Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2004, France, 134 mins, subtitled
Cast: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jean-Pierre Becker
There's something missing from the usual Jeunet magic in his latest film, a sprawling epic set around the First World War. It's not the acting or indeed the cinematography, both of which are of an incredibly high standard. What is missing, however, is a strong central character with whom we can feel real empathy. In all of Jean Pierre Jeunet's previous work, from Amelie to Delicatessen and even in Alien Resurrection there is a protagonist whose journey we not just follow but actually feel part of. Perhaps this is due to the fact that this is his first French feature to be adapted from a novel (by Sebastien Japrisot) rather than written at least in part by Jeunet from scratch.
In A Very Long Engagement, Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) is a lame orphan living with her aunt and uncle in the run up to the First World War. The film follows her relationship and subsequent loss of her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) during WW1. Shooting himself in the hand in order to be sent back home to his beloved Mathilde, Manech, along with other dissidents, finds himself in No Man's Land being shot at by the German opposition. A Very Long Engagement is Mathilde's journey to track him down and find out if he survived or not. So far so good, but when Mathilde's search for him shifts from the need for closure to pure obsession, it leaves a bit of a strange taste behind. Mathilde, as well as being the archetypal orphan Annie complete with wonky leg (from polio of course!), is incredibly rich but her inherited wealth is barely mentioned until she suddenly decides to go to Paris to hire a private detective to help track down her lover. Yet Mathilde's aunt and uncle who she lives with (and is barely ever seen lifting a finger to help) own a small farm out in the country and although food seems plentiful, they are certainly not well off. How then can we feel great sympathy for Mathilde, a self indulgent orphan with lots of ready cash to hand to feed her obsession but none seemingly to help her aunt and uncle who have raised her since childhood? A lame leg is not enough for us to feel genuine sympathy for this selfish young woman even if she is played by the brilliant Tautou.
Despite this central failing though, the film is still of a very high standard and well worth a watch. A less than masterful film by Jeunet still ranks far higher than most career pinnacles of many other current directors. The First World War scenes are particularly powerful and the opening scenes are probably the most powerful and shocking since Saving Private Ryan. The costumes are sublime as is the subtle cinematography with the war scenes awash with grey and blue - colours that gradually seep into Mathilde's scenes as her obsession with finding Manech grows. There are, as one would expect, breathtaking moments scattered throughout the film, at one point, a young man on a horse and cart with his family come face to face with the recruiting forces he has managed thus far to evade. The moment he sees them, the fields of barley either side of the road bend back like a breath of wind coming from his heart. Like the impressive moment in Amelie where she visibly melts, there's no-one quite like Jeunet when it comes to reflecting a character's emotion visually on screen. And there's no-one else who quite understands how to use CGI as a theatrical device rather than as a crutch.
Speaking of crutches, Mathilde, in the novel at least, is confined to a wheelchair. At least Jeunet dispensed of that one otherwise she'd have been even more of a cliché.
Elizabeth Hyder |
