There’s one film I always watch when I’m sick in bed. I can still remember going to the movie theatre to watch the film and how everyone in town talked about it for weeks afterwards: LE FABULEUX D'ESTIN D'AMÉLIE POULAIN. The world discovered Audrey Tautou’s impish smile and her character Amélie captured the hearts of thousands. On the other side of the Atlantic the film inspired the American writer Reif Larsens, who later confessed to Jean-Pierre Jeunet: "When I watched AMÉLIE, I had the feeling that someone was poking around in my head!"
Jeunet’s latest film DIE KARTE MEINER TRÄUME (THE YOUNG AND PRODIGIOUS T.S. SPIVET) is an adaptation of Larsen’s novel by the same name. The film tells the story of the 10-year-old child prodigy T.S. Spivet from Montana, who invented the perpetual motion machine and runs away to Washington to receive the prize at the Smithsonian Institute. Jeunet has some wonderful ideas in this film and his characters display unusual quirks. Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Clair is a militant feminist, amateur etymologist, and a somewhat absent mother. And Judy Davis, a regular in Woody Allen films, as the overly excited curator of the Smithsonian makes for good laughter. This film doesn’t quite match the magic of AMÉLIE, but there are enough bizarre details that remind the viewer of Jeunet’s masterpiece, such as: a talking dog, Dr. Clair’s diary with covered in stickers, and the enjoyable and satisfying 3D effects.

Raphaël Rück