A Very Long Engagement

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Both epic and intimate, A Very Long Engagement reunites Audrey Tautou and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the star and director of the hugely popular Amelie. A young woman named Mathilde (Tautou, Happenstance)separated from her lover by World War I refuses to believe he's been killed and launches an investigation into his fate--an investigation that spins in all directions, creating dozens of miniature stories (including that of an Italian prostitute avenging the death of her own lover by elaborate means) that shift to and fro in time. The dazzling curlicues of narrative put brutality and tenderness back to back, shifting between crushing inevitabilities and miraculous rescues with deft storytelling skill and the lush visual style of the director of Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children. Through it all, Tautou--fierce and luminous--anchors the movie effortlessly. She's among the most emotionally engaging actresses in cinema, with the kind of expressive beauty that transcends language. A gorgeous, far-reaching film; the huge cast also includes Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs), Gaspard Ulliel (Strayed), and Dominique Pinon (Alien: Resurrection). --Bret Fetzer

Description

The film is set in France near the end of World War I in the deadly trenches of the Somme, in the gilded Parisien halls of power, and in the modest home of an indomitable provincial girl. It tells the story of this young woman's relentless, moving and sometimes comic search for her fiancC)e, who has disappeared. He is one of five French soldiers believed to have been court-martialed under mysterious circumstances and pushed out of an allied trench into an almost-certain death in no-man's land. What follows is an investigation into the arbitrary nature of secrecy, the absurdity of war, and the enduring passion, intuition and tenacity of the human heart.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes:With Director audio commentary
Documentaries:Paris in the 20'sThe Zepplin Explosion
Featurette:The Making of A Very Long Engagement
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

"Je ne sais quoi....".......2007-08-08

I don't exactly know how to describe it, but "A Very Long Engagement" is a magnificent visual essay on love, beauty, tragedy, hopelessness, and hope. Watching this movie is a powerful experience that touches all of the senses. Its worth watching several times so that you can take in all of the stunning visual beauty, the subtleties in the dialogue, the performances, and the gorgeous settings.

Its a the wonderful example of art and expression that touches the heart, representing so much of what is beautiful about french films. Most of the films produced in the country of my birth (USA) are big budget, insensitive, and superficial displays of brute force and celebrity. I'll admit, it took a second viewing for this ugly american to make sense of some of the scenes, limited by the english subtitles and my eight grade french.

There are so many things to say, and most of it has been said by others much better than I can. Here are my highlights:

1.) Love and loyalty. The young woman so touched by the love of the young man (had she thought her polio made her unlovable?), that she refuses, over a period of several years, to give up on a relationship based only on a few wonderful days.

2.) Audrey Tautou: Most beautiful women are usually described as visually stunning. Tautou must be one of the most beautifully feminine females in cinema, not because of how she looks, but what she is. Voice, movement, attitude, expressions, strength, vulnerability, emotions, etc., she is beautiful to watch - even if she didn't have those incredible eyes.

3.) The ending in the garden - saying so much, and saying so little. So graceful, so wonderful, so disappointing. What has happened to these two young people? What will happen to them?

4.) The seemly random hand of fate, chance, and cruelty. The unspeakable horror of WWI. The most beautiful and the most ugly of human behavior, side by side, each making the other look more extreme.

Yeah, its long. You have to pay attention, and at some points it's difficult to tell some of the young male actors apart from each other. In the end, however, I was thankful to be able to absorb at least some of what this film has to offer. With the exception perhaps of only the odd title ("A Very Long Engagement"), it was entirely magnificent. "Enchantee!"

An Unforgettable Movie.......2007-06-18

This is one of my favorite movies. It's the kind of movie that you remember when you wake up in the morning and never forget it.

Amazingly Rich Story.......2007-06-08

It's no secret to those who know me that I'm a fan of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's directorial work. But to be honest I did not think he could outdo himself after Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain.

I was wrong.

This is a story with love, loss, drama, misery, and joy so profound it cannot be expressed in mere words. It's a war move, chick-flick, murder mystery, and comedy all rolled into one. And though this sounds like a real mash-up it works... beautifully.

This is a story with many arcs, multiple perspectives, and varied interesting characters. Even the production notes are surprising. The "wooden hand" for instance (you'll know when you see it) is a real functioning work; not CGI.

Bruno Delbonnel's, who also filmed Amelie, cinematography continues to amaze. He stands head and shoulders above virtually all others. Delbonnel continues to produce the longest most difficult continuous shots I've ever seen; some of which you'd swear are impossible.

What many may not know about this film is that Jeunet accepted funds from both the National French film bureau (Commission Nationale du FILM FRANCE) and Warner Brothers. This angered some French who claimed the acceptance of foreign funds invalided it as a true French film.

I disagree. Despite the heavy financing from Warner Brothers this is Jeunet's vision and it's 100% French.

The appearance of Jodie Foster was a major surprise. In fact, not only did she speak her own lines, Jeunet claims her French was flawless. It was a nice meaty part for a cameo too.

Amazingly Jeunet seems to be able to surpass his best with each new work.

Jeunet has managed to make a film that stands up to repeated viewings. There always seems to be something new to see.

Outstanding Tale Of Hope And Love Amidst War And Tragedy.......2007-05-29

"A Very Long Engagement" is a powerful epic of love and hope set against the backdrop of brutal all-out war and its bitter aftermath. Audrey Tatou (of "Amelie" fame) plays Mathilde, a physically handicapped young woman in France during the World War I era. When the war is over and her lover fails to return home, and is reported dead, Ame... er, Mathilde (I'll always think of Audrey as Amelie) refuses to believe it and sets out on a determined quest to learn of the whereabouts of the man she believes in her heart Must still be alive. In the quest, she uncovers the stories of a number of other soldiers during the war, and comes in contact with another 'searcher', who's tracking down the whereabouts of high-ranking military officers, for a very different reason. With plentiful flashbacks to the bloody trench warfare, and flashbacks further back showing the evolution of the relationship between Mathilde and her beau Manech, beginning with their initial meeting as children. Full of love, tragedy, compassion, brutality, and humor, and enhanced by a great cast and vivid cinematography, "A Very Long Engagement" is a masterpiece synthesis of the war movie and the romance movie.

A Very Long Engagement.......2007-04-12

Excellent. Even though I am a Gaspard Ulliel fan and he does not appear in the movie for more than half an hour of the whole movie, the movie is nevertheless excellent. Audrey Tautou is amazing as usual and the script is interesting and keeps you guessing until the end.

International Cinema Collection (A Very Long Engagement / Day for Night / The Damned / Gloomy Sunday / Death in Venice)

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International Cinema Collection (A Very Long Engagement / Day for Night / The Damned / Gloomy Sunday / Death in Venice)
Starring: International Cinema Collection
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000GB5M24
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Description

A Very Long Engagement: The filmmaker and star of Amelie! Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs Audrey Tautou (The Da Vinci Code) in a spellbinding and widely honored tale of lovers separated by WWI. Day for Night: Anything that can go wrong on the set does in Francois Truffaut's giddy, glorious valentine to movies. "The best movie ever made about the movies" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). The Damned: Luchino Visconti brings flamboyant style to a tale of a corrupt German industrialist family giving way to greater corruption: the rise of the Nazis. With Dirk Bogard, Charlotte Rampling and more. Gloomy Sunday: The art-house favorite about entangled romance, the Holocaust and a song that swept the world is "a stirring and provocative affirmation of the power and resilience of love" (Philip Wuntch, The Dallas Morning News). Death in Venice: Thomas Mann's meditation on beauty, age and obsession is "splendidly brought to the screen" (Leaonard Maltin's Movie Guide) by Luchino Visconti, Dirk Bogard stars.

Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles / A Very Long Engagement (Original French Version with English Subtitles)

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Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles / A Very Long Engagement (Original French Version with English Subtitles)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000AALL30

Charlie Rose with Terry George, Don Cheadle & Paul Rusesabagina; Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Audrey Tatou; Renata Adler, Mark Danner & Dennis Johnson. (November 26, 2004)

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Charlie Rose with Terry George, Don Cheadle & Paul Rusesabagina; Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Audrey Tatou; Renata Adler, Mark Danner & Dennis Johnson. (November 26, 2004)

Manufacturer: "Charlie Rose, Inc."
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Description

Director Terry George, actor Don Cheadle, and former Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina discuss the war in Rwanda and their new film Hotel Rwanda. Then, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and actor Audrey Tatou discuss their new film, A Very Long Engagement. Charlie also discusses the 2000 election with writers Mark Danner, Dennis Johnson, and Renata Adler.

Officer's Ward (Le Chamber des Officiers) [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

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Officer's Ward (Le Chamber des Officiers) [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]
Director: François Dupeyron
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Please note that this is a PAL, Region 2 DVD and requires PAL or multi-system capable DVD players. It will not play on standard North American DVD players. Please read the item technical description carefully. ----------------------------------- Synopsis: A man who thinks he's found an easy ride through the Army during World War I has his world turned upside down when facial injuries render him unrecognizable in this wartime drama. In the summer of 1914, Adrien Fournier (Eric Caravaca) is an engineer conscripted into the French Army, where he is made a lieutenant and assigned to join a group of soldiers helping to design and build a bridge to move troops near the front lines. While scouting a suitable location for the bridge, Fournier and his fellows are caught in the middle of an attack, and a shell explodes in his face. Fournier survives the attack, but while his limbs and his body suffer only minimal damage, his face is torn to shreds only landing in the mud prevents him from bleeding to death (the dried muck seals off a number of key blood vessels severed by the blast). It is some time before Fournier can be moved to an Army hospital, and he cannot talk through his ruined mouth, communicating with notes scratched onto a small chalkboard. Fournier finds himself in a special hospital wing for officers who've suffered severe injuries (a relatively comfortable area a good bit different from the crowded and spartan wards for common foot soldiers), and as a dedicated surgeon (Andre Dussollier) struggles to rebuild Fournier's face with the primitive means available to him, the once-handsome engineer ponders an uncertain future. Commiserating with Fournier are Alain (Jean-Michel Portal), his best friend from college; Pierre (Gregori Derangere) and Henri (Denis Podalydes), a pair of fellow officers also suffering facial injuries; and Anais (Sabine Azema), a patient and warm-hearted nurse who brings hope to the hospital's most severely injured men.

A Very Long Engagement/The Affair of the Necklace

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A Very Long Engagement/The Affair of the Necklace
Starring: Warner 2pak
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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A Very Long Engagement/The Affair of the Necklace
Starring: Warner 2pak
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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A Very Long Engagement

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Bonus disc features the making of the movie

ASIN: B000VELCKW

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