Amelie (the edited version)

I loved this movie. Quite different than my initial reaction to having to read subtitles throughout the entire movie (as an excuse we were eating, I was more interested in concentrating on food than reading). The subtitles did not effect the movie at all. And it was a great pleasure to listen to French, it is such a beautiful language.

The story of Amelie who has been sheltered all her life because of her "weak heart." She is home schooled and therefore has no friends; she dreams and prays for a younger brother but does not receive one. As an adult she finds a box hidden in the wall of her bathroom. A little boy filled the box with treasures and hid it 40 years earlier. Amelie sets out to find the owner. If he receives joy from the box she will set her life on a course to do good continually. After Amelie sees the joy on the man's face, she immediately goes to find ways to do good and she is so creative in how she accomplishes her good deeds. She walks with a blind man for a little and tells him all the sights she is witnessing. She makes friends with her reclusive neighbor, referred to as the "glass man" because of his brittle bones. She finds the owner of a lost scrapbook and of course finds love in doing so. Moral of the story: If you do good unto others, you will find love... or something like that.

Shouldn't we all be anxiously engaged in doing good continually. The movie did give me desire to do good to others, now I need to go and do. I tend to think of service only in terms of grand projects but really I should just focus on the little things: sharing a smile, picking up trash, holding the door open, giving out more compliments, telling someone if they drop something, sending little gifts just because...

The movie also displays individual quirks. We all have them, I too love the feeling of running my hand through grains or sand, I eat my sandwiches and hamburgers in a circle to save the middle for last...