Amour (2012)

Amour (2012), directed by Michael Haneke and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, is an austere, deeply affecting drama about an elderly Parisian couple whose quiet, cultured retirement is shattered when Anne suffers a stroke. Georges vows to care for her at home and the film follows the slow, relentless physical and mental decline that follows, the strain on their love and dignity, and the wrenching moral choices that arise as caregiving becomes unbearable. Isabelle Huppert appears as their daughter, whose involvement exposes the family’s isolation and differing responses to suffering. Watching Amour is an intimate, often harrowing experience: Haneke’s restrained, almost clinical camera — long takes, close-ups, sparse use of music — forces you into the claustrophobic domestic reality of illness and aging. The performances are quietly monumental (Riva and Trintignant convey a lifetime of shared history in tiny gestures), and the film confronts mortality, devotion, guilt and compassion without melodrama. It is slow and unflinching, emotionally devastating yet profoundly humane. A Palme d’Or winner and Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film, Amour is not easy viewing, but it lingers long after the credits — a courageous, honest portrait of love tested to its limits.

Actors: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert

Director: Michael Haneke

Runtime: 127 min

Genre: Drama

95 /100 7.9 /10 8.7 /10