Jeunet on his Parisian ange

I was taken by her big ears and her wide open eyes and got in touch with her and did some test shots. After about four seconds I realised she was my Amelie. It was more or less instant.

My other films (The City Of Lost Children, Delicatessen, Alien Resurrection) were shot in the studio with plenty of special effects. Amelie is the first time I've shot on the streets in an uncontrolled environment and where the special effects are used to bring poetry to the story.

I believe there is a supreme director above us all who decides what kind of light you are going to have and what kind of weather it will be, but there is nothing you can do when you've cleared the parked cars on the road and somebody comes and plonks his car right where you are going to film and says, 'I don't give a shit about cinema'.

It's difficult when you are a perfectionist like me. I have even been known to go into some of the cinemas in Paris to check on the sound and picture quality.