A Very Long Engagement | 
| Director: Jean-pierre Jeunet
Actors: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jodie Foster, Dominique Pinon, Chantal Neuwirth
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $2.20
You Save: $17.78 (89%)
New (67) Used (54) Collectible (2) from $2.12
Rating:  116 reviews
Sales Rank: 4131
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: French (Original Language), German (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 133 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD38972D
ISBN: 0790795590
UPC: 085393897222
EAN: 9780790795591
ASIN: B0007Z0NYQ
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: July 12, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A FRENCH WOMAN SEARCHES FOR HER FIANCE AT THE END OF WWI. HE IS PRESUMED DEAD WHEN HE IS COURTMARTIALED SECRETLY & SENTENCED TO ALMOST CERTAIN DEATH WHEN IS ABANDONED IN NO MAN'S LAND. DESPITE THE LONG ODDS, THE WOMAN CONTINUES TO SEARCH FOR THE LOVE OF HER LIFE.
Amazon.com
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 111 more reviews...
 she never gave up hope.... July 4, 2009
a_poet_grows_in_brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York)
in the beginning i watched this solely because audrey tautou is in it...i wasn't expecting a reprise of " amelie," but at best a decent performance...this one exceeded my expectations..." a very long engagement" is just as magical and as thoughtful as " amelie " and confirms that jean paul jeunet is a filmmaker to watch....
tautou as mathilde, learns that her lover menech was killed in action in world war 1. but rather than accept his death, mathilde searches for menech with the hope that he is alive...."if he was dead, she would know" is her rationale...mathilde even plays little games like running to a bend in the road to make it there before a car and beating it to see if menech is still there or cutting the peel off an apple without breaking it...her hope is childlike and naive and yet, you easily get behind her, hoping for the best...she enlists many people to help her in her quest, even though some of them think she is wasting her time...jodie foster ( yes, the jodie foster with two oscar wins under her belt ) appears in a supporting role to help mathilde find her lost soldier...jodie plays a woman who is married to a french soldier who asks her to do a "favor" for one of his friends, so he can get out of fighting the war....even with her small part...jodie shows you why she has two oscars....
the romance between mathilde and menech is what powers this story...in flashbacks from childhood to adulthood, they seem like they were meant to be together and this is why mathilde is willing to defy fate to look for menech...jeunet has again put magic and faith into a film and by the time i reached the end of it, i was beaming at the results...audrey has worked with many directors, but tautou fits with jeunet like deniro with scorcese
this one's a keeper...
Trenches and the aftermath June 27, 2009
H. Schneider (window seat)
A French look at trench warfare in WW1. The hero is a young woman who will not believe that her fiance was really and truly killed for good and always. She defies all alleged proofs and goes for the truth, which gets peeled away in layers like an onion. The detection process provides us with several mini stories, each a peach of its own.
The loyal prostitute who avenges the killing of her pimp by killing the officer who withheld the man's presidential pardon from a death sentence for self mutilation. (Before she gets guillotined she declares: je ne regrette rien; of course she is played by the actress who got the Oscar for her Edith Piaf version.)
The soldier, whose wife, played by Jody Foster (what a surprise that was to meet her here as a Polish immigrant in France during WW1), has several kids from a previous husband; he can not be a father himself, but he figures out that he needs another child in the family to be released from military service and therefore he talks his best friend and his wife into giving him a child together... which leads to raging jealousy but no impregnation ... I am fairly certain that story is from Decamerone. Need to look that up.
(The world has only about a few hundred basic story structures, which get repeated in different shapes and sizes in different times and places...)
The frame story of the woman who will not give up searching is for sure also not new, nor is the final solution to the mystery a surprise, but I will not spoil it.
A very nice movie with great cinematography and splendid actors. Even Tautou, whom I had started to dislike for Da Vinci. I reconsider.
Epic in delivery; Intimate at its core January 30, 2009
R. Gawlitta (Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA)
"A Very Long Engagement" was out for a while, and I always attempt to see award winners. I finally found it at the library, in a 2-disc version, but wasn't able to watch it til the last moment. Pity! There is so much to absorb, too much for one viewing (and reading subtitles). I won't blab away the plot, like previous reviewers; it's way too complicated, and, yet, very simple. I was reminded of "Doctor Zhivago", with a gender switch, because Mr. Jeunet has crafted an opulent adventure/love story, full of intrigue, passion, gorgeous sets and cinematography, fine acting, and generally a satisfying film experience. (It also takes place during the same time period.) Ms. Tautou sheds some of that natural beauty, to enhance her frustrating quest; Gaspard Ulliel is wonderful, and not only because he's gorgeous, but goes through the most amazing revelation from charming to shell-shocked ambivalence, never losing the sweetness of character that made Mathilde so intent on her mission. I thought I noticed Jodie Foster, a feisty character, and when the credits rolled, I was blown away; her perfect French, combined with the passionate character, just added to my admiration of her. Indeed, the entire cast was excellent, and Mr. Jeunet's sure hand kept everything in perspective. The second disc has some great stuff regarding the development, and turning these actual locations back to 1920's authenticity. I was moved a great deal; it's a simple story, fascinating and very individual-type characters, and numerous flashbacks keep it riveting at all times. A very fine film.
amazing October 19, 2008
Lisa Kart (tampa, fl)
i love french movies. this movie is better than the notebook. i say this because it's kind of similar to the notebook, only this one is french but even more amazing and romantic. where as, mathilde never gives up on her love manech, in the notebook that other girl (rachel macadams? or however you spell it) does and finds some other guy. in this movie you see how they fall in love when they were kids in the movie. it's so cute. i love it. it made me cry so many times at first watching it. i still do every so often hahaha. its just so romantic, funny, cute, amazing...the scenery is beautiful too. and i LOVE gaspard ulliel :]...he's the greatest actor, especially in this movie. nothing i can say in any of his movies are bad acting. i just loved this movie. audrey in the movie was really great too. people say she's a bad actress, but i don't think so. i think she played this part really well.
Heartfelt, tender, gorgeous movie September 25, 2008
juliact (Australia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a beautiful movie! I decided to own this it certainly bears repeated viewing! It is gorgeous cinematically and has that quirky "Amelie" style. The back-drop of the First World War is vividly evoked and Audrey Tautou is particularly enchanting. A MUST SEE!
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