‘Engagement’ another great Jeunet film

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A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant, 135 minutes, rated R. In French with English subtitles.

The World War I drama “A Very Long Engagement” could only come from French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, whose 2001 film – the quirky, Academy Award-nominated “Amelie” – at last gave the director the right showcase for his unmistakable style and unusual worldview. It was a marriage that worked.

Jeunet has been directing since the late 1970s, taking his share of awards for a handful of short films and features but never really making a splash on the international scene because his early films were likely too remote and unwieldy for Hollywood to embrace.

In 1997, he had a shot to broaden his reach with his first Hollywood film – the rotten “Alien: Resurrection.” But with that little space bomb exploding in a vacuum, Jeunet took a five-year hiatus to work on “Amelie,” a movie set in his own Montmartre neighborhood in Paris – a place he knew, with characters he loved.

It all came together. What Jeunet found in “Amelie” wasn’t just a plucky story suited for his bold visual taste and his dark sense of humor, but an actress with the sort of screen presence that allowed him to hover in the ether he favors, while also keeping his story grounded in the reality it needed to succeed: Audrey Tautou.

Now, in “A Very Long Engagement,” director and star come together again with fine, sometimes funny, and often moving results.

As loosely adapted by Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant from Sebastien Japrisot’s novel, “Engagement” is about a young woman named Mathilde (Tautou) who knows in her heart that her fiance, Manech (Gaspard Ulliel), is still alive in spite of fighting in the trenches against the Germans and new reports that he’s dead.

Word has it that Manech, along with four other men, self-mutilated himself in an effort to be released from the war so he could go home. Banished by his superior officer to No Man’s Land – the area between French and German lines – the five men were naturally considered doomed when the Germans opened fire on them.

Through the help of strangers and one peerless detective, Mathilde learns that Manech might not be dead after all. And so rises a mission that burns in her soul and through the movie, with Mathilde cutting through a complicated plot filled with twists, clever touches, the wet, muddy horror of the first world war and characters just colorful enough not to be overwhelmed by any of it.

Of particular note is Jodie Foster as a soldier’s wife. At first, her appearance is startling, particularly since she’s on a tear, speaking fluent French and having the sort of sex that tends to raise eyebrows. But then you realize how right she is for the role and the movie is lifted a notch.

Tautou, as usual, fills the screen with the eyes of a silent-era star. She uses them like one, too – and she’s marvelous.

With “Amelie” and “Engagement,” Jeunet joins a select group of directors – most significantly Truffaut – whose work is immediately recognizable.

With the exception of “Resurrection,” there is nothing canned about his movies, nothing generic. And while “Engagement” is unquestionably his largest production to date, he still holds true to what defines him – the sly bit characters given to the unexpected, the little human flourishes that place the film in real life, a dense, complex story line that somehow comes together at the end.

And what an end.

Grade: A

On video and DVD

PAPARAZZI, directed by Paul Abascal, written by Forrest Smith, 87 minutes, rated PG-13.

The shameless thriller “Paparazzi” comes from first-time director Paul Abascal, a former celebrity hair burner who apparently heard one too many paparazzi horror stories from his privileged clientele while bleaching their locks.

As such, “Paparazzi” has a predictable mean streak – it’s the work of a man who likely wants to keep that clientele happy should this directing thing of his not work out. That turns out to be the shrewdest move in an otherwise dumb movie.

Deadly serious yet unintentionally funny, “Paparazzi” is a self-conscious, fired-up revenge fantasy that some will find difficult to sit through without offering up the occasional snort and giggle. It exists to humiliate, taunt and then destroy the legion of photographers whose job it is to photograph celebrities. Since the filmmakers have no interest in fair play or in examining the real issues surrounding celebrity privacy, the movie is the equivalent of hair pulling.

In it, Cole Hauser is Bo Laramie, a family man who inexplicably becomes the hottest celebrity in Hollywood on the basis of a cheesy action flick called “Adrenaline Force.” He seems to have it all, but when sleazeball photographer Rex Harper (Tom Sizemore) decides to focus solely on this newcomer, hounding him and his family, what ensues is Bo’s wild-eyed revenge with Bo himself realizing the greatest of all-star perks. Apparently, if you’re a celebrity you can kill without fear of repercussions.

History has proved there’s some truth to that. So, in spite of being dogged by a Columbolike detective (Dennis Farina), Bo goes after his stalkers with the sheer intent to kill them all. Undermined by its gaping lapses in logic, B-movie dialogue, questionable cameos and the absurd belief that our celebrity-obsessed culture would back a string of murders by a popular star, “Paparazzi” exposes itself as a silly bit of moviemaking that somebody here would like to turn into a reality.

Grade: D-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 Bangor and WCSH 6 Portland, and are archived at RottenTomatoes.com. He may be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

THE VIDEO-DVD CORNER

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy – B+

At Home at the End of the World – B+

The Bourne Supremacy – B

The Chronicles of Riddick – C-

The Clearing – C+

Collateral – B+

Dawn of the Dead – A-

The Day After Tomorrow-B

De-Lovely – B

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story – B

Elf – B+

Ella Enchanted – B

Envy – D

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – A-

Fahrenheit 9/11 – A-

Fog of War – A

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – A-

Hero – B+

I, Robot – B+

Kill Bill Vol. 2 – B

King Arthur – B

The Manchurian Candidate – B+

Man on Fire – B

Mean Girls – B+

Napoleon Dynamite – B+

Open Water – A-

Paparazzi – D-

Raising Helen – C+

Shaun Of The Dead – B+

Shrek 2 – B

Spider-Man 2 – A

The Stepford Wives – C

Soul Plane – D

Super Size Me – C-

The Terminal – D

The Triplets of Belleville-A

Troy – C-

The Village – D+