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plot summary: Mathilde (Tautou) and Manech (Ulliel) met as children, fell in love, and at ages 19 and 20, got engaged. But then, Manech is drafted during World War One, and they are separated. At the war's end, Manech doesn't come home, and Mathilde is left to pick up the pieces and uncover the mystery of whether or not he is still alive.
who should see this movie: Fans of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, fans of Audrey Tautou as she gives an amazing performance here, people who enjoy movies about war.
who should NOT see this movie: Anyone who's expecting a quirky lil' love story, or expecting Tautou to be Amelie-esque...neither is true for this movie. Also, anyone who is easily squicked out by blood and gore. This movie has a lot of it.
hey, isn't that?: Yes, it is --- Jodie Foster turns out a wonderfully understated performance (in flawless French, no less!) as the wife of a man who was in the same trench as Manech.
based on: the acclaimed novel of the same name by Sebastien Japrisot.
Jeunet is a director long synomous with fantastical film: from the surrealistic Delicatessen, to the fairy-tale City of Lost Children, to his most famous work, the delightful Amelie. With this latest film, however, Jeunet takes a lighter hand with the fanciful, and instead gives us a somber, more weightier work. (It's interesting to note that he adapted this from Japrisot's novel...not since 1997's Alien: Resurrection has he directed a story he has not himself written.)
Tautou, one of my favorite actresses, gives an incredible performance here as the stubborn, hopeful Mathilde, clearly demonstrating that she's no one-trick-pony to be labeled as "Amelie" her whole career. Mathilde is not meek or tentative like Amelie, rather she is direct, strong-willed, and very strong, despite a lame leg which developed from having polio as a child. Flashbacks show her as an outcast as a child, helping to define her as the independent young woman we see in the movie.
Tautou is not the only returning Amelie actor; Jeunet keeps his tradition of using the same actors, with Dominique Pinon returning as Mathilde's loving uncle, and Ticky Holgado (in the last performance of his life) as the private investigator she hires to help her track down former soldiers from Manech's trench.
While, it's not exactly a "quirky" movie, there are still some of Jeunet's trademark quirky moments. In the beginning, he introduces the characters in a similar fashion from Amelie. (Particularly silly is the introduction of Bénédicte, Mathilde's aunt.) There are also some unexpectedly (*gulp*) sexy moments in the film, from Mathilde and Manech's first time, to the passionate scenes involving (yes!) Jodie Foster.
But the main mood I took from the film was: somber. Most of the reviews I had read described this as a romantic movie. Don't get me wrong: the story is definitely romantic! I mean, the hope in their hearts is indelibly romantic. But there are way more war scenes in this film than I had expected. These scenes are dark, haunting, and the wars are depicted in brutally graphic detail. In fact, I feel this might be one of the most graphically violent movies I've ever seen! (Keep in mind, I do tend to stay away from gory scenes, so what's horrific to me might be tame to you.) In any case, I felt the heft of the war scenes weighed down the romantic aspect at times. (It's hard to "get in the mood" when you've just seen a man get blown to bits.)
Which isn't to say this film was bad! Actually, it's an exquisite piece of filmmaking, from the story to the performances to the music (scored by Lynch fave, Angelo Badalamenti) to the costume and the cinematography. But, unlike Jeunet's previous films, namely Amelie and City of Lost Children, I can't imagine watching this one over and over again. (janice.01.05)
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