A Very Long Engagement indeed. This film is visually stunning, combining beautiful sets and locations with wonderful, costumes and special effects which allowed me as the viewer to totally immerse myself in the period in which it was set. There is a subtle attention to detail and without detracting from the plot, the director makes the most of his sets and locations, resulting in some breath taking shots.
The film revolves around a young girl, Mathilde, who's fiancé was sent to war. She receives word that he has died on the front, however she feels deep down inside he is still alive and sets off on the heart wrenching adventure of finding out for herself his fate.
The story begins with the tale of five soldiers being court Marshalled, one of them is Mathilde's fiancé. Then through a series of flashbacks and adventures taking our heroine across Paris, each of the five men's story unfolds revealing clues as to the fate of her finance.
The characters in the film are wonderfully portrayed, especially the over the top Aunt and Uncle, Postman and Private Investigator. These colourful characters add a depth and compassion to the film.
Unfortunately, I had a few problems with this film too. While the fringe characters are filled out nicely, the main characters, Mathilde and her Finace Manech (I think is right) are skimmed over. You don't learn enough of their history together, it is only briefly explained, I would have preferred this to have been examined in more depth, then I feel I would have been more enthusiastic about Mathilde's mission. The end also seems to be very bittersweet.
On the whole, good film with stunning visuals, good acting and great direction. It has some great scenes with the intent of making you both laugh and cry. I felt a little disappointed with a few aspects of the plot, however this may just be my opinion, or my trouble with following subtitles and watching the film at the same time. I wholly recommend you go see this film. 7/10
The film revolves around a young girl, Mathilde, who's fiancé was sent to war. She receives word that he has died on the front, however she feels deep down inside he is still alive and sets off on the heart wrenching adventure of finding out for herself his fate.
The story begins with the tale of five soldiers being court Marshalled, one of them is Mathilde's fiancé. Then through a series of flashbacks and adventures taking our heroine across Paris, each of the five men's story unfolds revealing clues as to the fate of her finance.
The characters in the film are wonderfully portrayed, especially the over the top Aunt and Uncle, Postman and Private Investigator. These colourful characters add a depth and compassion to the film.
Unfortunately, I had a few problems with this film too. While the fringe characters are filled out nicely, the main characters, Mathilde and her Finace Manech (I think is right) are skimmed over. You don't learn enough of their history together, it is only briefly explained, I would have preferred this to have been examined in more depth, then I feel I would have been more enthusiastic about Mathilde's mission. The end also seems to be very bittersweet.
On the whole, good film with stunning visuals, good acting and great direction. It has some great scenes with the intent of making you both laugh and cry. I felt a little disappointed with a few aspects of the plot, however this may just be my opinion, or my trouble with following subtitles and watching the film at the same time. I wholly recommend you go see this film. 7/10