Released Date: 17 February 2005

Synopsis (Courtesy from Warner Bros.):

It is 1919. Mathilde is 19 years old. Two years earlier, her fiancee; Manech left for the Somme war front. Like millions of others, the official records state that he has been killed in action. However, Mathilde refuses to believe this. If Manech had really died, she would have known. She follows her intuition, hoping it will lead her back to her lover. Although an ex-sergeant tries to convince her that Manech died in a no man's land along with four other soldiers all condemned to death for self-inflicted wounds, Mathilde refuses to give up. With courage and determination, she undertakes an extraordinary counter investigation. Despite coming up against false hopes and uncertainties, she will, little by little, unravel the truth behind Manech's fate, as well as those of his comrades. Mathilde is fearless - nothing seems impossible to those who defy fate.

Movie Review:

A Very Long Engagement might indeed seem a tad long for the average viewer. Although the film clocks in at 2 hours and 17 minutes, you might feel that the time spent in the theatre might have been longer. However, at the end of it, you’ll pretty much be able to forgive the film for what it lacks in length (or maybe not), it makes up for in class. This film is not just about any ordinary love story. The elements, Love, War and Mystery are combined in a showcase of charming complexity.

If Sebastien Japrisot has written a wonderful novel, then Jean Pierre Jeunet has crafted the novel into a masterpiece; weaving it into a fine tapestry. The film’s score doesn’t linger in your memory but its dazzling cinematography filled with sepia hues captures the spirit of the early 1900s. The darker moments of the film, namely the war scenes too, are wonderfully captured that it can be compared to Steven Speilberg’s Saving Private Ryan.

The story of a young lady, Matilde, (Audrey Tautou) in search of her missing fiancée, Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) keeps to the spirit of any timeless love story but it deviates into a mystery of sorts when in her quest to find her missing lover, the search turns into an investigation in which she has to find the missing pieces of a puzzle. In trying to do so, Matilde uncovers secrets kept by the French Army and soon, she discovers that in order to find her lover, she has to enter the lives of the four other soldiers who had been condemned to the trenches as Manech was.

Having the technical aspects as its limbs, Jeunet relied heavily on Audrey Tautou’s portrayal of Matilde to be the heart of the film. Although Matilde walks with a limp caused by polio at a young age, you won’t feel sympathetic towards her. Rather, in your heart you’re secretly wishing and pining that she will be re-united with Manech. Tautou manages to convince the audience that such a thing as hope, truly exists in this world. It is only a matter of believing.

It’s a shame that the movie has been disqualified from contention for the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the OSCARS. Imagine this movie up against the likes of The Sea Inside and Les Choristes. What a category that would be!
Ultimately, watch this movie. I believe it’ll be in your good books for a very long time.

Movie Rating: A-

Review by Mohamad Shaifulbahri