Amor eterno

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet in the hit, "Amelie," employed scintillating Audrey Tatou, the most expressive young French actress in film today, to portray a whimsical and charming girl-woman in search of love. With her now as a young French rural ingénue searching for years after The Great War (aka World War I or, even better, The War to End All Wars) for a probably killed fiancé, Jeunet crafted a moving, often penetrating story centering on the charnel carnage of trench warfare.

Lame as a single-digit-age child because of polio and living with relatives who took over after her parents were killed in an accident, Mathilde is befriended by Manech (Gasparad Ulliel). Mathilde, a loner separated from her peers by her disability, and Manech become closest friends. Late adolescence brings love and lust, commitment and an engagement.

But in 1917 the French Army needed fresh meat for the bloody maw that was warfare on the almost terminally static Western Front. And off went Manech along with many others who never returned.

Employing the harshest discipline of any Western army in modern history, the French Army (which gave the world the Dreyfus trial and in World War I actually used decimation to punish mutinous regiments and divisions) sentences Manech and four others to be cast into No Man's Land without weapons, without any possibility of being allowed to return but with the macabre requirement that they respond to morning roll call if alive (not a good bet). Their alleged crime was self-mutilation to get out of combat (what we call in the American military, "SIW," Self-Inflicted Wounds).

Mathilde in 1920, steely faithful in a moving and believable way, searches fervently for her fiancé whom she believes "must" be alive somewhere, somehow. Employing artful stratagems and enlisting the willing, the paid and the dragooned, her search takes her to cities and battlefields. With resort to a child's employment of magical thinking she frequently whispers tests about what will happen in immediate, ordinary circumstances with one result "proving" for her that Manech is still alive. Tatou makes this self-deception appealing and infinitely sad.

As Spielberg did in "Saving Private Ryan," Jeunet brings the immediacy of the meat-grinding battlefield to the viewer over and over again through superb if sometimes difficult to watch cinematography. Of course no film truly captures the desperation, the epidemic fatality that gripped and demoralized the French Army after years of immobile, set-piece fighting. One needs to read Robert Graves or Siegfried Sassoon for that. But Jeunet has brought to the screen the most realistic World War I trench scenes since "All Quiet on the Western Front" (the 1930 original, of course).

Tatou is an acting tsunami here, alternately beguiling and tense and always hopeful while fighting despair. Expect to see her in many fine roles in the future. She's marvelous.

The entire cast is excellent-few are known in the U.S.

A remarkable movie with an ending that will satisfy and disturb at the same time.

Tatou and Jeunet deserve Oscar nominations.

10/10

Lovely Audrey Tautou and director Jean-Pierre Jeunet reteam (having previously made the delightful comedy Amelie) in the epic war drama, A Very Long Engagement, based on the novel by Sebastien Japrisot. It is a visual powerhouse of a film that defies conventional genres by melding together different themes and injecting a generous dose of period authenticity. This French language film is an emotional odyssey that keeps you guessing while it never loses sight of its humanity and even humor.

Childhood friends and then lovers, Mathilde (Tatout) and Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) are separated when duty calls in World War One France. War is hell and the trench fighting that will claim countless lives begins to take its toll on men's sanity and tolerance. Manech becomes one of five soldiers arrested for cowardice because each has a self inflicted hand wound to evade the deadly fighting. But instead of execution by firing squad, the condemned men are forced into no man's land to be fodder for the German line.

It is almost certain that all the prisoners died that day, but years later, in 1920, Mathilde continues in her quest to find the truth and her lover. Aided by her aunt and uncle, she enlists the help of an investigative agency and lawyer to track down the people who knew Manech. Slowly the list grows and one clue connects with another as more witnesses emerge. What starts out as a somber war romance develops into a fascinating adventure of love and mystery of fate as Mathilde follows the trail. Sure, she does get frustrated as a couple of clues are dead ends, but when a connection is established, the story leaps forward. At times the help comes from an unexpected source and at other times, sheer coincidence saves the day. There is even a subplot involving treachery and betrayal. Before long, the audience will become caught up in her journey. Is Manech alive and will Mathilde ever find him? The film's structure weaves back and forth through flashbacks with great ease and clarity. An occasional voice over narration ties up the loose ends. As the plot begins to make more sense, key scenes are retold from different viewpoints in the Rashomon style of storytelling. The battle scenes, quite grim and realistic (Saving Private Ryan type of action), are light years ahead of Paths of Glory's anthill scenes, although the opening march through the trenches is almost identical to Kubrick's 1957 classic. There is even a hint of the older favorite, Random Harvest, which also dealt with a wartime romance and search.

A Very Long Engagement is blessed with a strong ensemble cast although it may require a score card to keep track of all the names. Andrey Tautou is quite good as the anxious searcher. Her beauty never detracts from her acting talent. Gaspard Ulliel reminds one of a young Ethan Hawke in his innocence amid difficult circumstances. As the wife of a key character, Jodie Foster is effective as she corresponds with Mathilde. Yes, Jodie does the French thing well, but her appearance is a bit jarring. Dominique Pinon, a favorite of Jeunet's (Alien: Resurrection, Amelie), lends good support as the uncle. Even the smaller roles are well rounded and memorable, a testament to good casting, strong writing, and Jeunet's direction.

This big budget film is lengthy, but it does have the sweep of a big time novel. The production is outstanding in the authentic costumes and historic set designs of 1920. Jeunet employs cinematography and computer graphics effectively to recreate the era magnificently. He has always been a marvelous director of eye candy, and the film is wonderful to look at. Angelo Badalamenti who has spent a lot of time scoring the moody thrillers for David Lynch is allowed to flourish here with a lushly romantic, emotional soundtrack.

Doubtless this is very likely the ultimate French tearjerker, a kind of Gone with the Wind meets Cold Mountain type of film. It serves as a commentary on war, a romantic fable, a revenge tale, and an intricate mystery. It is a film that defies pigeonholing and that's part of the fun. It also has well defined characters and nice touches of detail and exposition. In short, it is one powerful movie to close out 2004.

***1/2 stars out of ****

A powerful and emotional war drama from French auteur Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Audrey Tautou leads us through an engaging and well-crafted story which sweeps us into the world of its characters, whom are established and well developed as the story progresses. The film itself is visually arresting with stunning cinematography. It was actually Bruno Delbonnel's visuals that acted as one of the man aspects that allured my interest in the film, it's a visual powerhouse blending the gritty conventions of war with scenes of a more romantic and dramatic style. A harrowing and emotional account of World War I from the perspective of French soldiers and civilians.

A gorgeous film about love, search, hope and fight. Colors from "Amelie", touching Gaspard Ulliel, delicate performing of Audrey Tautou, impressive presence of Jodie Foster. And flavor of a lost world, so persistent, so heavy, so ambiguous.

A splendid French adaptation of a novel but, more important, a subtle exploration of miracle's rules. At first sight, it is a story about believe. At the second- hope in the skin of nostalgic images. But in fact, it is end of innocence. Manech is not the boy-friend, the good guy from an old lighthouse, he is the sense of Mathilde's existence. The poor signs to know if he is alive, the contact with lives of others, the postman like angel of new part in interior universe, the joy and the final silence are elements of a intangible miracle.

That is the motif to discover this film like second part of "Amelie Poulain". Same director or same actress are irrelevant details for explain the feeling because the message is more important than any definition. The principal character are not the war/ search/love/ sacrifice/hope. The fundamental problem is the sense of life, yesterday or tomorrow, the gestures of world's discover, the taste of miracle and the touch of his shadow.

This movie is better than "Amelie" (which I loved). The story is intricately plotted so people with a "Seed of Chucky" attention span will be overwhelmed. It must be the only movie to combine amazing combat scenes with romance, comedy and a complex mystery puzzle. Audrey Tatou is a goddess. Jeunet (the director) is like a combination of Chaplin (the romance and comedy); Hitchcock (the incredible camera work and storytelling); and Spielberg (the battle scenes and emotion).

As to some of the comments I have seen on this site:

There were French people complaining that people were speaking too fast. Gee, I don't speak French, but I can read subtitles just fine, so it was not a problem.

Some people complained that it was too long. Then there were people that complained it was too short. Like Goldilocks, I thought it was just right.

There were those that said that Tatou can't act. Audrey's performance was nuanced people, she's no Jim Carrey. Some said she was just playing Amelie again. Wrong. Amelie was a good-hearted but wishy-washy spirit who was afraid to take any action in her own life. Mathilde is just the opposite, somebody who believes so strongly in her convictions that she is able to follow what her heart tells her in spite of all available evidence and every single person she meets. In fact, every actor, no matter how small the role, turns in a great performance (I'm especially partial to the great Dominique Pinon, who plays Audrey's uncle).

There were complaints about the sex. There are a couple of brief shots of people having sex in the introduction, very similar to Amelie. Plus you get to see Jodie Foster doing the nasty from several directions. If that bothers you, go see Polar Express instead. Personally (especially in light of the rumors of Jodie being a lesbian) I am in favor of the sex scenes. There is also a shot of Audrey's fabulous naked booty, which justifies the price of admission all by itself.

Someone else complained that it was too jarring switching between the horrific WWI trench warfare scenes and the idyllic 1920s Paris. Argghhhh, that's the point!

Then there was the complaint about seeing a scene or shot from a different perspective later in the movie. Have you heard of a story called "Rashomon"? The idea is that you are experiencing the events from the viewpoint of different characters. This is cleverly done and never superfluous. At least one time you are quite startled by new information revealed by that shift in perspective.

All in all, this is a movie that really does have everything. If it were an American movie it would win best picture, best actress, best supporting actress (Jodie still might get nominated), best cinematography, best script from a novel, and best director. As it is scheduled for a Christmas national release, hopefully a lot of people will see it.