Una lunga domenica di passioni

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.

Dazzling, never before have I seen such a visually pleasing picture. Jeunet has mastered the film medium giving 'A Very Long Engagement' a unique and fairy tale like visual style. Though rushed, the fantasy romance that Jeunet paints through flashbacks is inspiring. The graphic World War I trenches, provide an excellent contrast to the simple but charming mystery that Mathilde embarks on through the film.

Although Jeunet relies heavily on Audrey Tautou's performance, it is ultimately his one of a kind visual style that emotionally ties the viewer. This said, the latter portion of 'Long Engagement' feels very rushed and isn't treated to the same elegance that so well defines the first half. There are moments in the film where the visuals far overshadow the emotional intensity intended for the scene. This is perhaps 'Long Engagements' only fault, as it becomes unbalanced. The stylized and even cartoonish artistic direction that Jeunet leans to, although brilliant seems I'll fit for this wartime drama. Even so, 'A Very Long Engagement' comes off genuine and it's mix of fantasy romance and war will let you leave the theater fulfilled.

I had the pleasure of seeing this movie on a special preview last night and I was enthralled at its story line and cinematic experience. I wasn't a great fan of Amelie and hence was not expecting any particular out-of-body experience in viewing this. But I was wrong. It is a wonderful piece of story telling – somewhat difficult to follow if you do have a short memory span for character names – and flashbacks. Yet at the end, it seamlessly closes the web in a beautifully written script that has been well acted and filmed. It is particularly gory in the WWI battle scenes but probably accurate in depiction whilst the locations where the film was shot seem out of this world (hoped they were not computer generated). Quaint towns, fields, beaches and houses lend a beautiful touch to the story of a love that will not die whilst Audrey Tautou delivers a spellbinding performance in a child-like heroine with a will of steel. A special mention must be given to Bruno Delbonnel's camera work which simply is amazing. Can't wait for the DVD.

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.

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.