Amelie (Yann Tiersen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gdOK2jLZB4 The score to Jean Pierre Jeunets 2001 film Amelie has stayed with me since I first saw the film; the CD soundtrack never leaves my car and is always a first play on the drive home after a stressful day at work. The work is not so much a traditional score as opposed to a collection of songs written specifically for the film and taken from songwriter Yann Tiersens first two studio albums. Tiersens melodies and instrumental arrangements muse on and reflect the themes of Jeunets film; Tiersen lets his instruments playfully intertwine and dance around each other, much like lead characters Amelie and Nino. Tiersens score perfectly reflects Jeunets hyper stylised Paris; his accordions and trumpets swing to a truly Parisian beat. The scores greatest achievement is that Amelie would not be the truly wonderful film it is without the music; Jeunet apparently by luck heard Tiersens music being played by a production assistant in a car and soon had bought his albums and asked him to score his new film. I dont know if Jeunet had anything in mind before hearing Tiersens music by luck, but I cant imaging Amelie with out Tiersen.
Will Pond