Saw the WWI film 'A Very Long Engagement' and the French landscapes looked incredible. Hoping to plan a trip based on filming locations from the movie.
2025-06-15 05:19:01
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That film was shot on location across various French regions like Brittany and Paris, using a mix of actual historic sites and constructed sets to capture its WWI-era atmosphere. I read a webnovel, 'A Long-Planned Love', that also uses detailed historical settings—this one in a meticulously recreated post-war society—to ground its slow-building romance between two people navigating societal expectations and their own arranged engagement. The sense of place is just as central to the emotional story.
2026-07-20 12:12:47
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Wyatt
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The filming of 'A Very Long Engagement' turned France into a character itself. I've always appreciated how the locations mirror the story's themes - the contrast between brutal war zones and serene countryside parallels the protagonist's journey between despair and hope.
Most battle scenes used the actual WWI sites, with the muddiest sequences filmed near Ypres in Belgium. The production waited for rainy seasons to get that authentic quagmire effect. For the hospital scenes, they converted an abandoned factory in Pantin into a convincing military infirmary. The coastal lighthouse that appears throughout was shot at Phare de Eckmühl in Brittany, its stark isolation becoming a powerful visual metaphor.
Paris appears both glamorous and gritty - from the grand interiors of the Hôtel Meurice to the backstreets of Belleville. The final train station scene was filmed at Gare de Lyon, though they digitally removed modern elements. What makes this film special is how every location serves the narrative, not just the scenery.
2025-06-16 03:51:19
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Wade
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I can tell you 'A Very Long Engagement' showcases France like a love letter. The production spanned over 20 different sites across seven regions, which explains why every frame feels so authentic.
The coastal scenes were shot in Brittany, where the dramatic cliffs and wild seas at Pointe du Raz perfectly matched the story's emotional turbulence. For the rural sequences, they chose Dordogne's golden villages and Lot-et-Garonne's sunflower fields - places that somehow look both peaceful and melancholic. The Parisian scenes blend famous landmarks with hidden gems; they used the less touristy Passage Brady for some key moments.
What's remarkable is how director Jean-Pierre Jeunet recreated period Paris at the studios in Bry-sur-Marne, building entire streets that vanished decades ago. The attention to detail in those sets rivals the beauty of the real locations. If you want to follow the film's footsteps, start with the Musée des Invalides - its courtyard appears in a crucial reunion scene.
2025-06-17 04:01:26
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Hope
Careful Explainer
Accountant
I remember being absolutely mesmerized by the landscapes in 'A Very Long Engagement'. The film was shot in some stunning locations across France. Most of the wartime scenes were filmed in the hauntingly beautiful countryside of Picardy, particularly around the Somme River, where the actual battles took place. The production team also used the historic Fort de Douaumont near Verdun for some intense trench warfare sequences. Paris makes several appearances too, with iconic spots like the Pont des Arts and the Luxembourg Gardens doubling as post-war settings. What really stuck with me was how they transformed these real places into a cinematic time machine.
2025-06-19 08:50:19
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RenAllen
Reviewer
Librarian
It's one of my favorite movies to put on just for the scenery. The shots of the French countryside are so lush and inviting. Knowing it's the real Dordogne makes it better—it's not a CGI creation. That authenticity gives the love story its weight.
The trenches, being a set, have a different kind of intensity. They feel claustrophobic and endless in a way that a real, open field might not. The artificiality works in the film's favor, making the war scenes feel like a separate, horrific reality. So, the movie was filmed in both a documentary-like reality and a purely cinematic nightmare space. Both were necessary to tell the whole truth of the story.
2026-08-01 05:24:27
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The Delayed Wedding: I Refuse It
Ivy Monroe
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The day before the holiday, I gave the household staff the week off.
Agnes was still in the kitchen before she left, packing desserts into a bag while talking to herself with a smile. "Miss Vanessa finally got what she wanted this time. Mr. Moretti even booked that seaside villa in Amalfi."
I was texting Vanessa, asking her to come over later to try on the bridesmaid dress. Without thinking much of it, I asked, "Got what?"
"The wedding," Agnes said naturally. "Isn't Mr. Moretti taking Miss Vanessa to Italy?"
My fingers froze above the screen.
Two seconds passed before I looked up at her. "Whose wedding?"
The smile on Agnes's face slowly froze.
She looked at me as if she had only just realized something was wrong. "You... didn't know?"
For a moment, I almost laughed at how absurd it sounded.
"Agnes, Luca and I signed the family marriage registry three years ago. Next week is only supposed to be the ceremony."
The kitchen fell silent.
Agnes opened her mouth, embarrassment spreading across her face. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I thought you knew."
She hesitated, then lowered her voice. "A while ago, when I was cleaning the study, I heard Mr. Moretti mention it to his lawyer. He said the marriage registry in your hands was never officially submitted to the family council."
My heart sank.
Three years ago, Luca had handed that document to me himself.
He said the Moretti family was unstable, that we could not announce the marriage yet. Once he entered the inner circle of the Five Families, he would hold a proper wedding.
So for all these years, I never pushed him.
I even turned against the Castellano family for him.
Thinking back now, maybe he had never planned to truly let me through the doors of the Moretti family in the first place.
Once childhood friends, now reluctant strangers—Lady Clara Valdemont and General Darrell Storm are bound by an arranged marriage meant to unite two feuding houses. Once allies, the Storms and Valdemonts were torn apart by betrayal and bloodshed. Now, the kingdom’s fragile peace rests on the shoulders of a bride and groom who barely speak.
As Clara walks down the aisle, memories of the boy who used to tease her and teach her how to fish clash with the man waiting at the altar—stoic, cold, and unreadable. Darrell has not forgotten the past, nor has he forgiven it. Their vows are spoken through clenched teeth, their first kiss a mere brush on the cheek.
This is not a love story born of fate—it is one that must fight to be written. In a kingdom of politics, pride, and pain, can two broken hearts learn to beat as one again?
Three days before my wedding, my fiancé let his childhood friend alter my wedding dress. She even took the eighteen-carat blue diamond from my engagement ring and turned it into a pendant for herself.
My fiancé, Lewis Chase, the most powerful mafia boss in Napels, was so afraid I would be angry that he boarded a cruise ship with his childhood friend, Quinn Turner, and left on an around-the-world voyage overnight.
Lewis told me, “Eve, Quinn was just being cheeky. Don’t be upset. I’ll get you a new wedding dress and a new ring—the best money can buy. Once you've calmed down, I’ll come back, and we'll have our wedding.”
He assumed I would argue and cry like I always had before, but when he returned a month later, he discovered that I had changed. I no longer got angry when he favored Quinn. I even allowed her to move into what was supposed to be our marital home.
Lewis thought I had finally become more understanding, so he promised to give me the grandest wedding Napels had ever seen. What he didn’t know was that I had already given up on him.
In three days, I would be boarding a flight to Switz. I didn't want the wedding anymore, and I didn't want him, either.
Lila Carrington gets the most shocking news from her father at dinner one day, and all he said was a decree that she has to follow through with even though she has her own
reservations—she was supposed to tie the knot with Levi Beaumont. The Carrington and Beaumont families have been enemies for decades, and truthfully none of them know the real reason behind the fight because each person seems to have their own side to the story, so Lila did not understand the reason that her father, who taught her never to associate herself with the Beaumont family, was the same one pushing her into marriage with one of them.
Levi did not want the relationship either, but the families had to form an alliance so they could both remain in business. It had to be done. Driven with the passion to stay in business, Lila and Levi help their family out, but with the promise to their parents that it would only last a year and they would be done.
What happens when they begin to fall for each other?
Do the Carringtons and the Beaumonts reunite, or does a war happen?
Legacy of Love and War is a romance like you have never seen before.
In my third year working overseas as a war correspondent, a grenade blast left me wounded and stripped me of my memories.
The PTSD that followed was severe enough to keep me in a psychiatric hospital for two years.
It wasn't until two months ago that I finally remembered who I was.
The day I came home, my best friend and my husband met me at the airport, both of them crying harder than I was.
Russell Ellison's eyes were red-rimmed, but his voice was as gentle as ever.
"The new place is all set up. Move in for now. I'll come keep you company after work."
I went back to our old house instead.
The moment I pushed the door open, I saw a wedding photo hanging on the wall.
The bride in it wasn't me. It was my best friend.
A key turned in the lock outside.
The man who was supposed to be buried in work at the office walked in, fingers laced with hers.
A child was tucked against his chest, calling him "Daddy" in a small, unsteady voice.
I stood frozen, too stunned to breathe.
We'd only been apart for two years.
So how was their child already three?
“I stood by you when all your family members were against you, when your family members mocked you because the doctor said our child cannot be born I still took the risk and went under the knife to give you a child, you have forgotten who stood by you all these years and just because of a crooked lie and confusion you became so blind and stand before me to threaten me with a divorce paper, I'll sign these papers but I promise you that you'll regret this action someday and for your family members that did this to me, time shall tell”
Sarah’s husband’s family teamed up and set her up on bed with a stranger, forged a fake DNA result which says that the child she had for her husband is not his, and lastly they succeeded in causing her husband to Divorce her. He wrote her a cheque of one million dollars as a settlement for their eleven years of being together, but Sarah rejected the cheque and left, she stumbled across the cold, egoistic Army General of the Country and they ended up striking a deal, to be his Acting bride while he gives her power and authority. With these two worlds apart, a heartbroken single mother that's looking for a shield and a roof over her head, a cold powerful Army General who only cares about country affairs and power, what happens when they start developing strong feelings amidst their fake marriage, and Williams comes back to claim his wife and his son. watch as the rich rivals against each other, and power against power, who will Sarah end up choosing a husband she once loved, or the cold General who's slowly stealing her heart.
Audrey Tautou brings Mathilde to life in 'A Very Long Engagement', and she’s absolutely mesmerizing in the role. Her performance captures Mathilde’s quiet determination and deep love for her fiancé, making every scene she’s in feel intensely personal. Tautou’s expressive eyes and subtle gestures convey so much without needing dialogue, which is perfect for a character who refuses to believe her lover is dead. The way she balances vulnerability with steely resolve is masterful. If you enjoyed her in 'Amélie', you’ll love this darker, more complex role. The film’s poetic visuals and her performance make it unforgettable.
I can confirm 'A Very Long Engagement' isn't a documentary, but it's rooted in brutal truths. The novel (and subsequent film) takes the real horrors of World War I trench warfare as its foundation—the mutilated soldiers, the senseless court martials, the 'forlorn hope' suicide missions are all historically accurate. Author Sébastien Japrisot wove these elements into a fictional love story about a woman searching for her missing fiancé. The specific characters aren't real, but the military injustices they face mirror actual cases. The French army really did execute soldiers for cowardice, often without fair trials. The muddy hellscape of the trenches is described with such visceral detail because Japrisot researched actual soldier diaries. If you want to dive deeper into this era, check out 'The Price of Glory' by Alistair Horne for the military context or 'Testament of Youth' for the civilian perspective.
I just finished 'A Very Long Engagement' last night, and the R rating makes perfect sense. The film doesn't shy away from brutal war scenes—graphic trench warfare with limbs blown off, soldiers drowning in mud, and close-up shots of rotting corpses. There's also a particularly disturbing execution scene where a character is tied to a post and slowly dies from multiple gunshots. The sexual content isn't gratuitous but definitely earns the rating; one extended love scene shows full nudity and passionate intimacy between the main couple. Some intense moments might haunt sensitive viewers, like when Mathilde fantasizes about her lover's possible mutilation. The emotional weight combined with visceral visuals creates an experience meant for mature audiences.
The ending of 'A Very Long Engagement' hits hard with its bittersweet resolution. Mathilde spends years searching for her fiancé Manech, who was supposedly executed for self-mutilation during WWI. Her relentless investigation uncovers layers of military corruption and cover-ups. The twist comes when she discovers Manech survived but lost his memory due to trauma. They reunite, but he doesn’t remember her. The beauty lies in Mathilde’s acceptance—she chooses to rebuild their love from scratch rather than dwell on the past. It’s a poignant commentary on war’s scars and the resilience of human connection. The final scenes show them walking together, symbolizing hope despite irreversible loss.
The depiction of WWI in 'A Very Long Engagement' is raw and unflinching. The trenches are shown as hellscapes—mud, blood, and decaying bodies blending into one grotesque reality. The film doesn’t glorify war; it exposes its absurd cruelty. Soldiers aren’t heroic icons but terrified men clinging to sanity. The protagonist’s quest to find her fiancé highlights war’s bureaucratic chaos—how records vanish, how lives become numbers. The battlefield scenes are chaotic, with explosions tearing through logic. The French countryside, once beautiful, is now a graveyard. The film’s genius lies in contrasting this horror with tender love letters, making the war’s waste even more gut-wrenching.