A Very Long Engagement (2004) (AKA
Un long dimanche de fiancailles)
Fans of Caro and Jeunut, the co-filmmakers
of such dark and wondrous fare as "Delicatessan" and
"The City
of Lost Children," will find much to love in "A
Very Long Engagement," the second solo film by Jean-Pierre
Jeunet. Here, the artistic and imaginative writer/director
turns his jeweled eye towards World War I and delivers
a film as tragic and graphic as Spielberg's "Saving
Private Ryan" while also, somehow, infusing the
story with the kind of magic that Spielberg usually
saves for his more fable- oriented films.
This is a sumptuous film, beautifully
photographed, perfectly detailed and full of wondrous
images. The effect on the viewer is overwhelming as
we are sunk deeply into a picture postcard replication
of a sepia-toned France during the early part of the
twentieth century. And although the war scenes are
realistic and horrific, they are also jaw-dropping
in their stunning visual magnificence. Where Spielberg
made war realistic and gritty, Jeunet makes it surrealistic
and gritty. Somehow this seems to be more graphic
and breathtaking. In "Ryan," the men save each other
out of a sense of duty and turgid responsibility.
Here, they save each other out of conscience and humanity.
This is a war film that again allows the viewer into
a realm hitherto seemingly unknown. We are in the
trenches, on the front line in WWI.
Truly one of the most intense and
dire scenes in the film involves a zeppelin explosion
that is so replete with verisimilitude that it builds
a tension that it nearly unbearable. It is like this
throughout the film. Scene after scene of impending
doom that still somehow manages to be infused with
a sense of hope and humanity. Perhaps it is because
we see the events here through Mathilde's eyes, a
fawn-like creature who is both hopeful and honest.
Of course, there is another part
to this film, one that is enriched with mystery. This
is a love story first and foremost and the center
revolves around Mathilde, a young crippled woman whose
youthful lover has left her village to go to war.
When he does not return at war's end, and is eventually
declared dead, her heart tells her otherwise and she
embarks on an investigation to discover what is true.
Through this device, we see an account
of a wartime incident several times over, each time
through another set of eyes of a man who was there.
There are five men involved in this horrific incident,
Mathilde's lover Manech and four others, and while
it is often difficult to separate each of the different
soldiers other than the young fresh-faced boyfriend,
we eventually see all the pieces fitting into place
and understand the story.
While "A Very Long Engagement" isn't
the most romantic and most emotional film, it is still
remarkable viewing. Here we are given a somewhat distanced
and detached view of the events because they are so
horrific and unfathomable, it is hard to expect the
audience to truly experience them. There is a reverent
awe for the events here, infused with the magical
alchemy of time passages and cinema, that truly make
the film a dark, mysterious, eye-widening pleasure.
It's hard to deny the charm and
joyousness that Audrey Tatou brings to the role of
Mathilde. Yes, perhaps Jeunet relies on her far too
heavily to captivate his audience, but why not? She
can engross us with just a crook of a smile or a crinkle
of her nose. It is her charm that allows us to believe
that the other characters here would give into her
and offer up their truths so easily. Gaspard Ulliel,
meanwhile, as Manech, is just as adorable and loveable.
Childlike and innocent, Ulliel easily evokes the image
of the young soldier. Within him, we see the face
and the naivety of every young man ever sent to war,
an image that haunts even more deeply in this troubling
time of continuing International conflict and war
in this new century.
Note:
In French with subtitles.
Also with Jodie Foster, speaking
her role in fluent French.
Music by Angelo Badalamenti.
Based on the novel by Sebatien Japrisot.
Nominated for a Golden Globe for
Best Foreign Language Film.
The film has had several problems
with film festivals and awards nominations because
it is a French film backed by an America studio, Warner
Brothers.
The film debuted in France in 2004
and appeared in U.S, arthouses in November of that
year.
Viewed in Austin on Christmas Eve
2004 at the Arbor Theater.
