Jean-Pierre Jeunet's breathlessly entertaining "Amelie," coming off of years of inventive, stern fairytales made in collaboration with Marc Caro, is a movie about mischief and bliss that's been described by a few as too sweet, too nice, too eager to please, as if a puppy had just pissed in their lap. (Yet it is the highest-grossing French film in history, with many markets yet to be cracked.)

Audrey Tautou plays a naive, innocent, wide-eyed gamine seeking love in one corner, one quartier, of the City of Light: there's little more you should know before taking this intricately constructed and brightly decorated ride, and reviews will certainly spoil some of the better giggles and shivers for you. Is it enough to say that as Amelie tries to make the lives of others happy, she makes parallel small steps toward her own romantic fulfillment? Let's just say "Amelie" is a snapshot of an idealized version of Paris' Montmartre district, and summary of narrative and fate, joy, momentary despair and still more joy. It's filled with lists of likes and dislikes and Jeunet's restless need to entertain makes "Amelie" a list in itself.

The 47-year-old writer-director recently told me that after test screenings in New Jersey, Miramax will consider any returns under $20 million a failure. But enough for now about money: What about the bliss? Why the need today to write a mildly rascally story about innocence and affirmation? "Maybe it's because I did three dark features," Jeunet says with a shrug. "When I worked with Caro, it was different. You have to have something to interest you in [all the work that goes into making] a film. But we are not brothers, we are not lovers. It is difficult to get the [shared] emotion. He doesn't like sentimental things. 'The City of Lost Children,' yes, is a dark film, and probably darker than most people imagine. It has taken me a long time to realize just how dark it is. And after 'Alien,' I realized that I had never made a truly positive film. This was of interest to me: to build rather than destroy presented me with a new, interesting challenge. I wanted to make a sweet film at this point in my career and my life, to see if I could make people dream, and give them pleasure. This is my personal film, one I dreamed of for a long time."

A viewer who cared could discern dozens of influences, especially from French film history and animation. Jeunet expresses admiration for a kind of actor who does not suit "realistic" filmmaking. " Today I tried to find some French faces, faces like Michel Simon, Carotte, Jean Gabin, the ones you see in films like those of [Marcel] Carne. It is not easy anymore. These are actors who had strange faces, but they knew how to play on screen. This was all before the nouvelle vague. After the nouvelle vague, everything had to be 'realistic,' but I hate that. I am always searching."

While Jeunet was working with exteriors for the first time, extensive digital post-production work manages to "interiorize" it all in a way. "I try to work outside like on a stage," Jeunet agrees. "We modified a lot of the reality. I hate white skies. But it was important that it take place in the Paris of today, and not be in some kind of timeless dimension. For example, we changed things on the wall, got rid of graffiti, added signs. We made sure there were modern objects, ugly things in the corner of rooms. And then in post-production, if we did not like a face in one corner, 'Bye-bye people.'"

I don't think anyone's ever made an I-love-New-York movie with as many locations as Jeunet uses of Paris in "Amelie." "I wanted Paris to be there at the heart of the film. It's Kurosawa who said that 'every shot should be like a painting,' and I agree with that. Like [Jeunet's close friend, the comics artist Jacques] Tardi, I am drawn to particular staircases, monuments, the elevated Metro trains. We start there, then clear the streets of cars, graffiti, make the city more aesthetic. Then, down to the final frame, digital post-production let us work on creating this Paris to the last moment.

I wondered if that eased the pressure on Jeunet, knowing digital technology allows the world to be endlessly revised. "I can't get used to the idea that I can't control everything," he says, half-joking. "Location work, there's always something going wrong, and it makes me crazy, a car parked in the wrong place, someone making noise. I prepare extensively so that I don't waste time, so when we lose an hour or two because of things we have not foreseen, I am not amused."

"Amelie" opens Friday, November 9.

Also by Ray Pride

LOVE AS A FOREIGN LAND
Startlingly mature work, even in the context of Barbet Schroeder's wealth of documentaries and features, the possibly-great "Our Lady of the Assassins" is a tale of impossible love against the backdrop of teenage contract killers in Medellin, Colombia.
(2001-10-25)

TOYING WITH BOYS
In Penny Marshall's new dramatic comedy, Drew Barrymore, at the ripe age of 26, plays Beverly Donofrio, an ambitious, sometimes selfish, usually confused single mother who wants to become a writer against impossible odds. Based on Donofrio's popular memoir, Barrymore's Bev ages from 15 to 36, and Marshall seldom allows Barrymore to fall back on her usual charm and effervescence.
(2001-10-18)

TWENTIETH-CENTURY FIX
A stylish, breathlessly paced examination of one convoluted theory about how history's first serial killings, London's notorious turn-of-the-century Ripper murders, took place, "From Hell" is as much museum piece as thriller. Their alternative history gleams.
(2001-10-18)

WHEN WE'RE ALONE
There's a twinkle to the style of Peter Chelsom's best comedies, and "Serendipity" makes for one of the best romantic comedies in ages.
(2001-10-04)

NORTHERN COMPOSURE
(2001-09-13)

NUMBER ONE NUMBER TWO
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O BROTHER
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SPELLBOUND
(2001-08-23)

RED MAN
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GHOST MASTER
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SECONDS CITY
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AMERICAN GRAFFITI
(2001-08-02)