ROMANCE MIA IN TALE OF INTREPID WAR WIDOW.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic 'A VERY LONG Engagement,`` French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet's follow-up to his international hit ``Amelie,`` is another densely packed, richly imagined love story - only this time the fairy tale fairy tale Simple narrative typically of folk origin dealing with supernatural beings. Fairy tales may be written or told for the amusement of children or may have a more sophisticated narrative containing supernatural or obviously improbable events, scenes, and personages is more like something the Brothers Grimm For information about the other uses of the name, see Brothers Grimm (disambiguation). The Grimm Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, were German academics who were best known for publishing collections of folk tales and fairy tales,[1] might have imagined. The movie reunites Jeunet with his ``Amelie'' leading lady, Audrey Tautou, and the director again can't get enough of the waifish Tautou's doe eyes and elfish elf·ish also elv·ish adj. 1. Of or relating to elves. 2. Prankish; mischievous. elf  ish·ly adv. expressions. Tautou, though, isn't quite in her element this time, the film waging a losing battle in its tightrope walk between grim reality and lighthearted whimsy whim·sy also whim·sey n. pl. whim·sies also whim·seys 1. An odd or fanciful idea; a whim. 2. A quaint or fanciful quality: stories full of whimsy. . Ultimately, Jeunet's stylistic excesses get the best of him here, making the film an experience that feels uncomfortably like its title. Tautou plays Mathilde, a stubborn pixie who will not accept the fact that her fiance, a French soldier named Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) was killed on the front lines near the end of the first world war. The intuitive Mathilde believes that if Manech was dead, she'd know it. She'd feel it in her bones. So she begins a long, complicated investigation of Manech's final days, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. some hard evidence that will provide proof of her fiance's fate. Manech was one of five soldiers court-martialed for self-mutilation (Jeunet reveals the circumstances behind these acts with imaginative flair) and sent into the no man's land between the French and German lines where they would presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. die of starvation or from enemy fire. Mathilde decides to find these other men - or their widows - and, as presented, that search involves more flashbacks, including one involving the wife (Jodie Foster Alicia Christian Foster (born November 19 1962), better known as Jodie Foster, is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress, director, and producer. She has also won two Golden Globes, 3 BAFTA awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award, making her one of the few select , speaking fluent French, in a memorable cameo) who knew (in the biblical sense) two of the key players. Jeunet nails the black humor and desperate hopelessness in the battle scenes at the front, making ``Engagement'' another in a long line of movies that effectively convey the absurdity of war. Where he falls short is in the actual love story, which is rather slight and completely lacking in the kind of emotional depth needed to make Mathilde's quest into the sort of tragic-romantic heart-tugger that the movie needs on at least some basic level. Of course, you can simply enjoy ``A Very Long Engagement'' on its own terms, as a clever detective story, tirelessly imaginative, fussily composed and as cold as a December night in a trench on the Western front. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT - Two and one half stars (R: violence, sexuality) Starring: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel. Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Running time: 2 hr. 13 min. Playing: Regent Showcase in West Hollywood; Laemmle's Royal in West Los Angeles
In a nutshell: The director and leading lady of ``Amelie'' reunite, scoring again with cleverness but failing to engage the heart. |
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