Little Amelie or the Character of Rain is the story of two (and then, three) year-old Amelie and her life in post-war rural Japan as a Belgian foreigner. The film explores different events in her life but ends up centered around the key relationships in her life, like her family, her grandmother but, most importantly, her family’s nanny.
The film is a very fable-like story. Amelie’s voice actor narrates over her own story, telling it like a story of the past. We see lots of surreal (and, almost, spiritual images) as the film depicts Amelie in places that are beyond earth. The animation is reminiscent of illustrators in children’s drawing. It uses creative expression often distinguish itself in its artwork and doing things live action could not. I appreciate that this includes angles that could not be easily captured in live action so we get unique coverage of the film’s more simpler scenes.
The film, among other things, highlights the beauty and charm of the small pleasures of life as seen through the eyes of a child. The narrative emphasizes this because the thing that gets Amelie to start talking and interacting with her family is Belgian white chocolate. We see in other parts of the film how Amelie enjoys the nature around her, animals, water, rain, creating with wood and cooking with her nanny Nishio san.
There is also an interesting commentary on God. Amelie refers to herself as ‘feeling like God’ because she was simply an onlooker at the beginning of her life. What the film concludes with is that Amelie is not God and that she is better for it as she makes the most of her finite life. She experiences all the joys that come her way to the fullest despite the sadness her story encounters. A very charming and loveable movie with relationships you root for and visuals that will fill your heart with joy.
Little Amelie or the Characters of Rain is playing at TIFF ’25. For more information, click here.
