A Very Long Engagement

Hollywood's last attempt at an epic mixing wartime tragedy with romance resulted in the overblown turkey Pearl Harbor. Now, French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet shows how it should be done with this brilliant adaptation of Sebastien Japrisot's World War I tale about an undying love in the era of brutal trench warfare on the western front. The heroine is Mathilde (Audrey Tautou, known from Jeunet's earlier AmJlie), a polio victim with a pronounced limp, who falls in love with sweet, simple Manech (handsome Gaspard Ulliel). The young man is drafted late in the war, and reportedly dies after being forced--along with several other comrades accused of trying to maim themselves to escape service--to go unarmed into no man's land, where enemy gunners inevitably shoot to kill. But Mathilde refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and undertakes an obsessive search to find him--a journey presented in the form of flashbacks from different perspectives that gradually reveal the truth about his fate. Intricate, stylish, and visually exquisite, A Very Long Engagement is a very long movie as well; complex and dreamlike, with a small army of characters to keep straight. But it's so perfectly controlled and masterfully executed that the rewards are worth the added attention. A lovely film in every respect, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a 74-minute “making-of” documentary, 14 minutes of bonus “Parisian Scenes,” a “Before the Explosion” scene look (13 min.), and 14 deleted scenes with optional commentary (11 min.). Bottom line: an excellent extras package for this acclaimed French romantic epic.] (F. Swietek)