A Very Long Engagement (2/6/2005 SM Manila)

I've read an article saying that in this film, "Amelie goes to War". In some degree, it is correct. A Very Long Engagement is an epic like the "English Patient" which tackles the same classic theme about the absurdity of war and undying love. Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a very talented director where he can easily paint different colors, impressionistic expressions to his works, we have seen that in Amelie. A typical story of a boy meets girl turns out to be a French classic...

In the beginning of the film, Jeunet used his random narrations once again and his quirky sense of humor to introduce our main characters. There are practically green jokes and some intelligent humors all around. In this semi-detective/dramatic story, we have seen the horror of killings and mass murders. The strong anti-war message of this film produced a conflict to the humor posed by the plot. I knew some humor-driven movie such as No Mans Land (Bosnia) which is actually a dark comedy, and Life is Beautiful (Italy), a bittersweet classic. In A Very Long Engagement, it is hard to justify the implication of the central story in terms of its humor...
Anyway, it is negligible, the movie has a breathtaking scenematic landscape for its production design, and amazing cinematography. French actress Audrey Tautou is very good in controlling her emotions to avoid being overly melodramatic. The script is well written and the ensemble is a credible one.

Overall, the film is very successful in giving its anti-war message theme which can easily resonate to different audiences around the world. A Very Long Engagement may not achieve the greatness and "classic" status of Amelie but still, it is one of the biggest welcome movie of the year... (A)

posted by basmayor @ 5:00 PM