MovieChat Forums > Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2002) Discussion > He may've only wanted sex, which would'v...

He may've only wanted sex, which would've been morally justifiable


...because while this story ended with a courtship, who's to say this courtship was headed toward an entirely sexual relationship or for a lifelong pairbond (exclusive monogamy)? Some women only want sex and some men only want sex, so who's to presume what the other person wants? Amelie and Nino may well have stayed happily together for the rest of their lives, we'll never know, but because Amelie didn't seek some kind of relationship agreement through an open discussion with him, he could've walked away with a clear conscience straight after sex.

If there is any upset about this, it's probably because exclusive monogamy is the *presumed* agreement.

P.s. Love this film

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agreed. it's assumed they are each other's soul mate and for me they are. but there's no reason as to why they couldn't be friends with benefits or one night stands. but i wouldn't call it morally justifiable. wrong choice of phrase for me


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I'd normally agree with it in any other type of film but Amelie really is an adult kind of fairy tale. It has that kind of magical realism in the way it looks and it's wonderful though lets face it pretty unrealistic plot where love is purely this magical, sometimes tragic but all consuming thing once that it hits you you are sticks you for life. I mean Amelie' father spends half his life making a shrine to his dead wife, Madame Wells wasted 60 years pining for a husband who betrayed her and only could move on when she felt she had validation that he loved her. There seems to be a "soulmate" or "one big love" for everyone in Amelie's universe and the movie makes it clear Nino is hers.

First the flashback of Amelie's previous boyfriends you can see her heart's not in it when they first see each other her reaction of her heart beating fast and her immediate fascination with him shows there's something connecting her to him
The similarities in Amelie and Nino's childhood feelings of isolation right down to them flashing lights trying to find a friend to communicate with them in the window. Again there's that connection established with them
When Nino finds the first photo Amelie sends him he takes it home and his thoughts like hers play out against inanimate objects they say basically she is the girl of his dreams that's not something you would include if you as a filmmaker were potentially going to imply that he only wanted her for sex especially since he'd never met her till the end
The inanimate pictures in Amelie's room says she's falling in love with him after she finds his album
Dufayel asks her outright if she loves him and she says yes
Nino comes back after all the cat and mouse games and then going to meet her only for her to deny it he even when he shows up at her door and goes away he says he'll return when she doesn't open the door and he does. There's more then sexual interest involved.
Also the real clincher is that afterr their night the last scene is them riding on the bike where she kisses his neck and stuff

It's love in Amelie's world.

I saw the musical adaptation and in that it's definitely unambiguously depicted as love. There's this really cute moment when Amelie and Nino first see each other and a bunch of hearts pop up and they speak out their thoughts and after Amelie basically runs away when he recognises her in the photo Georgette, Suzanne and Gina are singing to him about their ex boyfriends and telling him not to screw Amelie over and he says he loves her.


beauty freedom love truth

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When selecting girls for one-off sex or one-night-stands, men in general are:

1) Not really fussy about how the woman looks unless she is atrociously ugly, since they are only going to see them once and then never again. It was pretty obvious that Nino was extremely curious about how Amelie looked and whether she was pretty or not.

2) Seeking a woman who is likely not going to stalk or hound them after sex. Amelie honestly exhibited all the tell-tale signs of someone who would get emotionally invested easily and stalk Nino after sex if he just got up and left her. There is no way a man would partake in Amelie's games if he was only after a one-off hook-up.

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