"Amour" opens with firemen and police officers breaking into a home. They find an elderly woman inside a room that has been painstakingly sealed to either not let something in or out. She is dead and adorned with flowers that have clearly been placed by someone who loved her a great deal. Naturally, we are headed to a flashback of how the woman arrived in this situation.
Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) and her husband Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) are an elderly Parisian couple that are leading an unremarkable life, other than the fact that they fit together as well as any two people can. There is nothing over-the-top about their relationship. No overly loving glances or other displays that either make you go "Awww" or wince with discomfort. Despite there being nothing signaling their devotion to each other, there is no doubt it is there. Credit Haneke and his two leads for the effortless way the message comes across.
One day at the kitchen table, Georges is talking to Anne, but she is completely unaware of it. She is off in another world, and not a conscious one. She is staring blankly into space and other than her breathing she could be dead. Georges tries to calmly bring her back with cold compresses and a few minutes later she is back, with no memory of what has just happened. We learn later that Anne suffered a stroke.
The rest of "Amour" portrays something you rarely ever see; a slow physical degradation of a human being. There are no miracles. There are no gigantic ups and downs of things are going to get better, nor are there particularly horrific scenes of Anne going to pieces as a brave warrior. Everything is true-to-life, something we as filmgoers aren't usually looking for or receiving. That is the strength of "Amour", particularly the strength of Georges. But again, he is not a hero. He is just doing his best for the love of his life. Is there anything else that any of us could ever hope for under similar circumstances?
Some will find "Amour" slow and I confess that there were moments where I yearned for something to happen to derail the slow ride to inevitable death. Haneke knows this and staunchly refuses to give in to what we think we want. That is why he can be so aggravating and such a master at the same time. As always, Haneke will leave you thinking when you are done watching and to me that will always be the greatest compliment I can give.
| Movie title | Amour |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2012 |
| MPAA Rating | PG-13 |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | Michael Haneke's latest falls a tad short of "The White Ribbon", but that only means it is far better than most everything else you have seen this year. |
