The Tragedy of Love

Review: Amour

There cannot be many stories more heartbreaking than Amour. Not only was Amour nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Actress, but it won for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards earlier this year. In the film, legendary French actors Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima Mon Amour) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (Z) come out of retirement to play music teachers Anne and Georges. The couple has had a long marriage, but as Anne begins to die, both her and Georges are slowly overcome with despair. Georges, especially, is left to struggle with the sense of helplessness such tragedies bring. Riva, who well-deservedly became the oldest ever nominee for Best Actress with this role, and Trintignant are sensational in their roles, bring to life the unflinchingly grim script so realistically that their performances will lie lurking behind your eyelids and leering up from the crevices of your brain, ready to haunt your thoughts and dreams, for years to come.

Writer/Director Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon) puts all the right pieces in place with his story and actors, but his direction is entirely detached and emotionless. I'm sure Haneke would view a more personal and passionate style of filming as cheap, biased, and possibly even untruthful, but a warmer film would have endeared audiences more to the movie in which there are characters we want to care about so much more than we are allowed to by his seemingly indifferent direction.

Overall, Amour is still a powerful film filled with thought-provoking themes about the nature of life and death, the sorrow of the deteriorating human condition, and what compassion really is. The film is brought to life by inspiring and devastating performances from Riva and Trintignant. I just wish the movie had touched me more intimately rather than leaving me feeling as though there was an ever expanding and soul-consuming black hole in my gut. Amour is amazing in so many ways, but almost as equally unpleasant. Much like life itself.

The Final Word: 3/4 - Go buy a ticket.