Amor eterno

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.

It is almost insulting to compare this film to Amelie Poulain. Yes it's the same crew, yes it's the same director and yes, Audrey Tautou almost plays the same character. But give JP Jeunet a break, it's part of HIS style. Would you blame Beethoven because his symphonies kinda sounded the same?

It is at times gritty, with its very tough depictions of the Great War, and at times light and naive. It all follows a very complicated storyline which is, I would have to admit, the only weakness in this otherwise perfect movie. With so many characters and so many plot elements, some people may feel a bit lost, specially toward the end. But this is of lesser concern as the audience will still follow the main idea : a quest to find a loved one. So even through all the intricacies of the subplots, the arc story (and its finale) always remain on the horizon.

To put it short, the movie is a masterpiece. The acting is strong, the scenes are breathtaking and overall, so much attention has been put to details that it feels like a labor of love more than a big production movie. I truly think that if French cinema was not so locked into producing crappy talkative movies about losers and failures, it could come up with a lot more movies as poignant as Engagement is.

This is one of those times that a rating system breaks down. I gave this film a "10" only because there were no "20's" available.

This film, in its own way, seems to be able to fire on those same diverse cylinders that William Shakespeare so often did. It's a light and airy comedy. It's the bitterest of tragedies. It's a beautiful romance. It's an unfolding mystery. At it's heart it is a film of war. War, in all its boiling chaos, touches on all those experiences and more.

When I left the theater I was both elated and depressed. My elation came from having just had such a pure cinematic experience. My depression came from glancing at the marquee and reminding myself that I'll have to survive on the sort of cinema half-life provided by the pablum that normally makes it to the screen. Every now and again it's great to be reminded just how good a movie can be.

An epic love story on a World War I background. Far from Amelie, the team Jeunet/Tautou demonstrates his talent, showing with poetry love and war, beauty and horror, sweetness and violence. Mathilde and Manech, played by the stunning Audrey Tautou and the new French heart-throb Gaspard Ulliel, are the ideal lovers, determinate, passionate, separated by destiny, hoping...because hope is the message, the only one of a film where love is giving and giving again. If you loved Cold Mountain you will adore "A very long engagement". If don't know yet what it is to hold someone's heart in your hand, to feel the beatings of somebody's heart like the Morse alphabet, this movie will explain it to you, and you never will be the same anymore.