[last lines]
Narrator: September 28th, 1997. It is exactly 11am. At the funfair, near the ghost train, the marshmallow twister is twisting. Meanwhile, on a bench in Villette Square, F?lix Lerbier learns there are more links in his brain than atoms in the universe. Meanwhile, at the Sacr? Coeur, the nuns are practising their backhand. The temperature is 24?C, humidity 70%, atmospheric pressure 990 millibars.
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Narrator: With a prompter in every cellar window whispering comebacks, shy people would have the last laugh.
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Am?lie Poulain: She doesn't relate to other people. She was always a lonely child.
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Am?lie Poulain: At least you'll never be a vegetable - even artichokes have hearts.
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Old Man at the Two Windmills: Still, true love does exist.
Suzanne, Owner Two Windmills bar: I know. After 30 years behind a bar, I'm an expert. I'll even give you the recipe. Take two regulars, mix them together and let them stew. It never fails.
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Am?lie: [whispering in theater] I like to look for things no one else catches. I hate the way drivers never look at the road in old movies.
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Am?lie: It's better to help people than garden gnomes.
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Man in photo: She is in love.
Nino Quincampoix: I don't even know her!
Man in photo: Oh, you know her.
Nino Quincampoix: Since when?
Man in photo: Since always.
Man in photo: In your dreams.
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Hipolito, The Writer: Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's.
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Narrator: [Am?lie has found Nino's photo album and his "lost" posters] Any normal girl would call the number, meet him, return the album and see if her dream is viable. It's called a reality check. The last thing Am?lie wants.
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Am?lie: I am nobody's little weasel.
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Narrator: For Bretodeau, that little box brought back a lot of memories - Federico Bahamontes winning the '59 Tour de France, and of course, the tragic day when he won all the marbles at playtime
The Teacher: [Bretodeau tries to put all his marbles away before the Teacher sees him] Bretodeau!
[approaches him and gets his ear]
The Teacher: You know the pinch, Bretodeau!
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Narrator: Amelie refuses to get upset for a guy who'll eat borscht all his life in a hat like a tea cozy.
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The Sacr?-Coeur Boy: The fool looks at a finger that points at the sky.
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[screaming, after Am?lie spills tea on her]
Georgette: Bravo! Vive la France! You scalded me! Bravo! Ten out of ten! Ten out of ten! Bull's eye!
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Am?lie: [to her father, who is not paying attention] I had two heart attacks, an abortion, did crack... while I was pregnant. Other than that, I'm fine.
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Joseph: You're gorgeous when you blush. Like a wild flower.
Georgette: [shaking head] It's my dyspepsia.
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Narrator: Amelie has one friend, Blubber. Alas the home environment has made Blubber suicidal.
[Pet fish leaps out of fish bowl in an attempt at suicide]
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Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: You mean she would rather imagine herself relating to an absent person than build relationships with those around her?
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[first lines]
Narrator: On September 3rd 1973, at 6: 28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth. Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eug?ne Col?re erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Rapha?l Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife Amandine. Nine months later, Am?lie Poulain was born.
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[Am?lie hands a begger some money]
Beggar: Sorry madam, I don't work on Sundays.
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Josef Stalin dubbed in propaganda film excerpt: If Am?lie chooses to live in a dream-world and remain an introverted young woman, she has every right to mess up her life!
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Bretodeau, The Box Man: Time's funny. When you're a kid, it passes slowly, and next thing you're fifty and your childhood fits into a rusty little box.
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The Newsstand Woman: A woman without love wilts like a flower without sun.
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Narrator: Am?lie still seeks solitude. She amuses herself with silly questions about the world below, such as "How many people are having an orgasm right now?"
[scenes of various orgasms taking place]
Am?lie: Fifteen.
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Seller in the porno shop: These are hard times for dreamers.
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Narrator: Philom?ne likes the sound of the cat's bowl on the tiles. The cat likes overhearing children's stories.
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Hipolito (The Writer): We pass the time of day to forget how time passes.
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Narrator: Nino is late. Amelie can only see two explanations. 1 - he didn't get the photo. 2 - before he could assemble it, a gang of bank robbers took him hostage. The cops gave chase. They got away... but he caused a crash. When he came to, he'd lost his memory. An ex-con picked him up, mistook him for a fugitive, and shipped him to Istanbul. There he met some Afghan raiders who too him to steal some Russian warheads. But their truck hit a mine in Tajikistan. He survived, took to the hills, and became a Mujaheddin. Amelie refuses to get upset for a guy who'll eat borscht all his life in a hat like a tea cozy.
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Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: So, my little Am?lie, you don't have bones of glass. You can take life's knocks. If you let this chance pass, eventually, your heart will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton. So, go get him, for Pete's sake!
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Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: Lady Di! Lady Di! Renoir!
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Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: So that's the one, there, the guy who raises his hand?
Am?lie: Yes.
Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: Is she in love with him?
Am?lie: Yes.
Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: The time has come for her to take some real risks.
Am?lie: Well yes, she's thinking about it. She's thinking of a stratagem.
Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: Yes, she likes stratagems, doesn't she?
Am?lie: Yes.
Raymond Dufayel aka Glass Man: She's a bit of a coward. That's why I have trouble with her eyes.
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