Title: Amour
Directed by: Michael Haneke
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: December 19, 2012 (Limited)
Rated: PG-13
Synopsis: Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple’s bond of love is severely tested. (Via IMDB)
Brian’s Review: Every year I make a sincere effort, sometimes even force myself, to see every film nominated in the top 8 categories at the Academy Awards. You read that right. Not just the nominees for Best Picture. Every movie that has even just one nomination in Screenplay, or Supporting Actor, or Actress. I typically would see most of the movies down the line (Beasts of the Southern Wild, for example, I sought out last summer, way before awards season), but there are always two or three that I may have missed somewhere down the line. Amour is exactly the kind of film I probably never would have watched. I don’t see as much foreign cinema as I should, and the only film of Michael Haneke’s I’ve seen is his 2005 remake Funny Games, which I found an unpleasant, cynical exercise. So why find the time in a very busy week to rush off and see Amour? Simple. It wasn’t just nominated for Foreign Language Film. Amour was nominated for Original Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture of the Year. What was an Oscar aficionado like me going to do. Not see it? I prepped myself for two hours of potential boredom, with the hope that it would work for me. Boy, did it ever.
It’s astonishing to me that Funny Games and Amour were made by the same person, except in that they don’t sugar-coat or sentimentalize the horrific side of the human experience, I guess. Amour has been called Haneke’s masterpiece since it won the Palme D’Or at Cannes last May, and count me in on that praise. This is an astonishing film, which, if you have the patience, and the open mind, should be required viewing. The plot of the film is simple. Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) are an elderly married couple who have slowed down a bit in the last few years but still enjoy nights out at the theater and simply spending time together. But then Anne has a stroke. And she becomes paralyzed on the right side of her body. And she starts to deteriorate. More and more more right before our eyes. Their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert) stops by a few times and begs her father to move her to a home, or get her to a hospital. But he refuses. It’s not what she wanted, he says. So Georges, an old, feeble man himself, continues to care for his ailing wife… until the unthinkable occurs.
There is zero sentimentality in this film. Zero. It’s presented almost like a documentary right before our eyes. For the first few scenes, Anne is a delightful, caring personality, and then we watch for two hours as she comes to barely resemble her former self. Is this a fun night out at the movies? Absolutely not. If you want mindless fun, go to the screen next door and watch Warm Bodies. If you want a film that is daring and true-to-life, the kind that can shake you to your core, you don’t need to look any further than Amour. It’s been twenty-four hours and I still can’t stop thinking about it. 2007′s The Savages, with Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman, touched on similar themes, but that film was funnier, with the aging father almost in the background. In Amour, there’s nowhere else to turn. There’s no subplot about the daughter that gives you a few scenes of distraction. Amour shows each and every view the potential horrors of getting older, in a cold, almost monotonous fashion, and I think his matter-of-fact approach to the film is what makes it so damn chilling. The performances are tremendous. Even though Riva got all the awards attention, Trintignant is just as worthy. Both are exceptional, and mostly, while I watched the film, I kept thinking how astounding it was that an actress of Riva’s age would have even considered a role like this. In a year rich in great female performances, Riva’s is probably the most courageous and daring of all. And Trintignant is quietly brilliant as he tries to deal with the loss of his partner, his love, and try, if possible, to see the light. His final scenes are devastating.
Amour may not be comfort viewing, but it’s absolutely worth seeing. If you want to see two great performances, a director at the top of his game, and a story that will stick with you long after you leave the theatre, you should seek out Amour. Don’t be scared of it. Don’t try to avoid it. If you’re at all a daring filmgoer, check it out. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
