A Very Long Engagement

Just came back from seeing the new Jeunet film, Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles (A Very Long Engagement).

First impression: *Wow*! I'll grant I've not seen many films that deal with the trenches during the First World War, but that was absolutely incredible. Juxtaposed with gorgeous Bretagne and that fairy-tale cottage...

There were lots of parallels between this and Amélie, but not to the extent that it became distracting. His protagonists are always in this fascinating limbo between fantasy and reality, and both he and Audrey Tautou somehow manage to capture it perfectly. And I'd never seen the actor playing Manech before, but he looked so incredibly innocent, even in the midst of the Somme...I teared up multiple times.

The story was far more complicated than Amélie, followed multiple threads instead of just one. And they all weaved together beautifully.

I highly recommend. Without reservation. A fantastic film.

Whee!

So...I got my essay back.

::grins widely::

72.

(on a scale of up to 85, a number reserved for God, Napoléon and the Académie-Français...er...wrong country. But you get the point.)

70-79 is the second-highest band, but 80-85 is supposedly near impossible to get. As in something publishable on the spot.

And the last line of the examiners' report just made me so incredibly warm and fuzzy.

"Nonetheless, the essay is elegant and convincing, a fine and accessible reading of a complicated film, and easily matches or surpasses any of the secondary sources she cites."

::descends into Sally Field mode:: They like me! They really like me!