by time passing by history, that continue to start passions for cinema. Young persons now can become interested in or even passionate about cinema, watching those masterpieces.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Am\u00e9lie is released across selected Irish cinemas, including the Arc from this weekend, and Triskel from April 26-29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty five years ago, Audrey Tautou\u2019s Am\u00e9lie first walked the cobbled streets of her neighbourhood Montmartre in Paris…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7328,79765,61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-378907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-film-tv","9":"tag-screen-scene","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}