'Amelie' conquers hearts and changes the world

No blood, no action? "Amelie" (2001) has conquered the hearts of people all around the world in a style which might signal a change in the perceptions of mainstream cinema. This past year we have seen a strange phenomenon: people all over the world gave in to the charm of a French girl with Bambi eyes. This fairy-tale for adults, a French version of magical realism, at first seemed to critics both too fantastic and too sweet. The Cannes Film Festival refused to include the film in the competition, seeing it as a mere "trifle." A review from British paper The Guardian opened with the headline: "a Parisian fairy-tale with an adorable woman devoting her life to helping others?