ATLANTA — Harry Potter's got a new girlfriend. Sort of.
She's "Amelie," France's surprise Oscar contender, the quirky, inventive tale of a young Parisian woman's search for love. She's doing to art-film lovers what "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is achieving with mainstream audiences — packing 'em in.
Long lines and sold-out shows have been the norm at George Lefont's 400-seat Garden Hills Cinema, where the critically acclaimed "Amelie," written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring fresh-faced Audrey Tautou, has been playing since Nov. 16. The subtitled movie is also showing at General Cinemas' Parkway Pointe in Cobb County, where, in response to increased crowds, the movie moved to a larger screening room last week and will move again to an even bigger one today.
"Audiences like it like crazy," says Lefont, who plans to screen the film at Garden Hills "all the way through the holidays and maybe beyond that. I think it's going to be here for a long time."
"It looks to be that breakout independent or foreign film this year," says Brian Callaghan, manager of communications and public relations for General Cinemas.
"It's right up there with 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'The Full Monty,' " Callaghan says. "It's getting in people who won't normally go see a foreign film."
During the past two weekends, Lefont says his theater has been sold out at least half a dozen times.
Uldine Goler, 74, of Stone Mountain, Ga., caught a crowded afternoon screening Saturday with her daughter and a friend.
"I thought it was delightful and had a message that we could probably use today," she says. "When we left, there was this horde of people waiting to get in and there were loads of people trying to park."
Among those waiting was Diane Barry, 54, who was finishing a daylong, three-movie marathon with her daughter. They saw "Harry Potter" and "Life as a House" before arriving at Garden Hills to see "Amelie."
"For us, it was the perfect ending," Barry says. "I loved 'Amelie.' I thought it was very sweet, very different. We were watching people's expressions as they came out of the theater. Everybody had a little grin on their face."
There's another interesting relationship between Miramax Films' "Amelie" and Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter."
While "Harry" represents Hollywood's modern marketing approach — sending out an unprecedented 8,000-plus prints to ensure massive crowds and early box-office records — "Amelie" is strictly old-school.
Miramax opened it in a limited number of theaters and 200 screens nationwide, banking on word-of-mouth to generate audiences as it slowly adds theaters.
It seems to be working. So far at Garden Hills, "Amelie" ticket sales are outpacing a past popular romance story, "Shakespeare in Love," which opened small three years ago and built buzz. Back then, it not only worked, but helped "Shakespeare" upset "Saving Private Ryan" at the Oscars.
"I've already told several friends about 'Amelie,' " says Carol Danford, 55, of Midtown. "They're all folks I know who enjoy little offbeat movies with subtitles. Audrey Tautou is cute. She's kind of a young Audrey Hepburn. She'll probably be a style-setter."