My Favourite Movies: A Very Long Engagement

When we saw the trailer for this I think I probably decided to see it on the basis that it starred Audrey Tautou. That seemed a fair reason I’d have to say as she’s, well, pretty amazing.

The story is suitably French – in other words complex and quirky. It revolved around orphan and polio sufferer Mathilde (Tautou) whose childhood friend, and now lover Manech (played by Gaspard Ulliel) is drafted into the French army in the closing years of WW1. Traumatised by the conflict he decides the easiest way out is to be injured in combat and contrives being shot by a sniper. Accused of cowardice in the face of the enemy he, along with four other soldiers, are forced to spend the night in No-Man’s Land in the expectation that the Germans will do the executions for them. This is exactly what Mathilde is told but refuses to accept that her lover is dead.

With the war now over, no further news of Manech and with life returning to normal her adopted parents (played marvellously by Dominique Pinon and Chantal Neuwirth) expect Mathilde to move on with her life. However, she is determined to find out exactly what happened on that fateful day and begins tracking down other soldiers who shared her lover’s trench. Their individual stories and viewpoints begin to weave together the pattern that first gives Mathilde hope that her fiancé survived only to have others relate how he died either from a German aircraft machine gunning his location or during the subsequent artillery bombardment. If that wasn’t complicated enough the private detective she hires (again played superbly by Ticky Holgado) discovers that a number of potential witnesses have been murdered by an unknown woman. Digging deeper into the mystery Mathilde realises that a parallel investigation is taking place, not to discover the truth but to exact revenge for one of the soldiers casually killed by his own side in No Man’s Land. His lover, Tina Lombardi (played brilliantly by Marion Cotillard in, I think, the first movie I saw her in) is determined to follow the chain of command of all those involved up to the President himself in the cause of Sicilian retribution.

Of course this brief synopsis doesn’t do this movie justice or anywhere close. The acting throughout is brilliant, the plot is complex but reasonably easy to follow if you keep your eye on the ball. The cinematography is breath-taking and evocative of the era with an almost sepia feel to it. The combat scenes are brutal and uncompromising though probably nowhere near as brutal as the real thing. Of course Tautou stands head and shoulders above everyone else, at least for me, but the ensemble cast are most definitely not there to make up the numbers. Even actors who might only get a few moments screen time and say very little (if anything) seemed to be full of life and have histories stretching back in time and off screen if only the camera had turned towards them earlier. More than once it felt that we, the audience, where intruding on small private scenes from real life.

I think I’ve seen this four or maybe five times since it came out in 2004. I’m actually torn between wanting to watch it again and again because it’s just so bloody good and the fear that repeat watching will take away some of its brilliance. Then there’s the emotional load. Every time I’ve seen this film I have cried at the end. Just writing this review, right now, I can feel me welling up. Yes, it’s really that emotional. After two hours of searching and hoping you really want Mathilde to find Manech and put an end to their very, very long engagement. But you’ll have to watch the movie to find out how that happens – just have some tissues ready.