"Amour" - directed by Michael Haneke
I love The Oscars.
Yes, I'm aware of their faults.
In a year in which Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow both failed to get Best Director nominations how could I not be?
I love The Oscars despite their frequent, baffling outcomes.
Every year I try hard to see all of the movies that have recieved nominations.
If I fail it is usually through lack of opportunity with little old New Zealand suffering on occasion from release schedule inconveniences.
The desire results in few disappointments and many very pleasant surprises.
"Winter's Bone" a couple of years ago springs to mind.
It introduced me to the talents of Jennifer Lawrence.
Talents which this year look like they are to be rewarded with a naked Gold Dude Statue.
Or are they?
Up against Lawrence is Jessica Chastain, Sally Field, Quvenzhane Wallis, Naomi Watts and the star of "Amour" - Emmanuelle Riva.
Riva has just scored a Bafta for herself so she has beaten Lawrence once at least.
Her performance has been lauded far and wide and it is indeed formidable.
Riva plays Anne who is married to Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant)
The pair are retired music teachers and it is clear from the opening scenes that they are still very much in love.
Seeing Riva's gentle, satisfied smile on the bus ride home from a concert and the way that she clings to Georges speaks volumes.
They talk with the easy back and forth earned from years together.
They look like the sort of couple who would draw envious stares from those far younger than them that they have made a relationship work so well for so long.
And then Anne has a stroke and everything changes.
Surgery makes her worse and it is clear that she will never be the same.
The final outcome is never in doubt - the opening scene reveals it.
"Amour" is more concerned with the journey than the destination.
Can Georges cope watching the love of his life quickly fading from existence with each passing day?
He is not young or in perfect health himself and he is now expected to lift, bathe, feed and care for every aspect of Anne's life.
She makes him promise early on not to send her back to the hospital and more than anything this for me was the defining moment in the movie.
Georges must be unwavering in his devotion to this promise and to Anne.
There is pressure from daughter Eva (an always welcome Isabelle Hupert) to change the manner of the care but she can't suggest an alternative- or perhaps it's more that she won't.
I find it hard to fault any aspect of "Amour".
It is well directed, nicely shot and edited and the acting is tantamount to flawless.
But it's an ordeal.
It's a very well made ordeal but that doesn't change the fact that there is little enjoyment to be found here save recognition of the skilled filmmaking.
All that said I admire what it has achieved.
"Amour" presents one of the most honest and unflinching portrayals of natural death that I have seen.
Some parallels could be drawn with "Betty Blue" but they are broad strokes.
Each film presents a love story doomed to end badly.
I could pitch more general plot detail and even some scenes from each film side by side quite convincingly but the tone and intention are worlds apart.
I was reminded of Gaspar Noe's incredible "Irreversible" as I watched "Amour",
His film tells us "Le temps détruit tout" (time destroys everything) and in the case of "Amour" it is a fifty plus year love affair that we are seeing tested and ultimately destroyed.
Jean-Louis Trintignant ("City of Lost Children", "Three Colours:
Red") as George gives a performance that is in danger of being overshadowed by
Riva's but it shouldn't be.
He is in practically every scene and while his performance isn't as physical or as transformative as Riva's it is a terrific piece of work- specially in the final half hour.
His characterisation is subtler - he doesn't have the effects of a debilitating disease to flex his acting muscles on.
Instead he shows us a man desperately trying to remain strong for the woman he loves.
The moments in which he wavers are some of the most powerful in the film.
Not to take anything away from Emmanuelle Riva who really does deserve every word of praise being heaped up on her.
It's a brave, powerful performance and a very physical one.
The degeneration of her voice, body and mind is all there to see and it is horrifyingly convincing.
She is subjected to an ever increasing number and variety of indignities as she becomes totally reliant on Georges care.
The scene in which Georges gets her out of bed and discovers that she has wet it is awful.
The despair of a once sharp, refined woman as she realises how far she has deteriorated is painful.
If Riva robs my beloved Jennifer Lawrence of her Oscar I will not feel resentment - either result is fair as far as I am concerned.
Matters of quality aside "Amour" is not the sort of movie that can be recommended lightly.
I don't doubt that the reason that Romantic Comedies such as "Notting Hill" and "Pretty Woman" do so well is that they show love as we wish it was - perfect and without end.
Of course it is not reality and the audience agrees to forget that because we want it to be.
As Steve Martin says in his great "LA Story" - 'A kiss may not be the truth but it is what we wish were true'.
"Amour" gives us the warts and all truth of love.
No matter how pure and true and joyful it is - it will end sooner or later.
I doubt anyone is going to have any fun watching this harsh reality play out but I can't knock it for that.
It is named "Amour" for a reason and certainly love is at the centre of everything that occurs.
The love of the leads is tested about as severely as is imagineable.
It requires that you work for whatever rewards are on offer but don't be put off- it will stay with you for some time after you leave the cinema.
You will have plenty of time to think it over whether you like it or not.
Yes, I'm aware of their faults.
In a year in which Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow both failed to get Best Director nominations how could I not be?
I love The Oscars despite their frequent, baffling outcomes.
Every year I try hard to see all of the movies that have recieved nominations.
If I fail it is usually through lack of opportunity with little old New Zealand suffering on occasion from release schedule inconveniences.
The desire results in few disappointments and many very pleasant surprises.
"Winter's Bone" a couple of years ago springs to mind.
It introduced me to the talents of Jennifer Lawrence.
Talents which this year look like they are to be rewarded with a naked Gold Dude Statue.
Or are they?
Up against Lawrence is Jessica Chastain, Sally Field, Quvenzhane Wallis, Naomi Watts and the star of "Amour" - Emmanuelle Riva.
Riva has just scored a Bafta for herself so she has beaten Lawrence once at least.
Her performance has been lauded far and wide and it is indeed formidable.
Riva plays Anne who is married to Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant)
The pair are retired music teachers and it is clear from the opening scenes that they are still very much in love.
 |
| Jean-Louis Trintignant |
They talk with the easy back and forth earned from years together.
They look like the sort of couple who would draw envious stares from those far younger than them that they have made a relationship work so well for so long.
And then Anne has a stroke and everything changes.
Surgery makes her worse and it is clear that she will never be the same.
The final outcome is never in doubt - the opening scene reveals it.
"Amour" is more concerned with the journey than the destination.
Can Georges cope watching the love of his life quickly fading from existence with each passing day?
He is not young or in perfect health himself and he is now expected to lift, bathe, feed and care for every aspect of Anne's life.
She makes him promise early on not to send her back to the hospital and more than anything this for me was the defining moment in the movie.
Georges must be unwavering in his devotion to this promise and to Anne.
There is pressure from daughter Eva (an always welcome Isabelle Hupert) to change the manner of the care but she can't suggest an alternative- or perhaps it's more that she won't.
 |
| Emmanuelle Riva's performance is emotional, physical, harrowing and quite extraordinary |
It is well directed, nicely shot and edited and the acting is tantamount to flawless.
But it's an ordeal.
It's a very well made ordeal but that doesn't change the fact that there is little enjoyment to be found here save recognition of the skilled filmmaking.
All that said I admire what it has achieved.
"Amour" presents one of the most honest and unflinching portrayals of natural death that I have seen.
Some parallels could be drawn with "Betty Blue" but they are broad strokes.
Each film presents a love story doomed to end badly.
I could pitch more general plot detail and even some scenes from each film side by side quite convincingly but the tone and intention are worlds apart.
I was reminded of Gaspar Noe's incredible "Irreversible" as I watched "Amour",
His film tells us "Le temps détruit tout" (time destroys everything) and in the case of "Amour" it is a fifty plus year love affair that we are seeing tested and ultimately destroyed.
He is in practically every scene and while his performance isn't as physical or as transformative as Riva's it is a terrific piece of work- specially in the final half hour.
His characterisation is subtler - he doesn't have the effects of a debilitating disease to flex his acting muscles on.
Instead he shows us a man desperately trying to remain strong for the woman he loves.
The moments in which he wavers are some of the most powerful in the film.
Not to take anything away from Emmanuelle Riva who really does deserve every word of praise being heaped up on her.
It's a brave, powerful performance and a very physical one.
The degeneration of her voice, body and mind is all there to see and it is horrifyingly convincing.
She is subjected to an ever increasing number and variety of indignities as she becomes totally reliant on Georges care.
The scene in which Georges gets her out of bed and discovers that she has wet it is awful.
The despair of a once sharp, refined woman as she realises how far she has deteriorated is painful.
If Riva robs my beloved Jennifer Lawrence of her Oscar I will not feel resentment - either result is fair as far as I am concerned.
 |
| Isabelle Hupert as daughter Eva |
I don't doubt that the reason that Romantic Comedies such as "Notting Hill" and "Pretty Woman" do so well is that they show love as we wish it was - perfect and without end.
Of course it is not reality and the audience agrees to forget that because we want it to be.
As Steve Martin says in his great "LA Story" - 'A kiss may not be the truth but it is what we wish were true'.
"Amour" gives us the warts and all truth of love.
No matter how pure and true and joyful it is - it will end sooner or later.
I doubt anyone is going to have any fun watching this harsh reality play out but I can't knock it for that.
It is named "Amour" for a reason and certainly love is at the centre of everything that occurs.
The love of the leads is tested about as severely as is imagineable.
It requires that you work for whatever rewards are on offer but don't be put off- it will stay with you for some time after you leave the cinema.
You will have plenty of time to think it over whether you like it or not.
| Rated | R13 for brief nudity and intense themes. |
| Running Time: | 130 minutes (2hrs, 4mins without end credits) |
| Starring: |
| Emmanuelle Riva | --- Anne |
| Jean-Louis Trintignant | --- Georges |
| Isabelle Hupert | --- Eva |
| Amexandre Tharaud | --- Alexandre |
| William Shimell | --- Geoff |
| Ramon Agirre | --- Concierge's Husband |
| Rita Blanco | --- Concierge |
| Carole Franck | --- Nurse 1 |
| Dinara Drukarova | --- Nurse 2 |
| Laurent Capelluto | --- Police Officer 1 |
| Jean-Michel Monroc | --- Police Officer 2 |
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