'Amélie' trivia and fun facts
The madness for the Café des 2 Moulins
The Café des 2 Moulins which appears in the film exists in reality, it is in Paris Lepic Street, near Montmartre, even if the interior is completely different at what you see onscreen. However, after the success of the film, they had to chain the chairs outside because people stole them. They also stole the garden gnome of the movie, which the director gifted the owners of the restaurant.
The candidates to become Amélie
Jeunet wrote the movie thinking in Emily Watson for the role of Amélie, however she had to decline it because she didn't knew French and calendar conflicts. He also thought in Vanessa Paradis. Finally, Jeunet made his choice after seeing a poster of Audrey Tautou in the movie 'Venus Beauty Institute'.
Jeunet fell in love of Yann Tiersen's music
Jean-Pierre Jeunet wanted composer Michael Nyman to score the film, but he couldn't get it. He listened by chance some of Yann Tiersen's music and he fell in love of his work. So much so than most of the tunes we listen on the film are existing pieces by Tiersen which he bought the rights. Tiersen also composed an original song for the film, "La Valse d'Amélie", which was recorded in different versions.
A love story without words
Although 'Amélie' is mainly a movie about the love story between the main character and Nino, the couple barely exchanges any line of dialogue in the whole film, besides the brief phone call in the Sacré Coeur and the briefer encounter in "Les 2 Moulins".
The alternative story of Amélie Poulain
Twenty-two years after the movie release, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet published at the beginning of 2023 a short comedy film in which he narrated, with images from the movie, what was supposed to be the real and alternative story of the film and its main character. There, Amélie Poulain was in fact a KGB spy.
A very clean film
To give the film its fantastic look, every time they were shooting outdoors, the team spent days cleaning thoroughly each location, erasing graffitis and all dirt. This was specially difficult when shooting in Montmartre or the train station.
The inspiration of Juarez Machado
The main colors in the film, green, yellow and red, are based in the paintings of Brazilian artist Juarez Machado.