LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN

(Check out Chris Reed’s Little Amélie or the Character of Rain movie review, Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)

Notwithstanding the auteur theory of filmmaking (where the director is prioritized as the primary creative force), all films are a product of collaboration. That is perhaps even more the case in animation, where each frame is truly the product of a team. Such joint efforts are beautifully on display in Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, the first feature from Liane-Cho Han and Maïlys Vallade (interviewed here by Jack Schenker), both of whom have been working in the medium (supporting others) for well over a decade.

The film is an adaptation of Belgian author Amélie Nothomb’s loosely autobiographical 2000 novel Métaphysique des tubes (released as The Character of Rain in English). The story follows the coming-of-consciousness of a two-year-old Belgian girl living in Japan in the late 1960s. Replete with a cascade of stunning visuals that ripple and shimmer in perfect harmony, Little Amélie offers a profound study of the human condition that may be centered in a child’s point of view but resonates for viewers of all ages.

For the first two years of her life, Amélie exists in what she, as narrator, describes as a vegetative state. Then, after an earthquake, she comes alive, a development greeted at first with joy by her family (mom, dad, older brother and sister) but then with chagrin as she moves from one tantrum to the next. The cause, we are told, is that Amélie—or God, as she prefers to be known—is not satisfied with this world.

Fortunately for everyone, her maternal grandmother arrives from Belgium and, with a square of white chocolate, sets Amélie on a more peaceful path. Unfortunately, grandma must eventually return home. But there is a solution in Nishio-san, the housemaid hired by the parents. Though she is there ostensibly to help around the property, she quickly becomes the primary companion to Amélie, seeing in the girl a reflection of the family she lost as a child during World War II.

The ensuing narrative proves as charming as it is sincere, simultaneously complex and simple. Amélie slowly comes to understand that the universe may not always revolve around her, learning to appreciate the equal importance of those around her. Though self-centered, she is open-minded and, at least as far as Noshio-san is concerned, very kind.

The directors, who cowrote the screenplay with Eddine Noël and Aude Py, have found an ideal partner in their composer, Mari Fukuhara; her score provides gentle but evocative accompaniment to the magnificent images unfolding onscreen. Emotions are never oversold, instead landing with just the right notes. The end result is a lovely work of art that transports and transforms, exactly how a movie should.

– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)

G-Kids; Liane-Cho Han and Maïlys Vallade; Little Amélie or the Character of Rain movie review

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