Track Listing

1. Main Title/The Trenches
2. First Love Touch
3. Heartbeat To A Gunshot
4. Matilde�s Theme
5. Secret Code
6. Eloide�s Theme
7. Kissing Through The Glass
8. Massage Fantasy
9. Never Had The Child
10. The Man From Corsica
11. Our Soldiers� Letter
12. Why Do You Cry?
13. End Titles

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11699 in Music
• Released on: 2005-01-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Soundtrack, Import
• Original language: French, German
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 47 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A treat here for connoisseurs of Angelo Badalamenti, and for anyone with a passing interest in film scores, A Very Long Engagement will serve to add to the legacy of Badalamenti's impeccable credentials. The soundtrack to the World War One period film from Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, this piece is an example of exactly how to score a film shrouded in death, confusion and humanity. Unlike the loathsome bombast that, say, a Danny Elfman score would have provided, Badalamenti simply makes the most of minor key themes, arranged for an elegant but eerie, beautifully played orchestra. Anyone familiar with his work on David Lynch's Mulholland Drive will find it familiarly excellent. However where that score was full of apocalyptic climaxes, "A Very Long Engagement" remains rooted in quiet, albeit menacing territory. Only in the End Titles does the music slip into something approaching Hollywood schmaltz, but even then it is kept in check by some very effective refrains that tether the piece to its mysterious foundation. Perhaps too mournful to be played casually and regularly, this is still an effective accompaniment to a film about the human side of war, and in its aims, is highly enjoyable and successful.--Thom Allott

Customer Reviews

An exquisite score.
Few film scores are strong enough to stand in their own right as a separate entity. Being an aural description of visual images, without those images the majority of film music tends to drift into a meaningless soundscape. However, Angelo Badalamenti has created here a score worthy of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's majestic and acutely poignant story of a young woman's refusal to accept her fiance's death in the trenches of World War 1. If you haven't seen the film this music will inspire you to do so. If you have you will need no prompting. It's stunning.

DREAMY. FROM START TO FINISH, ABSOLUTELY DREAMY...
I am a longtime Badalamenti fan, from his TWIN PEAKS days.Had not seen the movie yet decided to try this score since I trust his haunting music.
This is one of the best soundtracks I have ever listened to!

Not only is moody, easy listening and, at the same time, soothing without turning to yawning - it is a great driving music to!

A Masterpiece
Quite simply, one of the most exquisite film scores that you will ever listen to - a full, classical piece in its own right. Dark, mysterious and achingly beautiful. I've seen the film several times and it is excellent (not quite as good as Amelie but still very good) but if anything, the pace and complexity of the film somehow overtakes the soundtrack. I just don't remember it being as good as this. It's stunning, just absolutely stunning. It must be Badalamenti's finest work by a mile.