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Battlefield of the Somme

Movie A Very Long Engagement Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004)

During the battle of the First World War in the trenches of the Somme, five soldiers are accused of having self-harmed. The former Nato military field in Montmorillon was used to re-enact the battle.

“For France, forward!”
The soldiers in the French trenches

Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) is looking for her fiancé Manech (Gaspard Ulliel). During a battle in the trenches of the Somme, five soldiers, including her future husband, were abandoned on No Man’s Land for self-mutilation.

To recreate the battle, Jean-Pierre Jeunet went to the former NATO army base in Montmorillon to recreate the setting more real than real. The team tore down several trees, put in several plane carcasses and dug several shell holes.

A Very Long Engagement is the second collaboration between the director and the actress after the film Amélie.

200

200 meters of trench were dug on the 20 hectares of land littered with shell holes and uprooted trees.

Scene of the battle of the Somme in A Very Long Engagement – Credit: 2003 Productions, Warner Bros France, Tapioca Films, TF1 Films Productions

Lavergne

Address Lavergne 86500 Montmorillon, France

The maneuver camp of Montmorillon is a training ground of the regiment of infantry marine tanks which is part of the Natura 2000 network.

The first partnership between a military camp and a conservatory of natural areas dates back to 1997 with Montmorillon. This maneuver camp was the first in France to establish a partnership for the pres... Learn more about Lavergne

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