The Zen Kitchen

A Very Long Engagement

I'm normally too much of a sourpuss to enjoy romantic comedies. Well, okay, the reason I actually normally don't like romantic comedies is I find them far too pat, convenient, and unrealistic, and the cynic in me just screams out that I'm merely being emotionally manipulated, and in a not so subtle manner, and that life and relationships just don't work that way. All right, I guess the sourpuss reasoning is accurate.

That being said, I love the film Amelie. For those who haven't seen it, its a French romantic comedy. Its a film about a girl who, through the act of performing a good deed on a whim finds she really enjoys helping others, and ultimately her own life is enriched in turn. Sort of a good karma story.

So when I saw that the main actress in Amelie (Audrey Tautou) teamed up with the director (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) once again to make the film A Very Long Engagement I knew I had to see it. The film takes place shortly after World War I has ended and it centers around a young lame girl trying to find out what has happened to her finacee' who had never returned from the war. I knew from the subject matter that this was probably not a comedy, but I assumed there would be a strong romantic element going in. I was right, but it ended up being so much more. I placed the trailer for the film in my previous post if you are interested in watching it.

As the trailer shows this is a film not just about a romance, its a detective story in which our heroine uncovers the secrets of many men whose lives were destroyed by World War I. While Amelie was a fun, quirky film with just a hint of a dark side, A Very Long Engagement is almost a mirror image, taking the tragedies and absurdities of war and tempering them with just the right amount of romantic sentimentality and quirky humor to keep the hearts of the audience light just when we think the gruesomeness is too much to bear. Its about war, but its also about courage and love, not just the love a woman feels for her fiancee, but the love felt by comrades in arms and even the love of strangers who have never met, but have shared in a tragedy. And, without giving away the ending, I can say it was just right for me. It was the perfect mix of hope and sadness. Happy, without being pat or overly sentimental.

"Vengeance is pointless. Try to be happy and don't ruin your life for me."

posted by Shaun @ 4:26 AM