A Very Long Engagement (2004)
83%RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 2 Oscars
17 wins & 35 nominations total
A well-crafted and visually arresting drama with a touch of whimsy
A Very Long Engagement is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. Some critics loved it, some thought it was too much to handle. But let’s be real, anything with Audrey Tautou is worth watching. Plus, who doesn’t love a good mystery-quest? It’s like National Treasure, but with more romance and less Nicolas Cage. Overall, it’s a grand cinema experience that will leave you enchanted and maybe a little nauseous from all the candy.
Production Company(ies)
Mad As Birds G-B A S E Head Gear Films,
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Héaux de Bréhat, Côtes-d’Armor, France
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence and sexuality
Year of Release
2005
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 14m
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Language(s):French, German, Corsican
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Country of origin:France
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 26, 2004 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 24, 2005
Genre(s)
Drama/War
Keyword(s)
starring Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jean-Pierre Becker, Dominique Bettenfeld, Clovis Cornillac, Marion Cotillard, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Sébastien Japrisot, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, drama, war, romance, R rating, Warner Bros Pictures, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Kimberley Jones, Roger Moore, Rene Rodriguez, Tom Long, Terry Lawson, Jeff
Worldwide gross: $69,424,389
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $105,801,612
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 985
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 11,537,798
US/Canada gross: $6,524,389
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $9,943,060
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,617
US/Canada opening weekend: $101,749
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $155,064
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,770
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $56,600,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $86,257,457
Production budget ranking: 479
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $46,449,640
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$26,905,485
ROI to date (est.): -20%
ROI ranking: 1,501
Gaspard Ulliel – Manech
Jean-Pierre Becker – Esperanza
Dominique Bettenfeld – Ange Bassignano
Clovis Cornillac – Benoît Notre-Dame
Marion Cotillard – Tina Lombardi
Director(s)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Writer(s)
Sébastien Japrisot, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Producer(s)
Angus Finney
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 2 Oscars
17 wins & 35 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (148) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (116) | Rotten (32)
January 15, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/5
Kimberley Jones
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
Tautou, as always, makes this an enchanting trip.
December 22, 2004 | Rating: 5/5
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
There’s only so much candy the eye can consume before nausea sets in.
December 22, 2004 | Rating: 2.5/4
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
This is grand cinema.
December 22, 2004 | Rating: A
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
The comic-dramatic divide of A Very Long Engagement is difficult to traverse, much less conquer. It’s simply hard to be charmed with all those corpses scattered about.
December 22, 2004 | Rating: 2/4
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
Merging heart-wrenching emotions with quirky humor and splicing bloody war footage with goofy comedy, the movie mixes vastly disparate elements into a surprisingly smooth blend.
December 21, 2004
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
TOP CRITIC
With detail crammed into literally every frame, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more imaginative film this year.
April 23, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
James Mottram
The List
As in any fable, there are spires, towers and moats, and it’s a spellbinding saga – a macabre dance choreographed by its romance’s throbbing heart. Mathilde and Manech’s love left its mark in many places, so why not the grungiest and war-torn?
November 22, 2010 | Rating: 3.5/4
Nick Rogers
The Film Yap
August 7, 2008 | Rating: 4/5
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review
Filmmaker Jeunet applies his aestheticized approach (which worked well for Amelie) to a WWII melodrama to some mixed results.
July 30, 2007 | Rating: C+
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
July 14, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
It’s a romantic epic, an intense and gripping look at WWI, and a nifty little mystery-quest all rolled into one.
July 28, 2005
Scott Weinberg
DVD Clinic…
Plot
Five desperate French soldiers during The Battle of the Somme shoot themselves, either by accident or with purpose, in order to be invalided back home. Having been “caught” a court-martial convenes and determines punishment to be banishment to No Man’s Land with the objective of having the Germans finish them off. In the process of telling this tale each man’s life is briefly explored along with their next of kin as Methilde, fiancée to one of the men, tries to determine the circumstances of her lover’s death. This task is not made any easier for her due to a bout with polio as a child. Along the way she discovers the heights and depths of the human soul.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film stars Audrey Tautou, known for her role in the popular French film Amélie.
Jean-Pierre-Jeunet.jpg
