There is a new review of Amélie at 20 in the Guardian Newspaper – here!
I had written a blog post about my day retracing some of the places where Amélie was filmed. Similar to my post on, “Wings of Desire” – it outlined where I went and how I got there. Then I thought – to hell with that!
No-one wants to read my account of a day chasing locations of an 18 year old film.
So instead, this post is going to use my Amélie day to explore why I chose travelling as the antidote to compulsive gambling – but for fans of the film, don’t worry – I will include the pictures and some anecdotes about the locations I went to.
It was a hot August day when I decided to take the challenge on. After my success with “Wings of Desire” it was always going to happen – I had fun in the planning, using the internet to find the locations and then working out the routes via the Metro and suburban lines (and occasional buses.) In order for this to work seamlessly, I ordered a weekly ticket on my Navigo pass (now card) – and for those interested there is more information about this, at the bottom of the piece. *
Why should a 62 year old, who had never visited Paris before, decide to use a 18 year old film to dictate his first day there?
Well first of all I loved the film. For those that don’t know it, Amélie is a waitress at a café who because of her rough start in life (mother being killed and her father being emotionless) decides to make things happen for friends and some strangers – a sort of “random acts of kindness” although not all the acts are kind. Most of the negative criticisms I have seen about the movie suggest that she is “unreal” and a “stalker / psychopath.” For example, she helps a blind man to cross the road whilst giving a running commentary on what was going on around him. He seemed happy, but you can’t help feeling that in real life he would have said “get off me!” But hey – movies are not real. This film often signals itself to say it is fantasy. For instance, what are the chances of your mother being killed by someone else’s suicide! For those that want to check the film out on Wikipedia – the link is here!
The other star of the film is Paris. Again, this is not the real Paris, but a fantasy Paris, similar to the one of my imagination. I saw the film when it was released, in 2001 and that was just at the time I had stopped gambling for good. I recognised in it some of the qualities that keep people from gambling – not just lack of opportunity (there are no slot machines in the café) but the community – everyone there knowing each other and looking out for each other. Similar to my experience at La Parenthese – I wanted to be part of a community in unfamiliar part of the world.
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So, the high-light of my trip was a visit to the café. Called, “Café des Deux Moulins,” it is just up the road from the Moulin Rouge and the nearest metro station “Blanche” was just outside there. Although the café had its fair share of tourists (and even more coming to the door just to take photographs) it also had its regulars too. Several workmen chatting to the bar staff and a couple of older people on bar stools reading “les journaux” as they probably did most days. I sat at a table across from the bar – and was overcome by this feeling that I find hard to say: I won the lottery that day. The joy I felt in just being there – knowing that this was my reward for stopping gambling. A small reward in many people’s eyes – but hey this was MY reward – you go find your own! I ordered a meal but not the Crème brulée which features in the film and was therefore very over-priced. I went to the one toilet which also plays a memorable part in the film – there was no extra charge for that. There was a small collection of film memorabilia in the waiting area – still being commented on after all these years.
Then out into the fresh air and another location – this time the canal where Amélie skims stones which is filmed in an amazing way and is one of the technical delights of the movie. I reached the bank at the same time as a tourist boat was coming down, (similar to an incident in Berlin,) but this time there were some pissoirs around if I was taken short. Of course I was! I dallied for a while in the bright sunshine there before hoicking myself over to Montmartre and another community.
Montremartre was the district where Amélie had her flat – and one of the places I saw in the film which looked SO French was the store on the end of the block … one place I had to go to. Of course, Montremartre is also famed for being a close-knit community, much loved by 19th century artists. But it was also the place where the reality of life hit me in the face – well at least the smell of it did. To get to “le magasin” – I had to pass a place that had been used as a human toilet – and in that August heat… Don’t worry I have spared you the photograph – but I did take a shot of a nearby rough sleepers pitch – which may or may not have been connected.
As a compulsive gambler, I am acutely aware that rough sleeping may have been my fate. I am also aware that some of the rough sleepers I see around may be there because of past or even current gambling problems. In a sense I am homeless – as is occasionally pointed out to me, but in my case it is a choice and I can afford to ensure I have a roof over my head and (most importantly for my condition) an inside toilet. When I stay somewhere on a long-term basis, I may look into what I can do to lighten the load of some of these people. For now, all I can do is notice and not forget that my “Amélie” vision of Paris – is not the hard reality out there.
And so, to the site of the episode I highlighted at the top of the piece. Amélie’s description of what was going on around in the street that the blind man was trying to cross. Hopefully there is a link to a video here – but if not it is something that you can look up on a search engine.
This was near the Metro station of Lamarck – Caulaincourt which looked exactly as it did in the film and indeed some of the shops (the butcher’s) are still there. Unfortunately, I arrived too late for many of them to be open – but I did sit outside a café opposite the station to do a bit of people watching. I can see the attraction of living in a city like Paris – the vibe, the variety, the mix, the joie de vivre.
Reluctantly, I made my way across the city to my last destination – the place where I was going to get the train back to my Airbnb – but also the last stop on my list of Amélie haunts; Gare de l’est. Here was the location of the photographic booth which played such an important part in the film and was part of the plot Amélie hatched to snare her man. I think the one which was featured in the film has been removed – but the one I photographed is the nearest to it. When I think of all those photos discarded for not being “right” for the passports of travel passes – it reminds me of the people who are discarded from society for not fitting in. I feel as a traveller that I am closer to the discarded ones than the settled person with a house full of possessions, a car, a family. Perhaps that’s just romanticism on my part – I have no wish to experience rough sleeping or living on the edge in any other way. I guess I have made a choice to have a different life from most. A choice that Amélie also made? Maybe, that’s why I love the film. Maybe that’s why I fell in love with Paris.
* The Navigo week pass can be bought for all areas for 22.80 Euro (as at October 2019) which means that you can use any bus, commuter train or metro for around £3.00 per day. A boon when the cost of a train from my digs to the centre of Paris was over 14 euro return. It meant I saved money within 2 days – just going to Paris, never mind travelling around it. The only thing you need to watch is that it works from a Monday to Sunday – but you can buy the pass from the Friday before. 2021 update – the price has not changed, (perhaps because fewer people are travelling because of the pandemic.)
