I wrote this a while back, but it still works. My personal reviews of her films...
Amelie-
The first, naturally. It's probably everyone's first and maybe only of hers. I remember parts of it still, although I haven't rewatched it in longer than I'd care to admit. It was very strange and very different from what I was used to watching. Lots of colours and movement and almost just a sense of vibrancy to it. The film making was quite disjoined, sort of cut-up in a way. It's been ages but I still remember that end sequence the most, them just riding along. I think that she was on a vespa with that person that she'd spent the whole movie going after. He had a bit of large nose, I think, and that last part just felt so wonderfully happy. The movie that got me started on Audrey Tautou's movies.
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not-
The second one and still my favourite. Probably the most creepy and disturbing, and even worse, because it's the one that I identify with the most. She's an art student and wins a scholarship and just feels like me in so many ways. Of course she's crazy though, which might not be the best thing for me in some form. I don't know, I shouldn't give it away, but it was the best, I thought.
The Venus Beauty Institute-
Kind of boring, it was her first movie, if I'm remembering right, she only had this really small role. Basically she's this young, innocent girl working at the beauty salon. The movie's really about someone else, the love story of one of the older women, and Audrey Tautou just plays the background character. She ends up with this old man who apparently doesn't love her, but I like to imagine that she did end up being happy with him somehow.
Dirty Pretty Things-
Another one that I liked quite a bit. Very intelligent, which was good, and it covered an actual topic, rather than just being about a couple's romance. A bit strange in that Audrey Tautou was speaking English, it didn't really register properly until partly into the film, wait... that's not French. She did speak with a slight accent though, she was playing an immigrant with a pretty difficult story. Actually, throughout the movie the characters almost seemed to be divided into categories of more pure or not. I've already mentioned this, but as lovely as the male lead was, I've started thinking that maybe those boundaries were a bit too well-defined. Definately one of my favourites though, I really recommend this one of hers.
Happenstance-
From tonight, I found it pretty dull. I really, truly wanted to like it, but I just didn't. Maybe if it had had more of the lead,s and less of the side characters. I liked both her and her love interest, I've just looked him up. A French/Algerian singer, there's a little bit of his background worked into the role as well. The truth of it, is that I do like to watch pretty people up on screen. It's awful, but it's also the blasted truth for me. Even if the movie's deadly dull, if I at least have someone nice to look at, or even some pretty sceneary, or good costumes, or anything visually at all. This was mostly just a bunch of random people who were somehow connected, talking on and on about pieces of their lives. I guess it could have been interesting, but there were just too many of them for me to get really interested. Maybe if they had chosen to focus on the two leads or worked around more of a plot line, I'm not sure. I wonder if I was more cultured I'd have liked it more. I don't think that I'm going to try again for confirmation though. I did attempt it though.
My next films of Audrey Tautou's that I'm going to try to find are God is Great, We are Not (I'm pretty sure that's the proper translation) and the new one that she has coming out. It's going to be a costume one, 20's or turn-of-the-century I think, so I hope that it's good finally. If I don't like either I suppose I can always return to rewatching Amelie and He Loves Me over again.
I think I've seen all her films.
