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Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

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Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

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Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Name: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Director: Maïlys Vallade
Genre: Family, Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Children's
Released: 2025
Duration: 1 h 18 min
Cast: Loïse Charpentier, Victoria Grosbois, Yumi Fujimori, Cathy Cerda, Marc Arnaud

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Family
Animation

2025
Maïlys Vallade
78 mins
PG

Summary

Animated adventure. Born in Japan to Belgian parents, Amélie is at first slow to develop. But the taste of white chocolate awakens her senses, and helps her to navigate her first three years of life with excitement and curiosity.

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Jayne Nelson

This delightful, Oscar-nominated animated tale paints a world seen through the eyes of a toddler. Our narrator is Amélie (voiced by Loïse Charpentier), who lives with her Belgian family in 1960s Japan. At two and a half, she assumes that she is the centre of the universe -perhaps even God! Annoyingly, she can't bend the world to her will. But she can bond with housekeeper Nishio-san (Victoria Grosbois), until lines blur and she is unsure whether she feels Belgian - most of the dialogue is in French -or Japanese. Deftly adapting from Amélie Nothomb's memoir The Character of Rain, directors Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han use delicate brushstrokes to tell Amélie's story up to the age of three. As she experiences more of life, they expertly contrast washed-out watercolours with more vibrant hues. Taking a leaf out of Studio Ghibli's book, they also focus on small moments to build mood: someone gently straightening a pair of shoes, for example. The result is elegant, sweet and, with its subtle themes of post-Second World War national tensions, surprisingly poignant.

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7.6/10