Un long dimanche de fiancailles

A Very Long Engagement / Pitkät kihlajaiset / En långvarig förlovning. FR / US (c) 2004 by 2003 Productions / Warner Bros. France / Tapioca / TF1. D: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Based on the novel by Sébastien Japrisot. DP: Bruno Delbonnel. M: Angelo Badalamenti. PD: Aline Bonetto. FX: Jean-Baptiste Bonetto. Starring Audrey Tautou (Mathilde), Gaspard Ulliel (Manech). 134 min. Elaborate digital look. Released by Sandrews, French version with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Outi Kainulainen / Ditte Kronström, acknowledging the book translation by Annikki Suni. Viewed at Maxim 1, Helsinki, 22 Jan 2005. A dazzling film adaptation of Japrisot's novel is full of original visual invention. Jeunet's artistic world expands in this historical journey into WWI. I found myself admiring the effects, never forgetting the digital artifice. This is a quality film, but both the love and the war could be portrayed more movingly.