At first reflection, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s light hearted filmmaking style – which made Amelie what it is – seems out of place in A Very Long Engagment. This story is a war story, about the terrors and tragedies in the trenches and what that does at home. It could even be perceived as disrespectful.

But I don’t think it is. In fact, I think it works perfectly. Jeunet’s whimsical returns to the trivial aspects of live acutely remind us that these are real people . By showing us that one man was a carpenter or that another character finds joy in dog farts, Jeunet breathes real life into otherwise stale war characters.

A Very Long Engagement is, in many ways, heavily reminiscent of Amelie. Audrey Tautou plays a new character, but this girl very well could be an older Amelie, matured and sorrowed by the war and the loss of her fiancé, yet still possessing that fundamental innocence. The cinematography is all of the same style, except that it appears that Jeunet has a bigger budget here, everything is on a larger scale. The lighthearted storytelling is nearly as strong as Amelie, which is saying a lot considering we’re going from romantic comedy to a much more serious war romance.

The only problem with Long Engagement is the story. We follow Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) as has trouble escaping combat in World War One, and then our attention is focused on his fiancé, Mathile (Tautou). Never giving up hope in her future husband, she spends the bulk of the film tracking him down through various investigative schemes. It’s genuinely endearing to see her unrelenting hope – much more so than in the similar Cold Mountain – and it’s cute to watch this character do anything she does. The details of the investigative process begin to get fuzzy and, true to the film’s title, it goes on longer than is necessary.

But Jeanut’s filmmaking so much fun, it almost doesn’t matter what’s going on. It’s worth every moment just to visit his magical world.

French

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