‘A Very Long Engagement’ (Jeunet, Jean-Pierre. 2004.)
I really enjoy the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, but i hadn’t seen “A Very Long Engagement.” Well, now i’ve seen it.My 2 thoughts thru’out the film were:
1) This story is barely more than “Amélie”-in-the-past. Andy and i agreed that it seemed a little too much to be Jeunet trying to capitalize on Audrey Tautou’s adorableness and “Amélie”’s success.
2) This is a very, very long film. I slowly fell into confusion about the identities of all the people involved in the story, and ultimately just gave up. I held out until the very end just to see if Mathilde ever did find Manech.
Probably my least favorite Jeunet. I’d rather re-watch “Delicatessen” than this one.
I think I liked this better than you did, but it’s still my least favorite Jeunet. I liked how it undercut the cuteness (doggy farts!) with the tragedy of the war and with her toughness and determination.
Hmm, you do make a good point about how the movie balanced its different elements. Even tho’ i didn’t like it much overall, i’d still agree that the balance worked very well. What my dislike might come down to is that it’s just not as enjoyable as other Jeunet. I might have liked it better if i hadn’t had the rest of Jeunet’s work to judge it against.