Amour
(2012)Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes and Best Foreign Language Film at the 2013 Academy Awards, this French drama directed by Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon, Funny Games) examines old age, infirmity and mortality with relentless honesty as it depicts the relationship of a couple in their eighties.... More
Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Academy Award nominee Emmanuelle Riva) are retired music teachers in their eighties whose lives are fulfilled by music and their love for one another. But when Anne suddenly sits staring blankly at her husband one day, it signals the first onset of a mental and physical deterioration that will test their love's ability to endure an inevitable conclusion.
This is the second Palme d'Or that Haneke has won, placing him in an elite category of just seven directors that have been twice honoured with the supreme award at Cannes.Hide
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Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival 2012. Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes 2013. Best Foreign Film and Best Actress (Riva), BAFTA Awards 2013.
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Directed by Michael Haneke
Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Alexandre Tharaud, William Shimell, Ramón Agirre
Written by Michael Haneke
On Demand, DVD & Blu-Ray
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Flicks Review
BY Matt Glasby Flicks Writer
Michael Haneke's films always take place in the shadow of something unspeakable. In his debut, 1989's The Seventh Continent, it was madness; in his last film, 2009's Palme D'Or-winning The White Ribbon, it was Naziism. Here, in his most celebrated work (also a Palme D'Or winner), it is, simply, death.... More
One evening, elderly couple Georges (Trintignant) and Anne (Riva) come back to their lovely, lived-in flat after a classical music concert. In the night, Georges wakes to find Anne, confused, staring off into the darkness. In the morning, her brain freezes while washing up - the onset of dementia.
Over the next few months, the image of running water – something natural but impossible to control, the ordinary becoming overwhelming – infects Georges' dreams as Anne's mental and physical health deteriorate. With terrifying speed, she slips from walking stick to wheelchair, having difficulty washing herself to wetting the bed. Anne is incensed and mortified; Georges is patience personified. Still, an uncharacteristic flash of temper from him is one of the most shocking things you'll see onscreen all year.
While Haneke, that most precise of directors, has no qualms getting down to the grim technicalities of decay, he might just have softened a little bit too. In fact, Amour's biggest surprise is not that it's movingly acted and extremely harrowing, but that it's the most optimistic of all his films. Although nothing can spare Georges and Anne from life's final indignities, they do have one weapon against what's waiting for us all in the wings: love.Hide
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Amour
BY Brian1 superstar
nevertheless, engaging enough, Some home truths about a future none of us want to encounter.Bit slow in parts.
BY Josh-Borthwick wannabe
While the acting is superb, the story is exceptionally slow and plodding. In all it's about an hour and thirty minutes too long.
BY Rob-Crozier lister
Making a difficult subject into a thing of beauty can only happen so often in the movie world. "Amour" achieves this in style. Although, most of us may avoid such cinema magic, the portrayal of the unkind changes in the later years of life impressed us Loafers. 4 stars from us and noted as a worthy Oscar winner. The topic may have dragged down our score but we all agreed that the producer's talents are tops.
BY adeej superstar
The Press Reviews
94%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Haneke being Haneke, Amour is still a bracingly unsentimental film, but it shouldn't be mistaken for heartless. Full Review
Old age isn't for sissies, and neither is this film. Full Review
Old age may not be a reality you wish to confront, but you must see this film. Full Review
A moving, terrifying and uncompromising drama of extraordinary intimacy and intelligence. Full Review
Consummate acting helps ease a painful watch, as Michael Haneke describes the ultimate test of love in a profoundly honest study of sickness and dying. Full Review
An exceptional work shows a world-class director still unafraid to lock horns with the profound mysteries of the universe. Full Review
The resulting interplay of ruthless restraint and unavoidable passion, plus the film's refusal to shrink from depicting the inevitable horrors of physical deterioration, is devastating. Full Review
A tender, wrenching, impeccably directed story of love and death. Full Review
Heartfelt and humane. Full Review
This poignantly acted, uncommonly tender two-hander makes a doubly powerful statement about man's capacity for dignity and sensitivity when confronted with the inevitable cruelty of nature. Full Review
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