How Long, Is Too Long?
I recently saw Jean Pierre Jeunet’s French film, A Very Long Engagement about a woman who lost her fiance during WWI and embarked on a journey two years after the end of the war to find him. I have to admit the search was almost as long as the movie, clocking in at a good 2:30 (yikes), however in the end, I wasn’t sure what to think.Is there really someone out there that you can see yourself going through something like that for? At the mere age of twenty-one, this girl was high-tailing her way throughout all of France piecing together her lover’s fate to find out whether or not he survived the trenches. I on the other hand, during my first few weeks as a 21 year old, was too drunk to make it back to my apartment without some assistance, not boding too well for my romantic future.
Regardless, this girl waited years for him to come back to her, and when the credits started to roll, I couldn’t help but think: is life merely one huge waiting game?
I’ve been waiting for a phone call after having apparently failed to receive the memo informing the whole of society that the phrase “I’ll call you back” has suddenly lost all meaning. The longer I wait, the more I realize that having to wait for something sort of weighs its importance, doesn’t it? And if something is important, I mean really means something, the waiting should be non-existent.
What I couldn’t help but think about when watching this girl go all over the place trying to find her man was-why, if he were alive (which he was), wasn’t he trying to find her as well? And much, much more to the point, how does she know if all the promises he’d made all those years ago were really still worth her struggle. After how much time do the promises of the past lose all their meaning, forcing us to move on?
Only a movie can make something as mundane as waiting into a huge dramatic, romanticized event, especially a French movie. The French have a way of making everything seem more important and crucial than it really is. Maybe it’s their way of life, too much café et fromage can make anyone crazy.
International Girl says she's "sick of waiting around." Perhaps, in the end, she really does have it right: when the train doesn’t come, it’s time to leave the station and just take a cab to wherever it is that you’re trying to go.
posted by Victoria Comella @ 12:43 PM
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