A Very Long Engagement
(Un long dimanche de fiançailles) 
(Warner Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(2004)
review by Head Cheeze

It is nearly impossible to categorize the films of French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. His earlier works with co-director Marc Caro, such as the twisted cannibal comedy, Delicatessen and the visually scrumptious dark fairy tale, The City of Lost Children, were universally acclaimed for their eclectic mix of drama, humour, and a ferociously original visual style. Much like Terry Gilliam, Jeunet and Caro somehow found the beauty in ugly things, concocting worlds shrouded in elegant darkness, and populated by people whose appearances were as unique as their surroundings. While critics and cinephiles praised his work, Jeunet was still largely unknown outside of his native France. However, with 2001’s Amelie (aka; Le Fabuleux Destin d’ Amelie Poulain), Jeunet would paint his first solo masterpiece; a quirky and irresistible tale of a woman’s search for love in Paris, Amelie went on to become an international sensation, introduced the world to the stunningly beautiful Audrey Tautou, and finally established Jeunet as one of the world’s finest filmmakers.

The long-awaited follow-up to Amelie, 2003’s A Very Long Engagement, sees Jeunet returning to the formula that won over fans of Amelie, but on a scale that rivals even the most ambitious Hollywood epics.

Mathilde (Tautou) has been notified of the death of her fiancé, Manech (Ulliel) during World War I. It seems that Manech, a simple and gentle young man, manufactured an injury to get sent home from the war, and was summarily executed for his misconduct along with four other prisoners guilty of the same crime. However, Mathilde, who has loved Manech since they were children, won’t accept that her lover is gone, and decides to use her family’s inheritance to investigate what really happened to her fiancé. As she digs deeper, she crosses paths with the friends and families of those said to have shared Manech’s fate. They, too, have doubts about the events that took place in the trenches of Bingo Crépuscule, the frontline outpost where their loved ones were sent to die. Mathilde’s investigation uncovers a military conspiracy that promises to reveal what truly happened to Manech on that fateful day, but, as her hopes fade, Mathilde begins to wonder if she is better off not knowing the truth at all.

A Very Long Engagement is not only a wonderful love story and an enthralling mystery, but, perhaps most surprisingly, it is also an effective epic war film. Like Spielberg in Saving Private Ryan, Jeunet paints an unflinching picture of the horrors of trench warfare, showing the impact of it on both the flesh and the minds of the French soldiers. However, Jeunet even finds moments of beauty here, amongst the stark, muddy landscape strewn with barbed wire, bomb casings, and bodies. There’s a moment in which we see the remnants of a church where little is left standing save for a fractured statue of Christ. This scene evokes a sense of desperation, yet also mirrors the hope that Mathilde carries throughout the film.

As authentic and impressive as the war sequences are, Jeunet’s recreation of 1920’s Paris is simply remarkable, achieved through a seamless blending of CGI and meticulously crafted set pieces, punctuated by period costumes, vehicles, and props that spring to life under the eye of Amelie cinematographer, Bruno Delbonnel.

Tautou is, once again, remarkable as Mathilde, who is the polar opposite of the beatific Amelie. Mathilde is a strong-willed woman who’s suffered too much in one lifetime to simply let her Manech go without a fight. Tautou portrays her as feisty, incorrigible, and intense, yet, underneath it all, she is still the ten year old orphan, crippled by polio, whose heart was long ago rescued by Manech, and feels it is up to her to return the favor.

Warner Brothers presents A Very Long Engagement in a two-disc special edition, featuring the film and a full commentary by Jeunet (in French with English subtitles) on disc one, and a pair of featurettes and a documentary called “Paris in the ‘20’s”. I would have liked to see more on the making of the film itself, but the documentary is a perfect companion piece.

While fans of Amelie may be initially put off by the more serious nature of A Very Long Engagement, the film still features Jeunet’s trademark quirky humour, as well as a richer and much more compelling story. I still prefer Amelie- as that film’s abundant charms require less of an emotional commitment and seem tailor-made for repeated viewings- however I have a feeling that A Very Long Engagement will grow on me the same way that film did.

As a matter of fact, I can’t wait to watch it again.