Times are hard for dreamers

The above is my favourite line from Amélie, which I finally got to see today. It’s an unrealistic, sugary-sweet fairytale, and the whole thing is bursting to the seams with trite, sentimental clap-trap. Oh, and every single minute of it is absolutely brilliant. To me, the film shows that there’s nothing wrong with being a dreamer (for dreamer, it appears, read “slightly odd loner”) - just that you have to find the right person to share the dreaming with; someone who understands “that type of person”, because they’re one too. Sniff, sigh, etc.

Maybe I’m too cynical, but these days I often don’t retain much faith in human nature - mostly it’s people and acts of unselfish kindness that restore this faith; maybe the occasional book, film or piece of music. This afternoon, as corny as it sounds, my faith in human nature has been restored by watching Amélie. I can almost hear the muttering of “Oh shut up, you sentimental fool” from here.

Just to add to this effect, I’m listening to the gorgeous sounds of Rufus Wainwright, so I’ll probably only get worse as the evening progresses.