I am working my way through
movies that could potentially make the field for my Best WWI Combat Movie
Tournament. It was suggested that I
consider the French film “A Very Long Engagement”. It has been sitting in my queue for some
time, but I have not been motivated to see it because of my impression that it
was not really a war movie. Let’s see.
The movie was released in 2004
and got some critical recognition. It
was nominated for Academy Awards for Art Direction and Cinematography. The movie was directed and co-written by
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and is based on a novel by Sebastien Japrisot. The movie is very French, but does include
Jodie Foster in the cast.
The movie opens with a shot of a
damaged crucifix in no man’s land.
Subtle. It is Jan. 6, 1917 and a
group of five condemned poilu are being led to their place of execution. We get a little back-story on each and a
flashback to their offense. It turns out
they all were court-martialed for self-inflicted wounds. Specifically, a bullet through the hand. The last is the twenty year-old Manech who is
suffering from shell shock. His method
was holding up a lit cigarette at night to attract the attention of a German
sniper. The creative punishment is for
the five to be shoved into no man’s land so the Germans can finish them
off. The movie then jumps two years to
his fiancé Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) who is pining for him in the picturesque
French countryside. She refuses to
believe he is dead and hires a detective to search for him. She gets involved too. Interviewing friends and family of the
ill-fated quintet allows for some fleshing out of the characters. This includes the Manach/Mathilde
romance. The film is very non-linear. There is a mysterious subplot involving a
prostitute named Tina Lombardi (Marion Cotillard) who is assassinating some of
the officers involved in the incident.
Another subplot has the wife (Jodie Foster) of one of the condemned trying
to get pregnant as per her impotent husband’s request. She has a brief affair with Biscotte’s best
friend Bastoche. Bastoche is the one who
accidentally shot himself in the hand while trying to kill a rat. There is something of an “Odyssey” feel to
the characters and tales. There is also
a mystery to be solved as apparently the punishment did not go as smoothly as
the villainous court-martial board had hoped.
Could some of the five have lived?
It would be amazing if they did.
But this is a movie, after all.
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| is it a war movie? well ... |
“A Very Long Engagement” is an
interesting movie. Is it a war
movie? I would describe it as a
romance/mystery/war movie. Most of the
movie is set after or before the war.
There is not that much on the soldiers in the war. The combat is brief and there is little
soldier life. The movie does indict
French military justice, but it does not hammer that theme. Although four of the five self-mutilations
are related to the horrors of the fighting, the plot does not spend a lot of
time making us understand why the men were driven to this. You won’t get a feel for why the French army
mutinied from this movie. But the
punishment was really a plot device to set up the parted lovers template.
That plot needed a lot of
manipulation and disbelief suspension.
Since the movie was not really meant to be a traditional war movie, I
was able to overlook some of the outrageous plot developments. I think Jeunet meant for the film to be
surreal in spots. For example, Bastoche
knocks down a German plane with a grenade.
More egregious is a regrettable scene that crosses the line by having a
hospital set up in a barrage balloon hanger with explosive results. I love massive fiery explosions as much as
the next guy, but come on! Much of the
plot is implausible, but what the heck.
After the five hand wound opening, you know what you are in for.
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| Damn, that plane is flying so low a person could knock it down with a grenade! |
Once I got over the fact that
the movie was untraditional, I was able to enjoy the ride. The acting is excellent with Tautou perfect
as the spunky Mathilde. She is lame from
polio and plays a tuba. She is not the
only eccentric character. The detective
Pire (Ticky Holgado) brings a lot of fun in his search. Tina Lombardi is a bizarre, but mesmerizing
figure. Jodie Foster’s Elodie is more
than stunt casting, she’s a key to the mystery.
Speaking of eccentricities, the cinematography is the most memorable
thing about the movie. Bruno Delbonnel
has some pizazz to his craft. The movie
has some awesome visuals. He likes to
have double images appearing together.
One is the present and the other a flashback. To add spice, the flashbacks sometimes differ
from the original flashback, which is the way memory sometimes works. These baubles tend to overshadow some of the
film’s flaws. I need to see the movie
again to figure out what was up with that coded letter, for instance. I also am unclear why their commanding
officer tore up the pardons.
Pairing romance and war has not
been particularly successful for war movie fanatics like myself. This movie is an exception. It is not that it provided enough action and
violence. The film is definitely
balanced for both sexes. It really is
more geared towards the female audience, but guys won’t sigh throughout. That does not mean I did not shake my head a
few times. But it is what it is and
that’s not bad if you go in knowing that.
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