By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Alexandre Tharaud | Emmanuelle Riva | Isabelle Huppert | Jean-Louis Trintignant | William Shimell
Country: austria, france, germany
Year: 2013
Running time: 127
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1602620/combined
Thom says: “AMOUR has already won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and has gotten raves from critics as well as Chlotrudis stalwarts so I feel a bit of a shnerd not giving this a better ranking. Haneke has basically been a hit-and-miss director for me but at his best (THE WHITE RIBBON, THE PIANO TEACHER) he’s definitely masterful. This film, beautifully made & acted, is about an elderly musical couple whose life changes when the wife, Anne, has a mental attack that is the start of her eventual death sentence. As she gets sicker & sicker she becomes almost impossible to take care of but through it all Georges, the husband, refuses to give in to his despair, while fending off all intruders, including their frustrated daughter Eva (Huppert). I just didn’t find it was worth all the time spent on a mundane story. 4 cats”
Pete says: “I can’t think of a stronger film to advocate assisted suicide. The impact of this wrenching and realistic film, which will be disturbing viewing for anybody who’s had failing elderly parents, transcends the powerful performances of Riva and Trintignant. Most people will be able to sit through AMOUR only once regardless of its being so well crafted, but it will certainly provoke intelligent discussion about the right to end one’s life. 4.5 cats”
Diane says: “Michael Haneke (has he ever done wrong?) directs this superb film about an elderly couple facing illness. Halfway through the film, a man in my audience said to his wife, ‘This is boring.’ And I thought, ‘No, it’s fascinating–it’s quotidian life!’ Drying the dishes, helping someone to the toilet–these actions bear great weight in AMOUR.
“We see four or five different responses to illness in the main and minor characters. I found it easy to see one response as the ‘right’ one, until I was challenged by my fellow moviegoers.
“Our Peter wrote that AMOUR is a powerful advocate of assisted suicide. I would say it’s a powerful call to reflection on assisted suicide, and the nature of loving commitment. Intimately shot, simple on its face but mysterious and indirect (that’s Haneke), AMOUR cuts to the heart. 6 cats!”