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Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

A different way of telling a story

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

From the director who brought us one of the best feel-good movies ever made, Amelie, comes a beautiful film of hope and undying love. This was completely and utterly stunning, both visually and on an acting level. Audrey Tautou is exceptional as usual, and Jean-Pierre's unique storytelling is legendary. The film will make you laugh and cry in equal amounts while you marvel at the incredible visuals.

This film is a masterpiece like Jeunet's earlier Amelie (which may be considered by some as better because it is funnier than this film). However, this film, with its horrific battle scenes, violent injuries and dramatic romance, is also filled with a tremendous amount of humour and pathos. Jeunet understands that life is really a balance of drama and comedy... The cinematography, story, acting, directing, effects, costuming, sets, etc. are all phenomenal works of art to watch. My only complaint was that I got a bit lost with all the character names but I had to (and wanted to) watch it twice because my French isn't good enough to watch it without English subtitles.

It's France after the first world war. Mathilde Donnay (Audrey Tautou) has been told that her beloved fiancé Manech Langonnet supposedly died. He and four others were accused of self-mutilation and forced into no-man's land to their deaths. Mathilde refuses to believe and starts investigating. Despite disability from polio and governmental bureaucracy, she finds witnesses who fill in parts of the story.This is a beautiful looking movie. It is a real artistic endeavor. Tautou is great. However, the drama is limited to finding out what happened to Manech. It's a series of little snippets of Manech. Then it's Tautou rolling around interviewing various people which is less compelling. The structure simply makes half of the movie not that interesting. It's still looks great.

This is precisely the kind of situation that makes me want to write movie reviews. A strong word of advice to whomever may read this prior to watching "A Very Long Engagement," ridiculous as this may seem, take notes when you watch this movie…espeeeeecially during the first 15 minutes. I am not exaggerating when I say that there are about 20 different characters whose stories are all intertwined, and if you are to connect the dots you need to remember which names are associated with which characters, and unless you have had a great deal of exposure to French names then most of the names will feel foreign to you which will only exacerbate your inability to keep track of who is whom. Furthermore, almost all the men have facial hair and military uniforms, so that makes it even hard to remember which one is which.I know, it sounds extreme, but watch it with enough light in the room to take notes, jot down what names are associated with which professions, who had the German boots, whose girlfriend is whose, etc. If I were to criticize this movie I would criticize it for having an excessively complex plot (note that I am not). I am just promising you that you will indubitably enjoy this movie more if you keep up with the story and its intricate spider-web of characters, professions, relationships, assassinations, etcetera, aaaaaaand you are certainly going to follow better (at least enough to not get lost half way through) if you take notes. I finally stopped and started over after an hour because I just couldn't keep track of to which characters they were referring every few minutes. If you heed my council and take notes, one hour into it you will be studying them to make sure you are understanding, and you will thank me and never doubt my advice again. I loved this movie.