The 2004 French film Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, stars Audrey Tautou as Mathilde, a young girl searching for her fiancee Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) who has disappeared in the wake of World War One. Everyone believes he has died after being court-marshalled, but Mathilde refuses to believe it, clinging to little strands of hope as she delves deep into the mystery surrounding her fiancee, herself, and the people she meets along the way. What originally drew me in was the casting of Audrey Tautou as the main character.
I loved her in Amelie and A la Folie... Pas du Tout and I was anxious to see her in this role which seemed completely different from her quirky characters in those other two films. I wasn’t disappointed; I absolutely loved her in this f
...ilm! In some minor ways her character reminded me of her role as Angelique. Both Angelique and Mathilde were young girls obsessed with love and their own ideas that they refused to view as false no matter how much people tried to convince them otherwise. The difference in their obsessions is that while Angelique was psychotically unstable, Mathilde wasn’t, even though many people thought she had to be to keep pursuing a lost cause.
After the initial draw of Audrey Tautou, the plot, mise-en-scene, and visual effects kept me hooked. I thought the film was visually stunning and was extremely realistic at portraying the time period. Every aspect from the music and lighting to the sets and costumes combine to almost transport you to early 1900’s France, pre, during, and post-World War One. While extremely realistic
the filmmakers also managed to throw in some Melies-esque special effects. As far as the plot goes, when the movie opened I was immediately turned off and almost stopped watching.
The opening was extremely disturbing and too gory for my tastes as it all too accurately depicted trench life and the horrors of war. I honestly thought I was going to hate this movie, and I was surprised by just how much I ended up loving it! The film presented the audience with so many different themes and aspects of human life: love, hate, brutality, jealousy, self-preservation, vengeance, irony, passion, optimism, fear, sadness, hope, humor, overwhelming joy, compassion, and so much more.
Over-all I really found this to be a terrific film and I would recommend it to anyone who wouldn’t be offended by a few… risque… scenes. The characters were real, interesting, and easy to connect with and become attached to. It was visually stunning, and as a period piece it was very realistic and extremely powerful. And, while it’s a brutal war story, it’s also an impassioned love story, and I think over-all that’s what kept me the most drawn in. The touching, heartfelt ending is well worth the opening cringe-worthy scenes and I am so glad I didn’t stop watching this film because of them.
- The Pursuit Of Happiness essays
- 12 Angry Men essays
- A beautiful mind essays
- A Separation essays
- Alfred Hitchcock essays
- American Beauty essays
- American Films essays
- Animation essays
- Avatar essays
- Blade Runner essays
- Bollywood essays
- Bond essays
- Bridge essays
- Cinema Of The United States essays
- Comedies essays
- David essays
- Dead Poets Society essays
- Do The Right Thing essays
- Documentary essays
- English-Language Films essays
- Erin Brockovich essays
- Film Analysis essays
- Film Editing essays
- Film Noir essays
- Film Techniques essays
- Finding Forrester essays
- Forrest Gump essays
- Gattaca essays
- Gladiator essays
- Glory essays
- Good Will Hunting essays
- Hamilton essays
- Hollywood essays
- Horror essays
- Jaws essays
- King kong essays
- Like Water For Chocolate essays
- Looking For Alibrandi essays
- Martin Scorsese essays
- Melodrama essays
- Monster essays
- Moulin rouge essays
- Movie Analysis essays
- Movie Review essays
- On The Waterfront essays
- One Flew Over The Cuckoo'S Nest essays
- Our day out essays
- Pearl Harbor (Movie) essays
- Persepolis essays
- Pornography essays
