A Very Long Engagement

[Cadaver]

Okay, so with a title like that, and the fact that SWMBO had rented it, I thought I was to be subjected to a chick flick Saturday night.  A foreign language one at that (it's in French, with subtitles).  D'oh!  What had I done to deserve such a fate...

Well, I was pleasantly surprised.

The film is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet who did Alien 4 (woops) and Amelie (pretty good if I'm honest).  It's set in 1920 in the aftermath of the Great War and tells of a young woman's (Audrey Tatou) search for her missing fiancee.  She learns he was sentenced to death for an act of self-mutilation, yet she refuses to believe he's dead in the face of overwhelming evidence.

What we have here is part detective story, part love story, but with some pretty stark flashbacks of life in the trenches on the Somme.  All beautifully shot in Jeunet's unique style.  There's even a turn by a well-known Hollywood actress who, as well as stealing every scene she's in, manages to pull off some pretty convincing French to boot.

It's a great film, definitely worth watching.  

[Dewey]

I thought the same as you Cadaver, as I sat down at the local cineworld with lots of other worried looking blokes and their girlfriends/wives/mistresses etc. But its actually very watchable with some fantastic cinematography and adult dialogue, good story too.

[A Twig]

Thats based on a book I think, can't remember what the book was called, might well be the same title, and it was possibly the saddest book I have ever read. I will freely admit I did have somewhat glassy eyes by the end. Awesome stuff

[Maus]

(psst... you forgot to mention that Jeunet, with Caro, was behind the excellent City of Lost Children and Delicatessen - well worth seeing)

[delanvital]

Originally posted by Maus@Nov 29 2005, 04:14 AM
(psst... you forgot to mention that Jeunet, with Caro, was behind the excellent City of Lost Children and Delicatessen - well worth seeing)

[post=103143]Quoted post[/post]

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Delicatessen - great film. Bizar.