Amelie has always been one of my favorite movies. I went through a period of being really into French cinema, and although I don't watch much nowadays Amelie has always stayed very close to my heart. I know it's a very popular film anyway, but I've just always really related to Amelie with her "quiet on the outside, loud on the inside" personality, her endless daydreaming and optimism, her social awkwardness from spending too much time isolated in her own head, and people around her thinking her infantile and naive. Like Amelie I've never been in a relationship because I run away at the first hint of interest, assuming no one can be bothered to take the time to get to know me and my strange little ways, scared that if I let others into my inner world I'd have to give it up entirely in order to be accepted. When I was in school I was bullied for just about everything about me, my home life was unstable for a myriad of reasons, and there are levels of dysfunction that just destroy a person’s ability to network with anyone. I am nobody's little weasel. What else is a girl to do but retreat into the depths of her imagination?
I hadn't actually looked into the musical adaptation before going so went in blind which I generally prefer to do as then there's fewer expectations. Wicked is my most favorite musical of all time, but I remember the very first time I saw it I was so disappointed because I'd been listening to the soundtrack for so long and had pictured scenes in my head completely differently to how they actually were, and it took me years before I gave it another chance and fell in love with it. So I prefer to know as little as possible before going in if I can help it.
The biggest thing that I liked about it was how French it felt. I'd heard that a lot of the French-ness was lost when it was on Broadway which I assume is just down to culture clash, but the French and the British are direct neighbors so tend to know each other pretty well! All of the actors even spoke and sang with heavy French accents, which I appreciated for how firmly rooted it kept the show in Paris but I admit it made bits difficult to understand too. I've traveled to France many times and never had any difficulty understanding actual French people, so I think it was just the fact it was almost entirely sung through in heavy accents. I'm glad I already knew the film as I think a lot of it would have gone over my head otherwise.
Overall I really liked it though! I'm hoping they release a London cast album as it's definitely something I'd want to hear over and over and pick up on things I missed. It kept the quirky nature of the film nicely, but without over doing it (the fig scene!!). I loved the set design, it had a little window at the top of the stage that opened to reveal Amelie's apartment, and how she grabbed on to a lampshade and floated up to it, and during the cafe scenes you could actually smell the smoke from the cigarettes. The humor was excellent and so well timed, and I loved how the cast are playing instruments throughout which was incredibly clever. To be able to sing and dance whilst playing a cello or violin? I'm in awe. I'd wondered before it began where the orchestra where and never expected it.
Before the show I mostly spent time in Camden. I travel to London a lot, but I haven't visited Camden in about a year and it seemed as good a place as any to have a mooch round. It's lost a lot of it's personality over the years as it's become more and more commercialized and most of my favorite shops are long gone, but it's still fun to play tourist for the day. I had a delicious waffle filled with chocolate, strawberries, marshmallows, and cream that made me feel a bit sick, and managed to get lost around the Stables.
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