True love or insanity?
Title: A Very Long Engagement
Year: 2004
Writers: Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Guillaume Laurant based on the novel by Sebastian Japrisot
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
My Take: I went to a screening of this film completely deceived by the movie poster, ad campaign, and the title. I was sure I was in for a tear-jerker romantic drama in the vein of Cold Mountain or The English Patient. I've never been more pleased to be completely wrong. Those films are very good in their own way, but I just wasn't in the mood. What I should have put more faith in was the filmography of the director. Delicatessen is a deliciously black comedy about a tenement in post-apocalyptic Paris. City of Lost Children is a brilliant turn as dark and haunting as the grimmest of Grimm's Fairy Tales. And Amelie is, well, Amelie - a magical film that netted over $30 million in U.S. box office despite being French.
A Very Long Engagement did not only surprise, it delighted. That's not to say I didn't cry, there is romantic drama in the film afterall, but the comedy, action (it's a war movie), and fantasy stole the show. Audrey Tautou is a simple French farm girl who waits patiently for her fiance to return from the trenches in World War I. This despite multiple confirmations that he'd been killed for dissertion. This simpleton continues waiting for him, sure that he'll return. She begins an investigation into his disappearance. She begins to find inconsistencies in the stories of eye witnesses. Her hope grows as everyone else, her lawyer and a private investigator included, lose faith in the hunt. That's enough about the story. If you want to know what happens, you'll have to see it.
The cinematography is breath-taking. The use of color to convey the era is brilliant - sepia tones reflect the old photographs we've all seen from the 1920's. Splashes of color within the scene draw the eye to seemingly unimportant objects that at times become important. The sound edits was brilliant as well. The train scenes (she travels from farm to Paris, Paris to farm) are filled with the cacaphony of a steam engine - which at the time would have been far and away the loudest sounds a human would experience so they are the loudest sounds in the film. That is except for the sounds of war. The battle scenes are exquisitely crafted, certainly the most realistic depiction of combat since Saving Private Ryan. Many of the same techniques were used.
The Verdict: Unfortunately, this film was extremely poorly marketed in the U.S. Virtually everyone I've spoken to about it (those who had actually heard of it), had the same impression I did from the U.S. marketing campaign. You'd think they would have attempted to capitalize on the comic nature of the film and mention as many times as possible the the director and actress from Amelie were together again. This is a gem worth seeing on the big screen. Catch it if you can.
Year: 2004
Writers: Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Guillaume Laurant based on the novel by Sebastian Japrisot
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
My Take: I went to a screening of this film completely deceived by the movie poster, ad campaign, and the title. I was sure I was in for a tear-jerker romantic drama in the vein of Cold Mountain or The English Patient. I've never been more pleased to be completely wrong. Those films are very good in their own way, but I just wasn't in the mood. What I should have put more faith in was the filmography of the director. Delicatessen is a deliciously black comedy about a tenement in post-apocalyptic Paris. City of Lost Children is a brilliant turn as dark and haunting as the grimmest of Grimm's Fairy Tales. And Amelie is, well, Amelie - a magical film that netted over $30 million in U.S. box office despite being French.
A Very Long Engagement did not only surprise, it delighted. That's not to say I didn't cry, there is romantic drama in the film afterall, but the comedy, action (it's a war movie), and fantasy stole the show. Audrey Tautou is a simple French farm girl who waits patiently for her fiance to return from the trenches in World War I. This despite multiple confirmations that he'd been killed for dissertion. This simpleton continues waiting for him, sure that he'll return. She begins an investigation into his disappearance. She begins to find inconsistencies in the stories of eye witnesses. Her hope grows as everyone else, her lawyer and a private investigator included, lose faith in the hunt. That's enough about the story. If you want to know what happens, you'll have to see it.
The cinematography is breath-taking. The use of color to convey the era is brilliant - sepia tones reflect the old photographs we've all seen from the 1920's. Splashes of color within the scene draw the eye to seemingly unimportant objects that at times become important. The sound edits was brilliant as well. The train scenes (she travels from farm to Paris, Paris to farm) are filled with the cacaphony of a steam engine - which at the time would have been far and away the loudest sounds a human would experience so they are the loudest sounds in the film. That is except for the sounds of war. The battle scenes are exquisitely crafted, certainly the most realistic depiction of combat since Saving Private Ryan. Many of the same techniques were used.
The Verdict: Unfortunately, this film was extremely poorly marketed in the U.S. Virtually everyone I've spoken to about it (those who had actually heard of it), had the same impression I did from the U.S. marketing campaign. You'd think they would have attempted to capitalize on the comic nature of the film and mention as many times as possible the the director and actress from Amelie were together again. This is a gem worth seeing on the big screen. Catch it if you can.
posted by Hairy Lime at 7:51 PM
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