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'''''Un long dimanche de fiançailles''''' (''A Very Long Engagement'') is a 2004 French film directed by Creator/JeanPierreJeunet, [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the titular book]] by Sébastien Japrisot.
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''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' is a 2004 French film directed by Creator/JeanPierreJeunet, [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the titular book]] by Sébastien Japrisot.
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* UsefulNotes/WorldWarI: Shown in flashbacks.
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''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' is a 2004 French film directed by Creator/JeanPierreJeunet [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the titular book]] by Sébastien Japrisot.
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''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' is a 2004 French film directed by Creator/JeanPierreJeunet Creator/JeanPierreJeunet, [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the titular book]] by Sébastien Japrisot.
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Do not spoiler tag trope names on work pages or the names of works on trope pages; please see Handling Spoilers for more information.
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''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' is a 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the titular book]] by Sébastien Japrisot.
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''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' is a 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') Creator/JeanPierreJeunet [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the titular book]] by Sébastien Japrisot.
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* [[spoiler: AmnesiacLover: Manech.]]
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* [[spoiler: AmnesiacLover: [[spoiler: Manech.]]
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The story set in 1919. Mathilde (Creator/AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, including vengeful prostitute Tina Lombardi (MarionCotillard), and learns their stories.
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The story set in 1919. Mathilde (Creator/AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, including vengeful prostitute Tina Lombardi (MarionCotillard), (Creator/MarionCotillard), and learns their stories.
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* DistaffCounterpart: Tina Lombardi to Mathilde. Whilst Mathilde goes about finding out about the circumstances of her lover's death by wit and guile, Tina does the same thing by seduction and violence.
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* FakeNationality:
** Creator/JodieFoster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
** One of the French officers is played by a Belgian actor who could not fully disguise his Walloon accent.
** Creator/JodieFoster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
** One of the French officers is played by a Belgian actor who could not fully disguise his Walloon accent.
* {{Foil}}: Tina Lombardi to Mathilde. Whilst Mathilde goes about finding out about the circumstances of her lover's death by wit and guile, Tina does the same thing by seduction and violence.
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* DirtyoldMan: Major François Lavrouye.
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* DirtyoldMan: DirtyOldMan: Major François Lavrouye.
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* {{Jerkass}}: The officer who ignored Poincaré's pardon and sent the soldiers into the no-man's land.
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* {{Jerkass}}: The Lavrouye, the officer who ignored Poincaré's pardon and sent the soldiers into the no-man's land.
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* LudicrousGibs: A horribly realistic version, with Manech showered with the giblets of another soldier after he gets blown up by a shell.
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* LudicrousGibs: A horribly realistic version, with Manech showered with the giblets of another soldier after he said soldier gets blown up by a shell.
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* ShellShockedVeteran: Given that it's a film set in the trenches, we see a lot of these, but most explicitly Manech who loses his grip on reality after a few too many close calls.
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* ShellShockedVeteran: Given that it's a film set in the trenches, we see a lot of these, but most explicitly Manech who loses his grip on reality after a few too many close calls.calls (see LudicrousGibs above).
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The story set in 1919. Mathilde (AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[WorldWarOne the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, including vengeful prostitute Tina Lombardi (MarionCotillard), and learns their stories.
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The story set in 1919. Mathilde (AudreyTautou) (Creator/AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[WorldWarOne [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, including vengeful prostitute Tina Lombardi (MarionCotillard), and learns their stories.
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* FanService: AudreyTautou, in a few scenes. In one in particular, she looks like she should be riding a clamshell.
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* FanService: AudreyTautou, Creator/AudreyTautou, in a few scenes. In one in particular, she looks like she should be riding a clamshell.
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* WorldWarOne: Shown in flashbacks.
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* WorldWarOne: UsefulNotes/WorldWarI: Shown in flashbacks.
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The story set in 1919. Mathilde (AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[WorldWarOne the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, including vengeful prostitute Tina Lombardi (Creator/MarionCotillard), and learns their stories.
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The story set in 1919. Mathilde (AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[WorldWarOne the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, including vengeful prostitute Tina Lombardi (Creator/MarionCotillard), (MarionCotillard), and learns their stories.
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The story set in 1919. Mathilde (AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[WorldWarOne the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, and learns their stories.
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The story set in 1919. Mathilde (AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[WorldWarOne the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, including vengeful prostitute Tina Lombardi (Creator/MarionCotillard), and learns their stories.
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* WarIsHell: A French film, set on the Somme, about a war where France lost 9% of its male population and left untold thousands crippled and emotionally scarred? You bet it's hell.
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* WarIsHell: A French film, with flashbacks set on in the trenches of the battle of the Somme, about during a war where France lost 9% of its male population and left untold thousands crippled and emotionally scarred? You bet it's hell.
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'''''Un long dimanche de fiançailles''''' in French. A 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the titular book]] by Sébastien Japrisot.
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** Jodie Foster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
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** Jodie Foster Creator/JodieFoster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
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* {{Asshole Victim}}s: Tina Lombardi's victims. Both of them.
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* {{Asshole Victim}}s: Tina Lombardi's victims. Both All of them.
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* WheelchairWoobie: Although crippled by polio, Mathilde can still walk, but she pulls this trope in order to elicit more help from her lawyer.
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* WheelchairWoobie: Although In-universe; although crippled by polio, Mathilde can still walk, but she pulls this trope in order to elicit more help from her lawyer.
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* CulturalTranslation: There's a few of these in the English subs.
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* DistaffCounterpart: Tina Lombardi to Mathilde. Whilst Mathilde goes about finding out about the circumstances of her lover's death by wit and guile, Tina does the same thing by seduction and violence.
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* GenteelInterbellumSetting: Most of the events of the film are set in 1920, all the better for MoodWhiplash in the flashbacks to the Western Front.
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* ShellShockedVeteran: Given that it's a film set in the trenches, we see a lot of these, but most explicitly Manech who loses his grip on reality after a few too many close calls.
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* WheelchairWoobie: Although crippled by polio, Mathilde can still walk, but she pulls this trope in order to elicit more help from her lawyer.
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* BittersweetEnding: Mathilde [[spoiler:finally finds Manech, who is alive and well physically, but has lost all memories of his life, including those of her and of their relationship. However, it's hinted they restart from the beginning, and the doctors also imply he might eventually regain the memories he's lost.]]
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* BittersweetEnding: Mathilde [[spoiler:finally finds Manech, who is alive and well physically, but has lost all memories of his life, life prior to the war, including those of her and of their relationship. However, it's hinted they restart from the beginning, and the doctors also imply he might eventually regain the memories he's lost.]]
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'''''Un long dimanche de fiançailles''''' in French. A 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the book]] ''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' by Sébastien Japrisot.
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'''''Un long dimanche de fiançailles''''' in French. A 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the titular book]] ''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' by Sébastien Japrisot.
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A 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the book]] ''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' by Sébastien Japrisot.
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'''''Un long dimanche de fiançailles''''' in French. A 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the book]] ''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' by Sébastien Japrisot.
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* MeaningfulName: Germain Pire, "pire" means "worse" in French. The character's catchphrase in French is "Pire que la fouine" (worse than weasel), to show how his private investigator activity is SeriousBusiness.
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* MeaningfulName: Germain Pire, "pire" Pire. "Pire" means "worse" in French. The character's catchphrase in French is "Pire que la fouine" (worse than weasel), to show how his private investigator activity is SeriousBusiness.
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* PrivateDetective: Germain Pire.
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-->'''Mathilde''': ''Feu'' mes parents. (a French expression to insist on the fact that her parents are dead)
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-->'''Maître Rouvières''': Tes parents...
-->'''Mathilde''': ''Feu'' mes parents. (a French expression to insist on the fact that her parents aredead)dead, similar to ''late'')
-->'''Mathilde''': ''Feu'' mes parents. (a French expression to insist on the fact that her parents are
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* {{Jerkass}}: The officer who ignored Poincaré's pardon and sent the soldiers into no-man's land.
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* InsistentTerminology:
-->'''Mathilde''': ''Feu'' mes parents. (a French expression to insist on the fact that her parents are dead)
* {{Jerkass}}: The officer who ignored Poincaré's pardon and sent the soldiers into the no-man's land.
-->'''Mathilde''': ''Feu'' mes parents. (a French expression to insist on the fact that her parents are dead)
* {{Jerkass}}: The officer who ignored Poincaré's pardon and sent the soldiers into the no-man's land.
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* BookEnds: "Ca te fait mal quand tu marches?" ("Does it hurt when you walk?") The first time is not at the beginning of the movie, but at the beginning of Manech and Mathilde's relationship.
* BreakTheCutie: Manech, ''hard.''
* ChainedToABed: The old man trapped by Tina Lombardi.
* BreakTheCutie: Manech, ''hard.''
* ChainedToABed: The old man trapped by Tina Lombardi.
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* BookEnds: "Ca te fait fais mal quand tu marches?" ("Does it hurt when you walk?") walk?"). The first time is not at the beginning of the movie, but at the beginning of Manech and Mathilde's relationship.
* BreakTheCutie: Manech,''hard.''
''hard''.
* ChainedToABed:The old man Lavrouye when he is trapped by Tina Lombardi.Lombardi.
* DirtyoldMan: Major François Lavrouye.
* BreakTheCutie: Manech,
* ChainedToABed:
* DirtyoldMan: Major François Lavrouye.
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* FakeNationality: Jodie Foster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
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* FakeNationality: FakeNationality:
** Jodie Foster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
** Jodie Foster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a-very-long-engagement-2004-us-poster_6489.jpg
[[caption-width:300:WarIsHell on the love life...]]
[[caption-width:300:WarIsHell on the love life...]]
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[[caption-width:300:WarIsHell
[[caption-width-right:250:WarIsHell on the love life...]]
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* ChainedToABed: The old man trapped by Tina Lombardi.
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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a-very-long-engagement-2004-us-poster_6489.jpg
[[caption-width:300:WarIsHell on the love life...]]
A 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the book]] ''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' by Sébastien Japrisot.
The story set in 1919. Mathilde (AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[WorldWarOne the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, and learns their stories.
!!This film provides examples of:
* {{Asshole Victim}}s: Tina Lombardi's victims. Both of them.
* BestServedCold: Tina Lombardi's vengeance.
* BittersweetEnding: Mathilde [[spoiler:finally finds Manech, who is alive and well physically, but has lost all memories of his life, including those of her and of their relationship. However, it's hinted they restart from the beginning, and the doctors also imply he might eventually regain the memories he's lost.]]
* BookEnds: "Ca te fait mal quand tu marches?" ("Does it hurt when you walk?") The first time is not at the beginning of the movie, but at the beginning of Manech and Mathilde's relationship.
* BreakTheCutie: Manech, ''hard.''
* DodgeTheBullet: Benoît Notre-Dame miraculously survives two direct hits from ''mortar shells''.
* DwindlingParty: The fates of the five soldiers are revealed slowly as the story unravels.
* EasyAmnesia: Played with. We don't know what exactly caused the amnesia, so a realistic cause is possible. However, both procedural and declarative memory seem to be affected. ("He even had to learn to read and write again.")
* EpicMovie: By French cinema standards, it surely is one.
* FakeNationality: Jodie Foster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
** One of the French officers is played by a Belgian actor who could not fully disguise his Walloon accent.
* FanService: AudreyTautou, in a few scenes. In one in particular, she looks like she should be riding a clamshell.
* FemmeFatale: Tina Lombardi to a tee; a prostitute who goes about assassinating the people involved with the death of her boyfriend [[spoiler: and ruthless procurer]].
* GiveMeASign: Mathilde makes a number of bets with herself, believing that if events go in a certain way that she predicts, it will be a sign to not give up.
* IWillFindYou: The driving force of the plot.
* {{Jerkass}}: The officer who ignored Poincaré's pardon and sent the soldiers into no-man's land.
* KeepTheHomeFiresBurning
* KillEmAll: The scenes where the poor French soldiers go over the top and are completely obliterated by German machine gun fire within seconds.
* LostInTranslation: The three M's, in French, stand for "Manech aime Mathilde." (aime, which means loves, sounds like the letter M) This carries over into English as "Manech's marrying Mathilde."
* LudicrousGibs: A horribly realistic version, with Manech showered with the giblets of another soldier after he gets blown up by a shell.
* MeaningfulEcho: The BookEnds, "Does it hurt when you walk?"
* MeaningfulName: Germain Pire, "pire" means "worse" in French. The character's catchphrase in French is "Pire que la fouine" (worse than weasel), to show how his private investigator activity is SeriousBusiness.
* MoodWhiplash: A love story shot in sepia-tinted colour that continually cuts to scenes of unbearable brutality.
* ObfuscatingDisability: Mathilde occasionally plays up her polio with a wheelchair to put others at discomfort.
* PunnyName: Referring to Mathilde's four-year separation from her fiancé Manech, and the war itself.
* RaceLift: In the original novel, Mathilde and Manech are from the French Basque country (département Landes), in the film they are from Brittany. And in the novel Ange is not a Corsican, but a son of Italian immigrants born in Marseilles.
* TheScrounger: Célestin Poux, famed throughout the rank and file for pulling various tricks in order to keep the troops supplied with food.
* ShotAtDawn: Notably averted; instead of being shot for cowardice, the five soldiers are sent out in to No-Mans Land to either starve or be shot by the Germans. [[spoiler: (Corsican) Ange Bassignano ends up shot in the back by a French nationalist non-commissioned officer after having verbally denied his French nationality to stay alive.]]
* SympatheticMurderer: Tina Lombardi.
* WarIsHell: A French film, set on the Somme, about a war where France lost 9% of its male population and left untold thousands crippled and emotionally scarred? You bet it's hell.
* WorldWarOne: Shown in flashbacks.
----
[[caption-width:300:WarIsHell on the love life...]]
A 2004 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (''[[{{Amelie}} Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'') [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the book]] ''Un long dimanche de fiançailles'' by Sébastien Japrisot.
The story set in 1919. Mathilde (AudreyTautou) was engaged to her childhood sweetheart Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) when he was enlisted to fight in [[WorldWarOne the Great War.]] Manech tried to get excused from duty by getting his hand shot, but he was instead convicted of self-mutilation and left to die with four other soldiers in the no-man's land between the French and German trenches. Mathilde, however, refuses to believe that Manech is dead, and sets out on an investigation to find him. Along the way, she meets people who are also connected to the five condemned soldiers, and learns their stories.
!!This film provides examples of:
* {{Asshole Victim}}s: Tina Lombardi's victims. Both of them.
* BestServedCold: Tina Lombardi's vengeance.
* BittersweetEnding: Mathilde [[spoiler:finally finds Manech, who is alive and well physically, but has lost all memories of his life, including those of her and of their relationship. However, it's hinted they restart from the beginning, and the doctors also imply he might eventually regain the memories he's lost.]]
* BookEnds: "Ca te fait mal quand tu marches?" ("Does it hurt when you walk?") The first time is not at the beginning of the movie, but at the beginning of Manech and Mathilde's relationship.
* BreakTheCutie: Manech, ''hard.''
* DodgeTheBullet: Benoît Notre-Dame miraculously survives two direct hits from ''mortar shells''.
* DwindlingParty: The fates of the five soldiers are revealed slowly as the story unravels.
* EasyAmnesia: Played with. We don't know what exactly caused the amnesia, so a realistic cause is possible. However, both procedural and declarative memory seem to be affected. ("He even had to learn to read and write again.")
* EpicMovie: By French cinema standards, it surely is one.
* FakeNationality: Jodie Foster as (Polish-born) Élodie Gordes. She speaks French perfectly though.
** One of the French officers is played by a Belgian actor who could not fully disguise his Walloon accent.
* FanService: AudreyTautou, in a few scenes. In one in particular, she looks like she should be riding a clamshell.
* FemmeFatale: Tina Lombardi to a tee; a prostitute who goes about assassinating the people involved with the death of her boyfriend [[spoiler: and ruthless procurer]].
* GiveMeASign: Mathilde makes a number of bets with herself, believing that if events go in a certain way that she predicts, it will be a sign to not give up.
* IWillFindYou: The driving force of the plot.
* {{Jerkass}}: The officer who ignored Poincaré's pardon and sent the soldiers into no-man's land.
* KeepTheHomeFiresBurning
* KillEmAll: The scenes where the poor French soldiers go over the top and are completely obliterated by German machine gun fire within seconds.
* LostInTranslation: The three M's, in French, stand for "Manech aime Mathilde." (aime, which means loves, sounds like the letter M) This carries over into English as "Manech's marrying Mathilde."
* LudicrousGibs: A horribly realistic version, with Manech showered with the giblets of another soldier after he gets blown up by a shell.
* MeaningfulEcho: The BookEnds, "Does it hurt when you walk?"
* MeaningfulName: Germain Pire, "pire" means "worse" in French. The character's catchphrase in French is "Pire que la fouine" (worse than weasel), to show how his private investigator activity is SeriousBusiness.
* MoodWhiplash: A love story shot in sepia-tinted colour that continually cuts to scenes of unbearable brutality.
* ObfuscatingDisability: Mathilde occasionally plays up her polio with a wheelchair to put others at discomfort.
* PunnyName: Referring to Mathilde's four-year separation from her fiancé Manech, and the war itself.
* RaceLift: In the original novel, Mathilde and Manech are from the French Basque country (département Landes), in the film they are from Brittany. And in the novel Ange is not a Corsican, but a son of Italian immigrants born in Marseilles.
* TheScrounger: Célestin Poux, famed throughout the rank and file for pulling various tricks in order to keep the troops supplied with food.
* ShotAtDawn: Notably averted; instead of being shot for cowardice, the five soldiers are sent out in to No-Mans Land to either starve or be shot by the Germans. [[spoiler: (Corsican) Ange Bassignano ends up shot in the back by a French nationalist non-commissioned officer after having verbally denied his French nationality to stay alive.]]
* SympatheticMurderer: Tina Lombardi.
* WarIsHell: A French film, set on the Somme, about a war where France lost 9% of its male population and left untold thousands crippled and emotionally scarred? You bet it's hell.
* WorldWarOne: Shown in flashbacks.
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