"Amelie" meets "Saving Private Ryan"...
Added 10/22/2009
A bizarre mix indeed but, believe it or not, it's a pretty apt description of this very odd but quite brilliant film.
First off, you get the most realistic depiction of what war must be like since "Saving Private Ryan", only this time the scene is the trenches in the Somme in 1917... so meticulously recreated, believably presented and deeply shocking that it will leave you stunned and drained by the time you've got through the first section of the film.
But then things become very different as director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and lead actress Audrey Tautou take very distinct aspects of their comic classic, "Amelie", and rework them into a much "darker" mix involving a charmingly poignant love story and an extremely complex and, in the end, pretty unbelievable detective story, centred on the fate of five men sentenced to almost certain death for self-mutilation in the trenches. Tautou plays a tougher but actually similarly sweet & quirky character to Amelie, and Jeunet uses a number of the same directing techniques that made "Amelie" such unconventional but fascinating viewing - flash backs, unusual camera angles, fast scene cutting, bizarre events, and intriguingly odd characters - right down to a secret box that holds the key to a mystery.
And, like "Amelie", the dialogue is in French and its delivery is fast, meaning that if you're trying to follow it with English sub-titles you're quite likely to get lost at key points. None of which sounds too promising. But no matter, because the detective story element of the film is fairly predictable, the dénouement to the love story holds no surprises and, their not why the film fully deserves a five star rating.
Why it does is because Jeunet is such a brilliant director and, as a result, the film is stuffed full with superb cinemaphotograhy, first class acting, wonderful scene-setting and, above all, a "pace" that holds your attention throughout and a "style" that makes for, at times, quite beautiful viewing... until, that is, you're plunged back into his equally brilliant vision of what life was actually like in the mud, squalor and blood of the trenches.
Horrific, charming, wholly believable and pretty unbelievable, all at the same time, "A Very Long Engagement" is an extremely strange film but one that will leave you marvelling at the sheer quality of its direction, photography and acting... and, as "Saving Private Ryan" achieved so successfully, it's depiction of the grim realities of war make it one of the best anti-war films that you're likely to see and one that you won't forget for a very long time.
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Far too dark
Added 7/31/2009
The few high points--sepia tones photography, some high quality acting, a couple of cheerful characters and and one bright, hopeful scene---were not capable of redeeming a film that revolved for too long on revoltingly violent, ugly scenes.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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she never gave up hope....
Added 7/4/2009
in the beginning i watched this solely because audrey tautou is in it...i wasn't expecting a reprise of " amelie," but at best a decent performance...this one exceeded my expectations..." a very long engagement" is just as magical and as thoughtful as " amelie " and confirms that jean paul jeunet is a filmmaker to watch....
tautou as mathilde, learns that her lover menech was killed in action in world war 1. but rather than accept his death, mathilde searches for menech with the hope that he is alive...."if he was dead, she would know" is her rationale...mathilde even plays little games like running to a bend in the road to make it there before a car and beating it to see if menech is still there or cutting the peel off an apple without breaking it...her hope is childlike and naive and yet, you easily get behind her, hoping for the best...she enlists many people to help her in her quest, even though some of them think she is wasting her time...jodie foster ( yes, the jodie foster with two oscar wins under her belt ) appears in a supporting role to help mathilde find her lost soldier...jodie plays a woman who is married to a french soldier who asks her to do a "favor" for one of his friends, so he can get out of fighting the war....even with her small part...jodie shows you why she has two oscars....
the romance between mathilde and menech is what powers this story...in flashbacks from childhood to adulthood, they seem like they were meant to be together and this is why mathilde is willing to defy fate to look for menech...jeunet has again put magic and faith into a film and by the time i reached the end of it, i was beaming at the results...audrey has worked with many directors, but tautou fits with jeunet like deniro with scorcese
this one's a keeper...
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Trenches and the aftermath
Added 6/27/2009
A French look at trench warfare in WW1. The hero is a young woman who will not believe that her fiance was really and truly killed for good and always. She defies all alleged proofs and goes for the truth, which gets peeled away in layers like an onion. The detection process provides us with several mini stories, each a peach of its own.
The loyal prostitute who avenges the killing of her pimp by killing the officer who withheld the man's presidential pardon from a death sentence for self mutilation. (Before she gets guillotined she declares: je ne regrette rien; of course she is played by the actress who got the Oscar for her Edith Piaf version.)
The soldier, whose wife, played by Jody Foster (what a surprise that was to meet her here as a Polish immigrant in France during WW1), has several kids from a previous husband; he can not be a father himself, but he figures out that he needs another child in the family to be released from military service and therefore he talks his best friend and his wife into giving him a child together... which leads to raging jealousy but no impregnation ... I am fairly certain that story is from Decamerone. Need to look that up.
(The world has only about a few hundred basic story structures, which get repeated in different shapes and sizes in different times and places...)
The frame story of the woman who will not give up searching is for sure also not new, nor is the final solution to the mystery a surprise, but I will not spoil it.
A very nice movie with great cinematography and splendid actors. Even Tautou, whom I had started to dislike for Da Vinci. I reconsider.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Epic in delivery; Intimate at its core
Added 1/30/2009
"A Very Long Engagement" was out for a while, and I always attempt to see award winners. I finally found it at the library, in a 2-disc version, but wasn't able to watch it til the last moment. Pity! There is so much to absorb, too much for one viewing (and reading subtitles). I won't blab away the plot, like previous reviewers; it's way too complicated, and, yet, very simple. I was reminded of "Doctor Zhivago", with a gender switch, because Mr. Jeunet has crafted an opulent adventure/love story, full of intrigue, passion, gorgeous sets and cinematography, fine acting, and generally a satisfying film experience. (It also takes place during the same time period.) Ms. Tautou sheds some of that natural beauty, to enhance her frustrating quest; Gaspard Ulliel is wonderful, and not only because he's gorgeous, but goes through the most amazing revelation from charming to shell-shocked ambivalence, never losing the sweetness of character that made Mathilde so intent on her mission. I thought I noticed Jodie Foster, a feisty character, and when the credits rolled, I was blown away; her perfect French, combined with the passionate character, just added to my admiration of her. Indeed, the entire cast was excellent, and Mr. Jeunet's sure hand kept everything in perspective. The second disc has some great stuff regarding the development, and turning these actual locations back to 1920's authenticity. I was moved a great deal; it's a simple story, fascinating and very individual-type characters, and numerous flashbacks keep it riveting at all times. A very fine film.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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"Amelie" meets "Saving Private Ryan"...
Added 10/22/2009
A bizarre mix indeed but, believe it or not, it's a pretty apt description of this very odd but quite brilliant film.
First off, you get the most realistic depiction of what war must be like since "Saving Private Ryan", only this time the scene is the trenches in the Somme in 1917... so meticulously recreated, believably presented and deeply shocking that it will leave you stunned and drained by the time you've got through the first section of the film.
But then things become very different as director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and lead actress Audrey Tautou take very distinct aspects of their comic classic, "Amelie", and rework them into a much "darker" mix involving a charmingly poignant love story and an extremely complex and, in the end, pretty unbelievable detective story, centred on the fate of five men sentenced to almost certain death for self-mutilation in the trenches. Tautou plays a tougher but actually similarly sweet & quirky character to Amelie, and Jeunet uses a number of the same directing techniques that made "Amelie" such unconventional but fascinating viewing - flash backs, unusual camera angles, fast scene cutting, bizarre events, and intriguingly odd characters - right down to a secret box that holds the key to a mystery.
And, like "Amelie", the dialogue is in French and its delivery is fast, meaning that if you're trying to follow it with English sub-titles you're quite likely to get lost at key points. None of which sounds too promising. But no matter, because the detective story element of the film is fairly predictable, the dénouement to the love story holds no surprises and, their not why the film fully deserves a five star rating.
Why it does is because Jeunet is such a brilliant director and, as a result, the film is stuffed full with superb cinemaphotograhy, first class acting, wonderful scene-setting and, above all, a "pace" that holds your attention throughout and a "style" that makes for, at times, quite beautiful viewing... until, that is, you're plunged back into his equally brilliant vision of what life was actually like in the mud, squalor and blood of the trenches.
Horrific, charming, wholly believable and pretty unbelievable, all at the same time, "A Very Long Engagement" is an extremely strange film but one that will leave you marvelling at the sheer quality of its direction, photography and acting... and, as "Saving Private Ryan" achieved so successfully, it's depiction of the grim realities of war make it one of the best anti-war films that you're likely to see and one that you won't forget for a very long time.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Far too dark
Added 7/31/2009
The few high points--sepia tones photography, some high quality acting, a couple of cheerful characters and and one bright, hopeful scene---were not capable of redeeming a film that revolved for too long on revoltingly violent, ugly scenes.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
|
she never gave up hope....
Added 7/4/2009
in the beginning i watched this solely because audrey tautou is in it...i wasn't expecting a reprise of " amelie," but at best a decent performance...this one exceeded my expectations..." a very long engagement" is just as magical and as thoughtful as " amelie " and confirms that jean paul jeunet is a filmmaker to watch....
tautou as mathilde, learns that her lover menech was killed in action in world war 1. but rather than accept his death, mathilde searches for menech with the hope that he is alive...."if he was dead, she would know" is her rationale...mathilde even plays little games like running to a bend in the road to make it there before a car and beating it to see if menech is still there or cutting the peel off an apple without breaking it...her hope is childlike and naive and yet, you easily get behind her, hoping for the best...she enlists many people to help her in her quest, even though some of them think she is wasting her time...jodie foster ( yes, the jodie foster with two oscar wins under her belt ) appears in a supporting role to help mathilde find her lost soldier...jodie plays a woman who is married to a french soldier who asks her to do a "favor" for one of his friends, so he can get out of fighting the war....even with her small part...jodie shows you why she has two oscars....
the romance between mathilde and menech is what powers this story...in flashbacks from childhood to adulthood, they seem like they were meant to be together and this is why mathilde is willing to defy fate to look for menech...jeunet has again put magic and faith into a film and by the time i reached the end of it, i was beaming at the results...audrey has worked with many directors, but tautou fits with jeunet like deniro with scorcese
this one's a keeper...
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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