A Very Long Engagement

Year:

2004

Duration:

133 min

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | War

IMDB rate:

7.7

Director:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 27 nominations

Details

Country: France

Release Date: 2004-10-27

Filming Locations: Auberge Ravoux, 52 rue du Général de Gaulle, Auvers-sur-Oise, Val d'Oise, France

Earnings

Budget: $47,000,000

Opening Weekend: $101,749 (USA) (28 November 2004)

Gross: $6,167,817 (USA) (27 February 2005)

Cast

Actor

Character

Marion Cotillard

A Very Long Engagement

Audrey Tautou

Mathilde

Gaspard Ulliel

Manech

Dominique Pinon

Sylvain

Chantal Neuwirth

Bénédicte

André Dussollier

Pierre-Marie Rouvières

Ticky Holgado

Germain Pire

Dominique Bettenfeld

Ange Bassignano

Jodie Foster

Elodie Gordes

Jean-Pierre Darroussin

Benjamin Gordes

Clovis Cornillac

Benoît Notre-Dame

Jean-Pierre Becker

Esperanza

Denis Lavant

Six-Soux

Jérôme Kircher

Bastoche

Albert Dupontel

Célestin Poux

Jean-Paul Rouve

Le facteur

Elina Löwensohn

La femme allemande

Julie Depardieu

Véronique Passavant

Michel Vuillermoz

P'tit Louis

Urbain Cancelier

Le curé

Maud Rayer

Madame Desrochelles

Michel Robin

Le vieil homme sur le champ de bataille

Tchéky Karyo

Capitaine Favourier

Jean-Claude Dreyfus

Commandant Lavrouye

Philippe Duquesne

Favart

Bouli Lanners

Chardolot

Stéphane Butet

Philippot

Christian Pereira

L'officier des archives

François Levantal

Thouvenel

Patrick Paroux

Le médecin militaire

Solène Le Pechon

Mathilde 10 ans

Virgil Leclaire

Manech 13 ans

Florence Thomassin

Narrator (voice)

Thierry Gibault

Lieutenant Estrangin

Myriam Roustan

La prostituée du café

Gilles Masson

L'officier assassiné

Sandrine Rigault

Mariette Notre-Dame (as Sandrine Rigaud)

Michel Chalmeau

Le curé de Milly

Marc Faure

Le directeur de la prison

Rodolphe Pauly

Jean Desrochelles

Xavier Maly

Le camarade de Chardolot

Till Bahlmann

Le prisonnier allemand

Tony Gaultier

Un fossoyeur

Louis-Marie Audubert

Un fossoyeur

Jean-Gilles Barbier

Le sergent

Marc Robert

Un poilu

Pierre Heitz

Un poilu

Philippe Maymat

Un poilu

Eric Debrosse

Un poilu

Michel Gondoin

Un poilu (as Mike Gondouin)

Eric Fraticelli

Le corse menaçant

Philippe Beautier

Le blagueur du train

Gérald Weingand

Un soldat floué

Luc Sonzogni

Un soldat floué

Xavier Berlioz

L'ordonnance

Frankie Pain

La maquerelle

Marcel Philippot

Le couple bourgeois

Pascale Lievyn

Le couple bourgeois

Jean-Claude Lecoq

Le mitrailleur allemand

Rufus

Un Breton

Esther Sironneau

L'infirmière

Stéphanie Gesnel

Une fille de joie

Frédérique Bel

Une fille de joie

Alexandre Caumartin

Un brancardier

Eric Defosse

Un brancardier

Gaspar Claus

L'Allemand transperçé

Jean-Philippe Bèche

Georges Cornu

Anaïs Durand

Hélène Pire

Morgan Berthon

Un soldat regardant Manech (uncredited)

Xavier Bonastre

Un bourgeois (1910) (uncredited)

Vincent Bowen

(uncredited)

Marie-Thé Colmagne

Une bourgeoise (1910) (uncredited)

Rachel Desmarest

Petite prostitute (uncredited)

Arnaud Klein

Soldier (uncredited)

Julien Lecat

Un soldat (uncredited)

Arnaud Marciszewer

Baptistin 8 ans (uncredited)

Arnaud Mathey-Dreyfus

Soldier Hooked in a Tree (uncredited)

Christophe Perie

Soldier (uncredited)

Aleksandrs Petukhovs

Soldier (uncredited)

Aleksandra Yermak

Passante sur la place de l'Opéra (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

At the point where Mathilde is asked either by her uncle or her aunt about the fate of Manech, she responds that he might be held prisoner by the Germans, then he escaped and met a German woman with large breasts. This could either be a reference to La Grande Illusion (1937) or to La cuisine au beurre (1963).

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Jean-Pierre Jeunet: [orphans] Mathilde, Manech, Célestin Poux

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Jean-Pierre Jeunet met Jodie Foster as she was supervising the dubbed version of Panic Room (2002). The main roles were already taken but Jodie Foster agreed to star in a little role, as Elodie Gordes. She speaks French fluently, so she acted with her own voice.

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Goofs

An explosion with the force that occurred in the hangar would have blown out all the windows and probably the roof sheeting as well, if not doors and walls. It is also doubtful that a unmoored dirigible could snap a rope that size.

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In the film there is an important storyline about an albatross. However, throughout the film in all footage depicting the albatross a gannet is shown. Though a gannet is also a large seabird, it looks nothing like an albatross.

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In a dream sequence, the main character is seen dangling from the top deck of the lighthouse which in encircled by a steel railing. In a scene moments later, the two main characters are seen running around the top deck of the lighthouse which now has a solid white wall around the deck. However, Mathilde must have never been at the lighthouse before, that's why in her dream it looks differently from the actual one. Moreover, even familiar things and places often look strange and different in our dreams.

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Quotes

Mathilde: Ashes to ashes. Ashes to ashes.

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Manech (13 Years Old): Do I stink of fish?

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Narrator: Mathilde leans back against her chair, folds her hands in her lap, and looks at him. In the sweetness of the air, in the light of the garden, Mathilde looks at him. She looks at him... She looks at him...

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