Film of the Week #68 - A very long engagement (2004)

L31mr0d

This week my choice is the French movie "Un long dimanche de fiançailles" starring the enchanting Audrey Tautou

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0344510/
Metacritic: http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/verylongengagement/

I seen this movie purely by accident when it was released due to going to the cinema and there being nothing else worthwhile to watch. I chose this movie purely because in the pamphlet in cineworld this movie had a recommendation star beside it which I tend to trust.

To me this movie has the unfortunate problem of having neither an interesting title nor a particularly exciting publicity poster. I mean its called "A very long engagement" so people are already thinking its going to be long and about a romance, then for a cover picture they have two people sleeping? Everything about the first impressions of this movie leads you to believe it will be drawn out and boring.

This couldn't be further from the truth. If you have judged this movie by its cover then the opening scene will shock you as it opens in the trenchs during WWI where 5 French Soldiers are being escorted to no mans land so that the Germans in the opposing trenches may kill them. One of these men is the Fiancé of Audrey Tautous character Mathilde.

The movie centres itself around the relentless faith that Mathilde has that her fiancé is still alive. Even though her family and friends tell her to move on she won't. She begins to investigate the full story of what happened in these trenches by seeking out and finding people who where there or relatives of the people killed in no mans land. Each time she meets someone you get to see a little bit more of the story from their perspective, sometimes parts of the story change or conflict, sometimes you get to see whole new parts of the story, or get to see stories that build up the background of the other men sent out to no mans land.

All in all these stories are weaved together masterfully and are accompanied by a simply amazing musical score. It features real tear jerking moments, quirky laugh out loud moments and a plot that will have you on the edge of your seat as the mystery of what happened in those trenches slowly gets unravelled.

BlitzKrieg

i bought this a couple months back, was planning to watch it cause i love jean paul jeunet, but friends kept telling me it was crap etc and I didnt have the time to sit down and give it a go.

until last week.

Fantastic film absolute enthralled by it.

Surprised alot of the people who told me not to give it a chance normall love JPJ films like me, but didnt like this, I thought it was pure Jeunet the whole way through.


I love films with a bit of a puzzle to its plot (not so much a twist, just a puzzle) so how this one was told really appealed to me.

Bubs101

I saw this in French class but I only remember very scant details about the film apart from that it went down very very well. Sad ending

Karl Hungus

You know, I haven't seen this one, but I've been intruiged to check it out before, so I'll definitely have to snap it up. Nice choice by the way, something a bit out of the ordinary here.

johnny_ultimate

Been meaning to watch this too. Watched Juenet's City of Lost Children last week, and loved it, so been meaning to track down this, Delictessan and Amelié.

faceman

Funnily enough i havent watched this yet either but i think this thread has given me a provacation to do it. I had also heard mxied things about it, but then again not everyone gets Jeunet.

L31mr0d

faceman wrote: »

Funnily enough i havent watched this yet either but i think this thread has given me a provacation to do it. I had also heard mxied things about it, but then again not everyone gets Jeunet.

Yeah I've seen that, seeing as how I absolutely loved it I find it odd that people disliked it so much. One of the main gripes seems to be that its too long, which is odd because there are so many different story threads going on at some points that, to me, it felt like it could of been made longer.

The other major gripe seems to be that the subplots where more interesting than the main plot. I think this might be true to an extent as there where two subplots in particular

the female assassin and Jodie fosters story

that I would of liked to of seen more of. But in the end I don't think any of these stories on their own could of held the same weight as the love story and mystery that surrounds the main plot.

johnny_ultimate

Watched this last night and liked it a lot, although I didn't think it was perfect. Typically great Jeunet visuals, excellent performances and plenty of hilarious surreal moments (which surprised me - didn't think it would be funny at all). Also more emotional with stronger characters than his earlier, more madcap films. But I think it gets a bit messy with all the different characters and plot stands going on at once, and I found it a little difficult to follow at some of the more plot heavy moments. Apart from that, it was an excellently made film, completely different to a typical war film, but not quite as engaging as Lost Children or Delicatessen. Good recommendation though, and looking foward to checking out Amelié, which I really should watch at this point!

L31mr0d

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

But I think it gets a bit messy with all the different characters and plot stands going on at once, and I found it a little difficult to follow at some of the more plot heavy moments.

Yeah I'll agree with you on this. But I put it down to a loss in translation or maybe the subtitles distracting me from some of the more subtle scenes in the movie. Of the French people I've spoke to about this movie they don't know what I'm talking about when I say that it got a little hard to follow in the middle.

In saying this, any of my confusion was completely ironed out on a second viewing.

Hrududu

I really enjoyed this. I havent seen it since I went to see it in the cinema but I remember coming out of it thinking the visuals were amazing. I must rewatch it again soon.

shrapnel222

saw this one when it came out also. big fan of jeunet, and this one didn't disappoint. great choice