Thumbs

A Very Long Engagement starts on the front lines during WW1. 5 men are walking to there exuction through the trenches. They are being executed for trying to get out of the army via "self-mutilation". Each one of these men had shot themselves in the hand. This scene looks so amazing that you just sit there wondering how on earth they managed to pull it off. They get everything so prefect that you sit in the cinema wincing just thinking what these men went through. One of my favourite bit of this opening scene is a horse in a tree.

The rest of the movie is like a giant puzzle that slowly takes place as Mathilde(Audrey Tautou) looks to find the truth about what happened to Manech (Gasparad Ulliel) who was her fiance and also was one of the 5 men sent to there death. The journey of the movie is truly impressive jumping from the countryside of France to Paris. All of which look like they were filmed in the early 20th century. The impressive set are not even the real strength of this film. Where this film really mind blowing is the acting, which makes this movie just flow along at a perfect pace.

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet has done an amazing job with this film. He real gift is those simple moments that aren't all that important to the movie but just seem so perfect and always just make you giggle. These were present in one of his other films that i love Amelie, which also stars Audrey Tautou.

I guess the only real problem with this film is that it is a very long engagement. At just over 2 hours i ended up with a really numb bum. But dont get me wrong it is well worth the numb bum. This movie is simply fantastic.

Chris Rating: 9/10