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
- Xavier Maly - Chardolot's Friend
- Philippe Maymat - Soldier
- Frankye Pain - Madam
- Gérald Weingand - Conned Solider
- Pascale Lievyn - Bourgeois Couple
- Jean-Claude Lecoq - German Machine Gunner
- Marc Robert - Soldier
- Luc Songzoni - Conned Soldier
- Eric Fraticelli - Menacing Corsican
- Gaspar Claus - Stabbed German
- Philippe Beautier - Joker On The Train
- Myriam Roustan - The Cafe Prostitute
- Michel Gondouin - Soldier
- Stephanie Gesnel - Prostitute
- Gilles Masson - The Murdered Officer
- Eric Debrosse - Soldier
- Alexandre Caumartin - Stretcher Bearer
- 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
- Marc Faure - The Prison Director
- Jean Philippe Beche - Geroges Cornu
- Eric Defosse - Stretcher Bearer
- Marcel Philippot - Bourgeois Couple
- Xavier Berlioz - Orderly
- Anaïs Durand - Hélène Prie
- Tony Gaultier - Gravedigger
- Thierry Gibault - Lieutenant Estrangin
- Rodolphe Pauly - Jean Desrochelles
- Louis-Marie Audubert - Gravedigger
- Frederique Bel - Prostitute
- Pierre Heitz - Soldier
- Till Bahlmann - German Prisoner
- Sandrine Rigaud - Mariette Notre Dame
- Jean Gilles Barbier - Sergeant
- Esther Sironneau - Nurse
- Director(s):
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Writer(s):
- Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Producer(s):
- Francis Boespflug
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Adult Language, Sexual Situations, Adult Situations, War Violence, Brief Nudity)
- 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 Foreign Language Film
- 2004 - A Very Long Engagement - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Cinematography [Runner-up]
- 2004 - A Very Long Engagement - Chicago Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Film
