Featuring: Emmanuelle Riva, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Isabelle Huppert
Director: Michael Haneke
Writer: Michael Haneke
Website: www.sonyclassics.com/amour/

2012-13 Lotterywest Perth Film Festival season dates:
Somerville 25 February–3 March, 8pm Joondalup Pines 5–10 March, 7.30pm

Reviewer: rolanstein (one-word verdict: masterful)

Story:
Retired music teachers George (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) are in their 80s. They live in an elegant apartment in Paris, and are still culturally engaged and active. When Anne has an aphasic episode and a subsequent operation is unsuccessful, her health begins to deteriorate. As George takes on a care-giving role and Anne becomes ever more disabled and dependent, their relationship and lives enter a heart-rending and testing final phase.

Review:
Apart from an early scene in which George and Anne attend a piano recital by one of their now-acclaimed former students, the film is set within the couple’s apartment. Many of the scenes are fixed single-shot, with the camera set back to show both characters in interaction. The subject matter does not make for comfortable viewing, and in confining the action thus, Haneke ensures we have as little respite from the dismal reality of Anne’s infirmity and decline as poor George. Continue reading Amour Movie Review →