A Very Long Engagement

Starring: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Dominique Pinion, Andre Dussollier, Ticky Holgado, Marion Cotillard, Jodie Foster
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Rating: R
Genre: Foreign, Drama, Romance
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: During World War I, a woman (Audrey Tautou) searches for her fiance (Gaspard Ulliel), who went missing during one of the battles. Despite everyone around her pleading for her to give up, she continues searching.

Review:

Tim: A Very Long Engagement is an epic romantic drama set during World War I. It's an interesting film, as an independent movie, but also of a France-USA alliance to create it. Some thought the film was too American, but all in all, it's a good movie. I liked the epic feel of it- we have flashbacks, mysteries, battle scenes, romance, and more. So much is put into this film, it's no wonder it clocks in at 133 minutes.

I liked the basic idea of the film- a woman holds onto hope during a long and winding search to find her missing fiance. This gives the film it's central mystery- did he make it out alive, or is he indeed dead? The movie goes back and forth on this topic- offering a glimmer of hope, and then shutting it down. You really feel like you are part of this roller coaster ride of emotions. It must have been difficult for our protagonist to continue the search in spite of so much adversity. It is entertaining and fun to watch this woman on a mission to find the man she loves.

Audrey Tautou was a great choice for the lead role of Mathilde. Tautou is excellent as projecting strength, and yet vulnerability. While this isn't her best performance, she is still solid in the role and deserves credit. She's on screen more than anyone else, and manages to maintain the audience's focus. I felt engaged throughout the film, mostly due to Tautou. I was less impressed with her missing lover, Gaspard Ulliel. I'm not sure how much of this is his fault, and how much of it is the writing, but I just didn't care for his character. He seemed weak, silly, and not the type of person you'd spend years of your life searching to find. I thought the back story of Mathilde and Ulliel's Manech helped explain the love between these two, but I never bought them as a couple based on their performances. It probably didn't help that Ulliel, a year older in the film is actually eight years younger than Tautou. This was obvious throughout the film, and added to the difficulty I had getting into this relationship. That hurts the movie, because these two are at the heart of it all. Without really believing or caring about them, the rest of the movie loses effectiveness quickly.

The supporting cast is all quite good. I really enjoyed the performance of Marion Cotillard, and I was pleasantly surprised (shocked, really) to see Jodie Foster in a small role, speaking fluent French. All the supporting players deserve credit for bringing this story to life, though.

This movie is indeed a bit too long, but it manages to hold the audience's focus very well. I was engaged throughout the film. Using the central mystery of Tautou's missing fiance was a great way to keep the movie interesting. As the film goes on, and piece by piece begins to fall into place, you really feel a desrire to see the puzzle complete and really understand the events that led to his disappearance. The film does a good job of intriguing the head while also trying to touch the heart.

While A Very Long Engagement does many things right, it's flaws ultimately prevent this film from being more. I really believe the casting of Gaspard Ulliel hurt the film. It is about 15-20 minutes too long. I never really felt the romance or the love between our two main characters, which prevented me from feeling any real kind of emotional connection to the characters or the story. These all add up, giving us the kind of film that is easy to like, but only receives Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography (and not surprisingly, doesn't win). This is the kind of film that is good, but not good enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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