The film is shot in a slow and tense style by Austrian Director Michael Haneke, a filmmaker known for tackling less discussed social problems in his films.
Don’t be fooled by the film’s title, which translates into ‘love’ in French. Amour is a disturbing piece of cinema which examines the bitter fact of life that everything comes to an end; including the tender love between a couple, which if nothing else, is brought to an end by old age.
The film is shot in a slow and tense style by Austrian Director Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher), a filmmaker known for tackling less discussed social problems in his films.
Amour pulls no punches, and opens unconventionally with what is in fact the final scene of the film, showing the police breaking into an apartment which has been taped shut from the inside. This apartment belongs to Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne Laurent (Emmanuelle Riva), an elderly couple who happen to be retired music teachers. The apartment reeks of decay, and upon further examination, the police find the source of the foul stench of death within the premises: it is the corpse of Anne, lying peacefully on the bed, dressed in a comfortable gown, and adorned lovingly with flowers. The scene is troubling, yet this early revelation indicates that the film isn’t concerned with the fate of the Laurents, but their troubling final journey.
From here we are taken back to the recent past where the couples’ difficulties are beginning. The Laurents are shown to be a loving and caring pair, who take care of each other’s needs the best they can. And pleasantly, the husband sometimes still surprises his wife with stories about himself. Here, Georges starts to notice an alarming pattern in his wife’s behavior, where she freezes, staring into space for minutes at a time in a catatonic state. Later, a surgery for Anne results in complications, where she is left partially paralyzed, and not wanting to go on. Here, Amour shows us the challenges that come with such a situation, which for many may hit a little too close to home, especially for those who have felt the desperate feeling of helplessness when unable to do anything for a loved one in pain.
Amour is a superbly acted film with an equally powerful subject. Taking on the touchy subjects of suicide, and assisted suicide, this is a bleak notice that life isn’t pretty when the clock stops ticking, and one should prepare the best they can, because even genuine love stories must come to an end.
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, February 24th, 2013.
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