Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the acclaimed French director of "Am?©lie" (2001), debatably one of the most popular French movies of all time, has finally returned with a new film.
Jeunet was present at the MFA last Thursday to screen his new movie, "A Very Long Engagement," followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Produced by Warner Independent studios and with a significantly larger budget than past projects, "Engagement" marks a change from the independent cinema that categorized Jeunet's previous works like "Delicatessen" (1991), "La Cit?© des enfants perdus" (1995), and, of course, "Am?©lie."
Although "Engagement" is billed as a big budget World War I romance saga ? la "Cold Mountain," anyone expecting gray and dismal battle scenes doesn't know Jeunet or his penchant for abstract and erratic sequences, intensely color-filtered cinematography, and impeccable acting.
"Engagement" parallels the story of five French soldiers who have all been condemned to death for "self-mutilation" after blowing off their hands in an attempt to be sent home from the war.
Mathilde (played by Am?©lie herself, Audrey Tautou), the fianc?©e of the youngest, goes on a search to find him - against every piece of logical evidence that he is dead.
The movie follows her hunt for leads and along the way tells the back stories of the other four men in the regiment that all presumably died as well. The plot uncovers more and more of the details surrounding the youngest soldier's alleged death while continually resulting in dead ends.
The movie uses many of the creative cinematography techniques that Jeunet is known for, but to a much lesser degree than usual.
Every once in a while, some stylistic aspect of "Engagement" will be blatantly "Jeunet-esque" but the incredible role that the director's delirious and magical style played in previous movies is much more understated in this film.
"Engagment" takes a much less fantastical angle to tell its story and, while it isn't as great as "Am?©lie," the film nevertheless remains above and beyond the majority of movies out now. The talk with Jeunet began somewhat uninspiringly but picked up towards the end.
He alluded to his past, explaining how he began making films before he even started seeing them. Jeunet made his first film when he was nine, and said he was basically self-taught since then, starting out with short films and later expanding to full features.
He spoke about the character choices he makes, explaining that he chooses actors that have "interesting expressive faces." He expressed his disappointment in French actors, and joke that "there aren't many good French actors, [but] they are all in this film."
He spoke about the extensive time it takes him to come up with an idea that he loves and to make it a movie, alluding to his unprolific career for having started at such a young age.
When asked about the more restrained visual style in "A Very Long Engagement," Jeunet explained that this was because of his desire to make it believable as a historical film.
Color was digitally used distinctly for certain objects; for example, Mathilde's bedcover was very vibrant purple while the rest of her bedroom remains a more natural tone.
This choice allowed Jeunet to emphasize certain aspects that he thought were important and would add to the scene's composition, but wouldn't distract from the general tone of the film, most of which looks washed-out and sepia.
He expressed sincere appreciation for Warner studios and said he was surprised by the freedom they gave him. He ended the talk, playfully dissuading all the film students in the audience from following in his footsteps.
