''A Very Long Engagement'' (french: Un long dimanche de fiançailles, italic=yes, "A long Sunday of engagement") is a 2004 French-American romantic war drama film, co-written and directed by

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Jean-Pierre Jeunet (; born 3 September 1953) is a French film director, producer and screenwriter. His films combine fantasy, realism and science fiction to create idealized realities or to give relevance to mundane situations. Debuting as a di ...

and starring

Audrey Tautou Audrey Justine Tautou (; born 9 August 1976) is a French actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 18 on television and her feature film debut in ''Venus Beauty Institute'' (1999), for which she received critical acclaim and won the Césa ...

Gaspard Ulliel Gaspard Thomas Ulliel (; 25 November 198419 January 2022) was a French actor. He was known for having portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in ''Hannibal Rising'' (2007), fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic '' Saint Laurent'' (2014 ...

and

Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress, film producer, singer, and environmentalist who is widely known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters in both European and Hollywood productions. She has received ...

. It is a fictional tale about a young woman's desperate search for her fiancé who might have been killed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was based on the 1991 novel of the same name by

Sébastien Japrisot Sébastien Japrisot (4 July 1931 – 4 March 2003) was a French author, screenwriter and film director. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Renowned for subverting the rules of the crime genre, Japrisot broke dow ...

. The film was nominated for the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

and Best Cinematography at the

77th Academy Awards The 77th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on February 27, 2005, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During ...

. Marion Cotillard won the

César Award Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

for Best Supporting Actress for her performance, and Gaspard Ulliel won the César Award for Most Promising Actor.

Plot

Five French

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

are convicted of self-mutilation in order to escape military service during

. They are condemned to face near-certain death in

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

between the French and German

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from eros ...

lines. It appears that all of them were killed in a subsequent battle, but Mathilde, the fiancée of one of the soldiers, refuses to give up hope and begins to uncover clues as to what actually took place on the battlefield. She is all the while driven by the constant reminder of what her fiancé had carved into one of the bells of the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

near their home, MMM for ''Manech Aime Mathilde'' (Manech Loves Mathilde; a pun on the French word ''aime'', which is pronounced like the letter "M". In the English-language version, this is changed to "Manech's Marrying Mathilde"). Along the way, she discovers the brutally corrupt system used by the

French government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

to deal with those who tried to escape the front. She also discovers the stories of the other men who were sentenced to no man's land as a punishment. She, with the help of a private investigator, Germain Pire, attempts to find out what happened to her fiancé. The story is told both from the point of view of the fiancée in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and the French countryside—mostly

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

—of the 1920s, and through flashbacks to the battlefield. Eventually, Mathilde finds out her fiancé is alive, but he suffers from amnesia. Seeing Mathilde, Manech seems to be oblivious of her. At this, Mathilde sits on the garden chair silently watching Manech with tears in her eyes and a smile on her lips.

Cast

Production and release

''A Very Long Engagement'' was filmed entirely in France over an 18-month period, with about 30 French actors, approximately 500 French technicians and more than 2,000 French extras. Right before the film's New York City and Hollywood debut, the film's production company ("2003 Productions"), which is one-third owned by Warner Brothers and two-thirds owned by Warner France, was ruled an American production company by a French court, denying the studio $4.8 million in government incentives,. The ruling is consistent with the fact that Warner France is owned by Warner Spain, which is owned by Warner Nederland, itself a subsidiary of Warner Brothers. Warner Independent released the film theatrically in the US, followed by VHS and DVD release on July 12, 2005. It was Warner Independent's final VHS release. The only Blu-ray to date is a region B disc from

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

in France. In the film, Manech and Mathilde are from

, whereas in the novel, they are from

Capbreton Capbreton (; oc, Capberton) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Located at the mouth of the Boudigau and Bourret rivers, the town is situated about 40 km north of Biarritz. The town is a ...

, in the

Landes ''Landes'', or ''Lanas'' in Gascon, means moorland or heath. ''Landes'' and ''Lanas'' come from the Latin ''plānus'' meaning “‘flat, even, level, plain’”. They are therefore cognate with the English plain (and plane), the Spanish word '' ...

department of southwest France.

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, 78% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 148 reviews, and an average rating of 7.40/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A well-crafted and visually arresting drama with a touch of whimsy". On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film had a production budget of $56.6 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

and earned $69.4 million in theaters worldwide.

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

praised "miracle worker" Jean-Pierre Jeunet and called the film "an emotional powerhouse".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

wrote: "Jeunet brings everything together—his joyously poetic style, the lovable Tautou, a good story worth the telling—into a film that is a series of pleasures stumbling over one another in their haste to delight us."

Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, gave a negative review on this film stating that "Mr. Jeunet shows no interest in animating the characters in his dollhouse world".

Awards

The film received Academy Award nominations for

and Best Cinematography at the 77th Oscars, losing both to '' The Aviator''. It was not selected as the French submission for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, in favor of '' The Chorus''. Marion Cotillard won the

for Best Supporting Actress for her performance, while Audrey Tautou was nominated for Best Actress. * 30th César Awards (France) ** Won: Best Supporting Actress (Marion Cotillard) ** Won: Best Cinematography (

Bruno Delbonnel Bruno Delbonnel, , (born 1957) is a French cinematographer. He worked on the films ''Amélie'' (2001), ''A Very Long Engagement'' (2004), ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' (2009), ''Inside Llewyn Davis'' (2013) and '' Darkest Hour'' (2 ...

) ** Won: Best Costume Design (

Madeline Fontaine Madeline Fontaine is a French costume designer. Biography Madeline Fontaine is president of the French Association of Film and Audiovisual costumers (AFCCA). Filmography * Costume designer: ** 1996 A Saturday on Earth of Diane Bertrand * ...

) ** Won: Best Production Design ( Aline Bonetto) ** Won: Most Promising Actor (Gaspard Ulliel) ** Nominated:

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

(Audrey Tautou) ** Nominated:

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

(Jean-Pierre Jeunet) ** Nominated: Best Editing (Hervé Schneid) ** Nominated:

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

** Nominated:

Best Music Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

(Angelo Badalamenti) ** Nominated:

Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

(Vincent Arnardi, Gérard Hardy and Jean Umansky) ** Nominated: Best Writing (Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant) * London's Favourite French Film 2006 (United Kingdom) ** Won: Best Film *

(USA) ** Nominated:

(Aline Bonetto) ** Nominated: Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel) *

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

(UK) ** Nominated:

BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy Film Awards, rec ...

10th Critics' Choice Awards The 10th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on January 10, 2005, at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California, honoring the finest achievements of 2004 filmmaking. The ceremony was hosted by Eric McCormack and broadcast live on The WB. The nomin ...

(USA) ** Nominated: Best Foreign-Language Film *

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

** Runner-up: Best Foreign Language Film *

Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is an association of professional film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by film critics Sharon LeMa ...

(USA) ** Won: Best Foreign Language Film * Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association (USA) ** Won: Best Foreign Language Film ** Placed 9th: Top 10 Films *

Florida Film Critics Circle The Florida Film Critics Circle (FFCC) is a film critic organization founded in 1996. The FFCC comprises 30 film critics from Florida-based print and online publications. At the end of each year, the FFCC members vote on the Florida Film Critics ...

(USA) ** Won:

Best Foreign Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

* Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards (USA) ** Won: Best Foreign Language Film *

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

(USA) ** Nominated: Best Foreign Language FilmGolden Globes
/ref>

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Very Long Engagement 2004 films 2000s French-language films French war drama films French World War I films Films shot in Haute-Corse 2000s war drama films Anti-war films about World War I Edgar Award-winning works Films based on French novels Films based on military novels Films directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress César Award-winning performance Films whose director won the Best Director Lumières Award France in World War I 2000s historical romance films War romance films Warner Independent Pictures films Western Front (World War I) films Novels set during World War I Films set in France Films set in Corsica Films shot in France Films shot in Corsica Films scored by Angelo Badalamenti Films based on works by Sébastien Japrisot French historical romance films 2004 drama films American war drama films 2000s American films 2000s French films