DVD | A Very Long Engagement

A Very Long Engagement is basically a story of a young woman and her relentless search for her fiancée, who has disappeared during the First World War.

Despite all the factors suggesting that he’s dead, she never gives up hope, and keeps her love alive for years after the war.

But to say that this movie is a basic story would be far from the truth. This is one of the grittiest, compelling, light, funny and warmest movies of the year. It has a fantastic story line that captivates you and takes you on a journey through the eyes of several people and builds up the storyline slowly through flashbacks.

The cinematography is superb, and takes you from the heights of young romance to the depths of trench warfare, all in believable tones of colour and vision. The acting is first class, with an outstanding performance by Audrey Tautou.

Through the horrors of war, the brutality of revenge, the desperation of politics, Audrey’s character keeps a flame of hope burning brightly throughout. Surrounded by a loving family, humour flows unexpectedly and keeps what could have been an overly dark movie, fairly light, whilst retaining believability.

If you only watch one subtitled movie this year, make sure it’s this one. And if you hate movies with subtitles, either learn French or get over this, ‘cause Hollywood rarely comes this close to great storytelling.

The DVD doesn’t get released until 15th of June, but it is worth the wait.