A Very Long Engagement
Ugh. Being the literary type that I am, I read this book for book club. After a brief period of reflection and confusion, I thought, well, I'll try the movie.
The usual mistake.
If you've read the book, this is a horrible adaptation. I mean, I suppose that to get it to fit into a 2-hour time frame, yes, you have to mangle the plot line as Jeunet did. But the problem started when Jean-Pierre Jeunet decided to make this an Amélieësque movie. He uses a faded sepia-tone color palette instead of the oversaturation from Amélie, and the story is different, but the effects and storytelling tricks remain much the same. The vignettes with individual characters explaining some of their little pecadillos, the still photos that actually have moving characters if you watch closely, Audrey Tautou, the same art team, the close-ups to get people's reaction shots... ugh.
The upside? Jodie Foster's in it. And her French is amazing. I mean, her French is absofrickinlutely amazing. So watch that scene. But only after reading the book.
The usual mistake.
If you've read the book, this is a horrible adaptation. I mean, I suppose that to get it to fit into a 2-hour time frame, yes, you have to mangle the plot line as Jeunet did. But the problem started when Jean-Pierre Jeunet decided to make this an Amélieësque movie. He uses a faded sepia-tone color palette instead of the oversaturation from Amélie, and the story is different, but the effects and storytelling tricks remain much the same. The vignettes with individual characters explaining some of their little pecadillos, the still photos that actually have moving characters if you watch closely, Audrey Tautou, the same art team, the close-ups to get people's reaction shots... ugh.
The upside? Jodie Foster's in it. And her French is amazing. I mean, her French is absofrickinlutely amazing. So watch that scene. But only after reading the book.
posted by Linz at 9:34 PM
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