It's difficult not to viscerally engage with anything Jeunet does, especially if it features Audrey Tautou's bottom. His visual flare continues to delight in this latest WW1 tale. That flare has tamed slightly since the break with Caro and the brilliant if slavish homages to Gilliam that characterized his first two films, as befits the subject matter of this film and Amelie. Sadly though it is the storyline that encumbers A Very Long Engagement, and Jeunet's usual visual footnote approach does nothing to help. The film assaults you with an admitedly short but ever changing list of names and theories, that becomes so convoluted I found it difficult to care either way by midway through, even though the very title of the film gives everything away. The admonishments of the missus and the sobs coming from behind me in the cinema however suggests I'm just a miserable sod.
Review of A Very Long Engagement
