Film:
At the end of World War I, five French soldiers are sentenced to death by a court-martial for self-mutilation and sent to the no-man's land between the French and German positions. Survival here is all but impossible. But young Mathilde (Audrey Tautou), whose fiancé Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) was among the five condemned to death, doesn't believe her lover actually died in no man's land. So Mathilde sets out to find the truth, constantly coming up with new versions of events to prove Manech's death. But Mathilde's belief that if Manech were indeed dead, she would feel it, gives her the strength to keep searching, even if her journey does not always prove to be without danger.
Following the sensational success of "The Fabulous World of Amélie", director Jean-Pierre Jeunet has once again teamed up with his leading lady Audrey Tautou to fulfill a long-awaited dream: the film adaptation of the novel "The French Betrothed" by Sébastien Japrisot. Jeunet knew, however, that he would need a lot of money to realize this project. And so an agreement was reached with Warner Bros. that the studio would cover 35% of the budget, but that the film would still be shot with an all-French crew and actors. For the French film board, the financial involvement of an American studio was reason enough not to provide Jeunet with funding.
This didn't hurt the end result, however. Jeunet took an enormous risk with "Mathilde - A Great Love" and won big all the way.
Like his previous films "The City of Lost Children", "Delicatessen" or even "Alien - The Rebirth", "Mathilde" has become a visual masterpiece, bursting with absurdly beautiful ideas. Jeunet combines drastic and at times very gruesome images of the First World War with his typical whimsical humor. The story, which is in itself very dramatic, thus takes on a lightness that makes the film as a whole so convincing and allows the viewer to be really entertained despite very involving scenes. The whole thing is then spiced up with a pinch of wonderfully unkitschy romance, which means that viewers should definitely also equip themselves with a load of tissues before they go on a search for Manech with Mathilde. Accompanied by the wonderful music of Angelo Badalamenti, famous for his unforgettable score for the TV series "Twin Peaks", the viewer is treated to a visually stunning romance the likes of which has not been seen in a long time.
Cinema was invented for films like "Mathilde - A Great Love", and therefore this first-class love story can really only develop its full power on a big screen. But the fact that the film also works so well on screen is not only thanks to Jeunet's great staging. The actors, too, who are first-rate down to the smallest supporting role with actors like Jodie Foster, Marion Cotillard ("Big Fish", "Liebe mich wenn Du Dich traust") or Tchéky Kayro ("The Patriot", "Nikita"), give the film a very special touch. First and foremost, of course, is lead actress Audrey Tautou, who sheds her cutesy Amélie image, at least for much of the film, and delivers an absolutely convincing performance as the determined, cynical-romantic Mathilde. Given the mesmerizing imagery Jeunet once again conjures up in this film, it's almost a miracle that all of the actors manage to never be upstaged by the visual power of the film and instead integrate themselves into the film as part of a total work of art.
Although there is a length or two and it is not always easy to follow the plot, overall "Mathilde - A Great Love" is a film you should not miss under any circumstances.
A beautiful tribute to love, directed by a director whose films refreshingly stand out from the crowd for their visual ingenuity, despite their mainstream appeal. A truly enchanting film experience.
Image:
Also on DVD, the film is a wonderfully visual experience. The very specific color scheme comes off well and the contrasts are spot on as well. In addition, the picture convinces with the necessary sharpness of detail, which is why it gets a well-deserved "Very Good"!
Sound:
Whether it's Angelo Badalamenti's wonderful music or the dramatic war scenes, the DVD's sound is mixed very convincingly. While the quieter scenes take place primarily in the front, the war scenes provide very spacious surround effects. Here, too, there is a "Very good"!
Extras:
Actually, the DVD should come in Germany already in April in the trade, but then only equipped with an audio commentary by the director. Fortunately, the German DVD buyers had to wait a little longer for the DVD, because otherwise we would have been deprived of some really worth seeing extras. On the first DVD (unfortunately the DVDs aren't numbered!) you can find a lot of extras. The film DVD is the one with Mathilde, the second DVD with the extras is the one with Manech!) there is a very good, optionally German subtitled audio commentary by Jeunet, which he recorded especially for those viewers who are interested in the making of films. As Jeunet says at the beginning of the commentary, he would have liked to have such a commentary as a young film buff, but unfortunately there were no DVDs back then! But the commentary not only provides technical details, but also delivers very entertaining anecdotes from the making of the film. It's definitely worth a listen.
On the first DVD there is a short commercial for the wonderful soundtrack by Angelo Badalamenti. The other extras are then on the second disc. The heart of the bonus material here is without a doubt the 73-minute documentary "A Year at the Front", which traces the entire development process from the first storyboards to casting, location scouting, rehearsals and the elaborate filming, absolutely free of advertising and really interesting. Structured like a production diary, you get an impression of the various work processes that are necessary for the production of such a large project. An excellent documentary for anyone interested in filmmaking!
"The Zeppelin Explosion" (approx. 13 min.) then goes into more detail about the elaborate destruction sequence of the Zeppelin hangar. It's particularly amusing to watch Jeunet show his crew the first pre-viz footage on the computer, dubbing it himself - including bomb sounds. Again, this is a really excellent short documentary.
"The Reconstruction of 1920s Paris" then goes into just under 13 minutes of the sets and costumes used to make the viewer feel like they are in 1920s Paris. Not quite as interesting as the other two documentaries, but also absolutely worth watching!
In addition to two international trailers, there are 14 cut scenes on the DVD, which can be viewed either in one piece (about 10 min.) or individually and have an optional commentary by the director. There are no special highlights here, but with one or the other scene it is at least very nice that you get to see it here.
All the extras on this excellent bonus DVD are in French (only the trailer is in English) and have German subtitles!
Conclusion:
Despite the silly German title, "Mathilde - Eine große Liebe" is a wonderful film that is fully convincing not only visually but also from the beautiful story. Technically the DVD is first class and the interesting and entertaining extras make this double DVD an absolute must buy! A terrific film with a no less convincing DVD conversion: that's what you like to see!
Original title: Un long dimanche de fiancailles
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Length: approx. 128 min.
FSK: age 12+
number of discs: 2
languages: German, French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: German, English, Arabic, Norwegian, Hebrew
Image Format: 16:9 (2.40:1)
Extras: audio commentary, soundtrack spot, trailer, teaser, making of, featurettes, cut scenes
Regional code: 2
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
