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DVD A Very Long Engagement
Both epic and intimate, A Very Long Engagement reunites Audrey Tautou and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the star and director of the hugely popular Amelie. A young woman named Mathilde (Tautou, Happenstance)separated from her lover by World War I refuses to believe he's been killed and launches an investigation into his fate--an investigation that spins in all directions, creating dozens of miniature stories (including that of an Italian prostitute avenging the death of her own lover by elaborate means) that shift to and fro in time. The dazzling curlicues of narrative put brutality and tenderness back to back, shifting between crushing inevitabilities and miraculous rescues with deft storytelling skill and the lush visual style of the director of Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children. Through it all, Tautou--fierce and luminous--anchors the movie effortlessly. She's among the most emotionally engaging actresses in cinema, with the kind of expressive beauty that transcends language. A gorgeous, far-reaching film; the huge cast also includes Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs), Gaspard Ulliel (Strayed), and Dominique Pinon (Alien: Resurrection). --Bret Fetzer
I was prepared to dislike "Un long dimanche de fiançailles", reasoning that a 131 minute French WWI era epic costing $56 Million would be bloated and ponderous, in the tradition of "Gone With the Wind". Instead I found a complex story that blended visual mastery with emotional intimacy. While the huge budget was there for all to see in the wonderful production design, it did not overwhelm the human elements of the film.
If you have not seen this film try to imagine a "Paths of Glory" premise, leading to a woman's obsessive quest on almost the intensity level of Truffaut's "The Story of Adele H", and revealed in a storytelling style like that of Akira Kurosawa's "Rashômon".
Like Kurosawa's classic, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Un long dimanche de fiançailles" illustrates the subjectivity of truth. In this case soldiers in both the French and the German trenches witness the disciplinary banishment of five French soldiers to the "no-mans-land" between their trenches (apparently the French were enamored enough by the English term for this area that they adopted it). As the heroine and her detective track down individual survivors they discover conflicting accounts of what became of each marooned soldier. Each witness saw the same thing but from their own individual perspective. Obviously this misdirection device is not original (see "The Hole" for a particularly nice recent example) but it is very effective and is simply one weapon in a director's arsenal of ways to take the viewer where they want them to go.
Amelie" star Audrey Tautou, the "Adele H" of this film, is a young woman who refuses ("An albatross is stubborn, he knows he can outlast the wind") to believe her fiancée and childhood sweetheart is dead. They have been in love since age nine. French films are big on this childhood sweetheart angle. Although I have never known an actual couple who can trace their romantic involvement all the way back to this early age, it does provide an excuse for some of the film's best scenes; the polio disabled girl being carried to the top of the lighthouse by her young admirer, where they kiss each other on opposite sides of the glass window.
"Un long dimanche de fiançailles's" greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness as the complex "Rashômon-like" storytelling technique and huge array of characters and incidents requires close attention or careful note taking to keep viewers from being overwhelmed. This is made even more challenging by the need to read subtitles (unless your French is way better than mine) while attempting to view the action.
It could benefit from a little selective trimming, like losing the moronic and completely unnecessary hospital scene with the silly exploding hydrogen balloon. This scene does not fit the tone and texture of the film but it probably cost so much to stage that they felt compelled to utilize it. It subtracts 10 IQ points from the target audience.
Tautou's character Mathilde is able to enlist the aid of a famous private detective (The Peerless Pry) at a bargain price because his own little girl is likewise a polio victim. Two recurrent devices are used repeatedly to unify this complex story. The first is Mathilde's heartbreakingly vivid reliance upon little superstitions to tell her if her soldier is still alive ("if I reach the bend before the car Manech will return safely"). The second is a comic relief bit involving the rural postman's dramatic arrival on his bicycle with the latest dispatch to advances the story ("When I see gravel I make it a point of arriving in style').
Fortunately, Jeunet does not give into the temptation to go out on an overly dramatic note but instead ends with a restrained poetic voice-over. Very nice.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Absolutely Perfect
Audrey Tautou's latest film is simply amazing. Teaming up with the creative force behind the international hit "Amelie", we the audienece are treated a sometimes surreal, heartbreaking and uplifting look at the world through the eyes of a determined young lady. Audrey Tautou stars as Mathilde, a young bride to be whose fiance Manech has been sent to World War 1 only to not return. Their special bond allows MAthilde to have hope that her fiance didnt die in the War despite what everyone says. What follows is a series of events that astounds, angers and delights the audience as we join Mathilde in her quest to fidn out what became of her Beloved Manech.
Director Jeunet creates beuatiful scenes as wrapped in his trademark sepia tones that makes the visuals take ona surreal, almost dreamy effect. His ability to give you a quick rundown on each character's strange quirks and idiosyncracies is one of the joys of watching his films.
As one other reviewer wrote it was also a joy to see Jodie Foster give a fantastic performance as a Parisian lady who also lost her husband to the war.
A fantastic film and one that truly gives hope to those in desperate situations. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
A suspenseful movie with wonderful cinematography
Of the two world wars, the first one caught my attention due to the absurdity of the trench warfare and the lack of clear evil on either side. A Very Long Engagement is the story of Mathilde's search for her lost fiancé who disappeared in the war. It is a love story for all the soldiers who left behind fiancé's, wives and loved ones. The novel by Sebastien Japriosot, read many years ago, didn't leave much of an impression on me but something about the gorgeous cinematography and pacing of the film did.
Almost like an afterthought, A Very Long Engagement portrays trench warfare more effectively than any film I can remember, except perhaps All Quiet on the Western Front. Sentimental family reunions, the reading of letters, everyday conversations, pull us into scenes of brutality on the front. When an old war hero arrives at Mathilde's house to recount a tale of the war, his suspenseful story is intercut with a visual representation of the actual events. Mathilde is shocked by his story, but the soldier is not finished and goes on to say, "what happened next was even worse . . ."
The investigative pace of the film will please anyone who appreciates a mystery. The ridiculously named Bingo Crépuscule, where the main events take place, is visited repeatedly from the perspective of various soldiers. The fate of Mathilde's fiancé is revealed through acts of bravery and betrayal. The motif of MMM (Mathilde marries Manech) works nicely at several plot turns.
I liked the fact that the film never lingers on tragedy, humor, love, memory or present moment too long. All these emotional scenes are shuffled together rather quickly, leaving only the clear line of the "wire" to hold on to. This feels like a more realistic approximation of what these characters must be going through and preserves a lightness of tone.
A Very Long Engagement has a rich look to it and high production values. Saturated shots of the French countryside are contrasted with the grays and blues of the trench or the polished look of Paris.
Other startling scenes include a silent-film style French Guillotine execution, a meeting between Mathilde and a woman on a parallel path, and a view through the trenches while soldiers arm their bayonets.
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From Hollywood's legendary Cocoanut Grove to the pioneering conquest of the wild blue yonder, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator celebrates old-school filmmaking at its finest. We say "old school" only because Scorsese's love of golden-age Hollywood is evident in his approach to his subject--Howard Hughes in his prime (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his)--and especially in his technical mastery of the medium reflecting his love for classical filmmaking of the studio era. Even when he's using state-of-the-art digital trickery for the film's exciting flight scenes (including one of the most spectacular crashes ever filmed), Scorsese's meticulous attention to art direction... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Leonardo DiCaprio - Cate Blanchett - Kate Beckinsale Director(s): Martin Scorsese DVD Release Date: Released the 24 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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With Sideways, Paul Giamatti (American Splendor, Storytelling) has become an unlikely but engaging romantic lead. Struggling novelist and wine connoisseur Miles (Giamatti) takes his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church, Wings) on a wine-tasting tour of California vineyards for a kind of extended bachelor party. Almost immediately, Jack's insatiable need to sow some wild oats before his marriage leads them into double-dates with a rambunctious wine pourer (Sandra Oh, Under the Tuscan Sun) and a recently divorced waitress (Virginia Madsen, The Hot Spot)--and Miles discovers a little hope that he hasn't let himself feel in a long time. Sideways is a modest but finely tuned film; with gentle compassion, it explores the failures, struggles, and... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Alexander Payne DVD Release Date: Released the 05 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Solidly built around a subtle yet commanding performance by Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda emerged as one of the most highly-praised dramas of 2004. In a role that demands his quietly riveting presence in nearly every scene, Cheadle plays real-life hero Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager in the Rwandan capital of Kigali who in 1994 saved 1,200 Rwandan "guests" from certain death during the genocidal clash between tribal Hutus, who slaughtered a million victims, and the horrified Tutsis, who found safe haven or died. Giving his best performance since his breakthrough role in Devil in a Blue Dress, Cheadle plays Rusesabagina as he really was during the ensuing chaos: "an expert in situational ethics" (as described by critic Roger Ebert), doing what he morally had to do, at... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Don Cheadle - Sophie Okonedo Director(s): Terry George DVD Release Date: Released the 12 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Four extremely beautiful people do extremely horrible things to one another in Closer, Mike Nichols' pungent adaptation of Patrick Marber's play that easily marks the Oscar-winning director's best work in years. Anna (Julia Roberts) is a photographer who specializes in portraits of strangers; Dan (Jude Law) is an obituary writer struggling to become a novelist; Alice (Natalie Portman) is an American stripper freshly arrived in London after a bad relationship; and Larry (Clive Owen) is a dermatologist who finds love under the most unlikely of circumstances. When their paths cross it's a dizzying supernova of emotions, as Nichols and Marber adroitly construct various scenes out of their lives that pair them again and again in various permutations of passion, heartbreak, anger,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Mike Nichols DVD Release Date: Released the 29 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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From Hollywood's legendary Cocoanut Grove to the pioneering conquest of the wild blue yonder, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator celebrates old-school filmmaking at its finest. We say "old school" only because Scorsese's love of golden-age Hollywood is evident in his approach to his subject--Howard Hughes in his prime (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his)--and especially in his technical mastery of the medium reflecting his love for classical filmmaking of the studio era. Even when he's using state-of-the-art digital trickery for the film's exciting flight scenes (including one of the most spectacular crashes ever filmed), Scorsese's meticulous attention to art direction... 