A Very Long Engagement (2004)
- Starring:
- Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, (more)
- Director(s):
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
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Audrey Tautou, who rose to international stardom with the title role in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's worldwide smash Amélie, reunites with the director for this drama, set during the darkest days of World War I and its immediate aftermath. Mathilde (Tautou) is a pretty but frail young women who was left with a bad leg after a childhood bout with polio. Mathilde lives in a small French village with her Aunt Bénédicte (Chantal Neuwirth) and Uncle Sylvain (Dominique Pinon), and is engaged to marry Manech (Gaspard Ulliel), the son of a lighthouse keeper who is fighting with the army near the German front. Manech is one of five soldiers who have been accused of injuring themselves in order to be sent home; in order to discourage similar behavior among their comrades, Manech and the other soldiers are sentenced to death, and the condemned men are marched into the no man's land between the French and German lines, where they are certain to be killed. Mathilde receives word of Manech's death, but in her heart she believes that if the man she loved had been killed, she would know it and feel it. Convinced he's still alive somewhere, Mathilde hires a private detective (Ticky Holgado) shortly after the end of the war, and together they set out to find the missing Manech. Jodie Foster appears in a supporting role as a Polish expatriate living in France. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 133 mins
Complete Cast:
- Audrey Tautou - Mathilde
- Jean-Pierre Becker - Esperanza
- Clovis Cornillac - Benoit Notre Dame
- Jean-Pierre Darroussin - Benjamin Gordes
- Jean-Claude Dreyfus - Commandant Lavrouye
- André Dussollier - Rouviéres
- Tchéky Karyo - Captain Favourier
- Denis Lavant - Six-Sous
- Chantal Neuwirth - Bénédicte
- Jean-Paul Rouve - The Postman
- Michel Vuillermoz - L'il Louis
- Michel Chalmeau - The Priest of Milly
- Till Bahlmann - German Prisoner
- Frederique Bel - Prostitute
- Marc Robert - Soldier
- Tony Gaultier - Gravedigger
- Xavier Berlioz - Orderly
- Stephanie Gesnel - Prostitute
- Eric Fraticelli - Menacing Corsican
- Alexandre Caumartin - Stretcher Bearer
- Eric Debrosse - Soldier
- Gilles Masson - The Murdered Officer
- Xavier Maly - Chardolot's Friend
- Thierry Gibault - Lieutenant Estrangin
- Sandrine Rigaud - Mariette Notre Dame
- Frankye Pain - Madam
- Philippe Beautier - Joker On The Train
- Gaspar Claus - Stabbed German
- Pierre Heitz - Soldier
- Gaspard Ulliel - Manech
- Dominique Bettenfeld - Ange Bassignano
- Marion Cotillard - Tina Lombardi
- Jodie Foster - Elodie Gordes
- Albert Dupontel - Celestin Poux
- Ticky Holgado - Germain Pire
- Jérôme Kircher - Bastoche
- Francois Levantal - Thouvenel
- Dominique Pinon - Sylvain
- Julie Depardieu - Véronique Passavant
- Rufus - A Breton
- Florence Thomassin - Narrator
- Eric Defosse - Stretcher Bearer
- Myriam Roustan - The Cafe Prostitute
- Gérald Weingand - Conned Solider
- Pascale Lievyn - Bourgeois Couple
- Marcel Philippot - Bourgeois Couple
- Anaïs Durand - Hélène Prie
- Rodolphe Pauly - Jean Desrochelles
- Esther Sironneau - Nurse
- Jean Gilles Barbier - Sergeant
- Marc Faure - The Prison Director
- Luc Songzoni - Conned Soldier
- Jean-Claude Lecoq - German Machine Gunner
- Philippe Maymat - Soldier
- Jean Philippe Beche - Geroges Cornu
- Louis-Marie Audubert - Gravedigger
- Michel Gondouin - Soldier
- Director(s):
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Writer(s):
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant
- Producer(s):
- Francis Boespflug
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Sexual Situations, Brief Nudity, Adult Language, Adult Situations, War Violence)
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 2004 - A Very Long Engagement - American Society of Cinematographers - Best Cinematography
- 2004 - A Very Long Engagement - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Cinematography [Runner-up]
- 2004 - A Very Long Engagement - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Foreign Language Film
- 2004 - A Very Long Engagement - Chicago Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Film
