Januari
1917. The war has been going on for years and most soldiers have little hope of
seeing the end, they gave up hope. Some of them tried to desert, others tried
to wound themselves so they would go home. Military command thinks these people
should be punished severely, since their example could mean others would do the
same. Five soldiers are sentenced to death for self-mutilation.
Five men
are brought to one of the front trenches. They will not be shot by a firing
squad, but they will be send out into No-man’s land so the Germans will finish
them. This is not told to their families, because this goes against all the
rules and regulations. The families will get the message their loved ones were
killed in battle.
Mathilde, the
fiancée of the youngest soldier who was called Manech, gets a letter from a
dying sergeant when the war is over. He was there on that awful day in 1917 and
he was the one who wrote Manech’s last letter to Mathilde. He tells Mathilde what
happened and when she hears his story, she knows she wants to find out if there
is a slight chance that Manech survived.
A very long
engagement is a beautiful story for several reasons. Firstly there is
Mathilde, who is a great heroïne. She is stubborn and willful and determined to go her own way, despite
her handicap (she is in a wheelchair) and the advice of others who tell her to
leave the past alone.
Sébastien Japrisot has a great style, I liked his funny remarks
and beautiful metaphors. The story is well written. You get to know the five
men in the first chapter, but during the rest of the book you get to know their
backgrounds and their families and you realize the influence the war had on all
of these people. That also makes it an impressive book. The war plays a big
part, but it is not a war-novel, the most important themes are love, holding on
to hope, coping with loss and getting to the truth.
Un long dimanche de fiançailles was filmed in 2004 with Audrey
Tautou as Mathilde. Although many things changed, because a film can never
follow a book completely, the layers of the story remains intact. I liked Jodie
Foster in a small role, with a perfect French accent.
The film
was beautiful, funny and moving, just as the book is. I was glad I read the
book first before I saw the film, because then backgrounds etc are more clear
so I could understand the story better.
But I
really recommend both film and book.
Original
French title: Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Published
in 1991
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