From the director and star of Amelie comes a very different love story. Based on the acclaimed novel by Sebastien Japrisot, this film is set in France near the end of World War I and tells the story of Mathilde (Tautou), a young woman, lame as a result of childhood polio, who is befriended by Manech (Ulliel). For Mathilde and Manech late adolescence brings love, lust, commitment and an engagement, until Manech goes to war. The film then focuses on Mathilde's relentless, moving and sometimes comic search for Manech who is one of five French soldiers believed to have been court-martialled under mysterious circumstances and pushed out of an allied trench into an almost-certain death in no-man's land. What follows is a commentary on war, a romantic fable, a tale of revenge, and an intricate mystery. A Very Long Engagment starts slowly but builds to a satisfying climax. Although over two and a 1/4 hours, the only thing "very long" about this film is in the title.