Rent A Very Long Engagement (2004)

Picturesque war-time fairy tale detective story. - A Very Long Engagement review by CP Customer

Jeunet uses a large number of short detailed scenes to tell a long and complicated stroy in a palatable way. This is not a film to watch when you are half-asleep, or tipsy, but for the alert viewer provides a very entertaining yarn, with many amusing diversions throughout.

Essentially it is a detective story, as Tautou (known now to the world as Amelie) tries various leads and calls upon fate to try and discover her lost love, who was one of five men condemned for illicit attempts to be discharged from the front line of the Somme.

The film is very picturesque throughout, and shows a maturity of Jeunet's distinctive style. Extremely ambitious in scope, and achieves a great deal of what it sets out to do. I would prefer to rate this 3.5, but will rate it a generous 4, as it deserves better than 3.

Tried hard, didn't quite succeed - A Very Long Engagement review by BE

A harrowing depiction of first world war battlefields, a quest to find a feared dead fiancé and some incongrous scenes of a whimsical nature, failed to make this movie gel. It would have been better if the main theme had been stuck to instead of additional storylines being attached to some of the characters.

Beautifully moving story - A Very Long Engagement review by CP Customer

Audrey Tautou and Marion Cotillard are excellent in this film with a surprise appearance by Jodie Foster.

Never mind that it is subtitled this a superbly crafted and moving film.

Any description of the story would spoil your enjoyment of watching the film, but suffice to say that it based around the horrors of the first World war and lost loved ones.

The title gives a hint to the final outcome.

As ever the French make excellent films and always manage to find a slightly different angle to view any situation.

If you do not usually watch subtitled films, put your prejudice aside for once and watch this film.

Not to forget WWI and smile - A Very Long Engagement review by CP Customer

This showed the harrowing and perhaps honest face of the 1914-18 war. It manged to balance the serious and horrifying images of the trenches with a light magical touch and a page turning plot. All achieved with exceptional cinamatography and production values... watch it!

A really lovely film - A Very Long Engagement review by CP Customer

A lovely way to spend an evening. A captivating film which both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed.

Superb Period Romance - A Very Long Engagement review by GI

A truly remarkable and quite beautiful film that is a very touching period romance with an enthralling mystery story for its main plot and with some very gritty and realistic war scenes thrown in for good measure. Set mainly in 1920 and young country girl Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) refuses to accept her fiancé, Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) was killed in 1917 on the western front. She begins an investigation to find out what happened to him even though he is officially listed as one of the dead. She discovers he was one of five men condemned for self inflicted wounds and cast out into no mans land where they were all apparently killed. She finds that the stories of the other four are all wrapped up in the fate of Manech. This really is a delight of a film. The balmy, almost sepia, look of the 1920s and the unbelievably realistic recreation of Paris at that time is really very impressive and this is juxtaposed with the grey, dank scenes set in the trenches in 1917, some of the closest recreations of the the First World War that cinema has produced. The characters are all wonderful and very memorable and the film boasts Jodie Foster in a cameo. Ultimately this has a very clever and intricate storyline constructed like a mystery thriller with murder, deceit and twists that are very unexpected. This is a first rate film and will appeal to everyone as it has almost something for all film tastes. If you've never seen this and are looking for something truly exceptional, look no further.

Excellent Movie - A Very Long Engagement review by CP Customer

Really enjoyed this movie. I was half expecting it to make me fall asleep after reading about it. The plot is hard to follow and the story lines are maze of intrigue and conjecture or maybe I ws just tired lol Anyway, this film was still fabulous and Audrey T was amazing as ever. The horrors of WWI were not over done but still realistic and the beautiful backdrop of post war rural France was excellent.