Amour

Firstly, some choice cuts from some of the previous films of Michael Haneke, one of European cinema’s enfant terrible’s: Teenage girl coldly murdered by captive bolt pistol (Benny’s Video); Man unexpectedly slashes own throat in the middle of a conversation (Cache); Family murdered whilst intruders torture the audience via breaking the fourth wall (Funny Games) and as for The Piano Teacher, let’s say no more. Now let’s look at the description of Haneke’s latest film, Amour: An honest and moving portrayal of an elderly couple. What, no sudden knife attack, you say? Nope, this is as read, and despite Haneke’s previous film (The White Ribbon) being a relatively leisurely stroll in respect of pace (though certainly not in subject matter), who could have predicted that this would have been the subject of Haneke’s next project? This does start with a bang though, with a Parisian fire department breaking into an apartment and discovering the partially mummified corpse of a woman. We’re then into flashback as we pick up on the lives of octogenarian couple Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), retired music teachers and seemingly at ease with the cards life has dealt them. However, Anne soon suffers a stroke which leaves her paralysed down one side of her body. Her hatred of hospitals means that Georges has to take care of her at home and, with her condition deteriorating, it shines the spotlight on just how much “love” couples must have in their relationship in order to get by. This picked up the 2012 Palme d’Or, but it’s the kind of film that always does, i.e. popular with cineastes, but open to accusations of pretentiousness over substance. There are a few irritations here, the main one being that the literature released with the film states that Anne became paralysed due to the hospital botching her operation, but this isn’t mentioned in the film. Also, at over two hours long, there are a number of scenes that probably could have hit the cutting room floor. In mitigation you can argue that Haneke is showing the reality of such a situation, i.e. time moves slow, life is tough and there are no short cuts. It’s certainly an honourable subject, but whether this will find a mainstream audience though (let’s face it, this is a tough sell) is a different matter. It’s a great film in terms of what it wants to do, but I doubt you’d ever give this further viewings. It’s certainly thought provoking though and I imagine it will be difficult to watch for anyone who has personal experience of what is happening on screen (apparently it’s based on an identical situation in Haneke’s family). This in itself is a detour for Haneke as the majority of his output has usually concerned situations both fantastical and ambiguous for the audience in question. Here though those barriers have been dropped and Haneke puts the viewer right into the middle of the story. A brilliantly acted story it as well, especially by Riva who puts herself through the wringer in numerous scenes where she both physically and metaphorically bares all. This being Haneke though, there has to be a shock at some point and whilst not as visually disturbing as moments in his earlier films, it still resonates both in terms of its surprise value and as a moral talking point after the film has ended. It’s a classic dirty trick from Haneke (one of the modern day masters of audience manipulation) as he challenges you to decide whether what you have just seen really is “love”, after all.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Haneke tone’s down the shocks for an emotional study of age and love that provides plenty of food for thought for all. Rating: 7/10.