Review of A Very Long Engagement (2004) by Matthew M — 29 Mar 2009

After seeing the trailer for "A Very Long Engagement", I thought it would be a basic World War I film: full of grim and grisly visuals...I was wrong. Instead what I got was Saving Private Ryan mixed in with the magic and whimsy of Amelie.

"Engagement" is beautifully arresting, as its combination of Jeunet's camerwork and the production crew's attention to detail and lighting, create elegant beauties ranging from a country side cottage to the trenches found commonplace in WWI.

Simply put it is dazzling in the visuals department. One of the more interesting aspect of the production is the use of lighting, which creates almost a sepia tone to the picture which plays to the romance of the story, as well as creates a vintage look, or a feel of the past.

As we all know, visuals arent everything, instead they are supports to the story. Although the story has been done before (a person searching for their long lost love), yet despite its inital basic premise, it is extremely well executed and poignant.

The romance between Tautou and Ulliel is authentic and worthy of our emotions, and each character (although similar to war movie archetypes) are differentiable and a blast to watch. None more than the characters of Tautou and Cotillard, who both breathe heart and soul into their characters with ease.

When these two are on the screen, its extremely hard to take one's eyes off the pure beauty and command both present. And the same can be said for "A Very Long Engagement" in general. Its a beauty to look at, but the pure execution and command of the story is able to connect our eyes and our heart.