A Very Long Engagement
In 1919, Mathilde was 19 years old. Two years earlier, her fiancé Manech left for the front at the Somme. Like millions of others he was "killed on the field of battle." It's written in black and white on the official notice. But Mathilde refuses to believe it. If Manech had died, she would know. She hangs on to her intuition as tightly as she would onto the last thread of hope linking her to her lover. A former sergeant tells her in vain that Manech died in the no man's land of a trench named Bingo Crepescule, in the company of four other men condemned to die for self-inflicted wounds. Her path ahead is full of obstacles but Mathilde is not frightened. Anything is possible to someone who is willing to challenge fate...
Drama
Gerber Pictures, 2003 Productions, TF1 Films Production, Canal+, Warner Bros., Région Ile-de-France, Tapioca Films, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Région Bretagne, Région Poitou-Charentes
Audrey Tautou as Mathilde, Gaspard Ulliel as Manech, Dominique Pinon as Sylvain, Chantal Neuwirth as Bénédicte, André Dussollier as Pierre-Marie Rouvières, Ticky Holgado as Germain Pire, Marion Cotillard as Tina Lombardi, Dominique Bettenfeld as Ange Bassignano, Jodie Foster as Elodie Gordes, Jean-Pierre Darroussin as Benjamin Gordes, Denis Lavant as Six-Soux, Rufus as Un Breton, Jérôme Kircher as Bastoche, Denis Lavant as Six Sous, Albert Dupontel as Célestin Poux, Elina Löwensohn as la soeur de Günther, Jean-Claude Dreyfus as Commandant Lavrouye, Clovis Cornillac as Benoît Notre-Dame, Jean-Pierre Becker as Esperanza, Jean-Paul Rouve as Le facteur, Julie Depardieu as Véronique Passavant, Michel Vuillermoz as P'tit Louis, Urbain Cancelier as Le curé, Maud Rayer as Madame Desrochelles, Michel Robin as Le vieil homme sur le champ de bataille, Tchéky Karyo as Capitaine Favourier, Philippe Duquesne as Favart, Bouli Lanners as Chardolot, Stéphane Butet as Philippot, Christian Pereira as L'officier des archives, François Levantal as Thouvenel, Patrick Paroux as Le médecin militaire, Solène Le Pechon as Mathilde 10 ans, Virgil Leclaire as Manech 13 ans, Florence Thomassin as Narrator (voice), Thierry Gibault as Lieutenant Estrangin, Myriam Roustan as La prostituée du café, Gilles Masson as L'officier assassiné, Sandrine Rigault as Mariette Notre Dame, Michel Chalmeau as Le curé de Milly, Marc Faure as Le directeur de la prison, Rodolphe Pauly as Jean Desrochelles, Xavier Maly as Le camarade de Chardolot, Till Bahlmann as Le prisonnier allemand, Tony Gaultier as Un fossoyeur, Louis-Marie Audubert as Un fossoyeur, Jean-Gilles Barbier as Le sergent, Marc Robert as Un poilu, Pierre Heitz as Un poilu, Philippe Maymat as Un poilu, Eric Debrosse as Un poilu, Michel Gondoin  as Un poilu, Éric Fraticelli as Le corse menaçant, Philippe Beautier as Le blagueur du train, Gérald Weingand as Un soldat floué, Luc Sonzogni as Un soldat floué, Xavier Berlioz as L'ordonnance, Frankie Pain as La maquerelle, Marcel Philippot as Le couple bourgeois, Pascale Lievyn as Le couple bourgeois, Jean-Claude Lecoq as Le mitrailleur allemand, Esther Sironneau as L'infirmière, Stéphanie Gesnel as Une fille de joie, Frédérique Bel as Une fille de joie, Alexandre Caumartin as Un brancardier, Eric Defosse as Un brancardier, Gaspar Claus as L'Allemand transperçé, Jean-Philippe Bèche as Georges Cornu, Anaïs Durand as Hélène Pire