Amour
Michael Haneke Season
An elderly couple’s relationship undergoes the ultimate test of love in this simple and honest depiction of old age, illness and dying.
Michael Haneke's 'Amour' is a deliberately difficult experience. Career-high performances from Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva as a genteel Parisian couple in their eighties illuminate the difficult subject matter. One day, Anne has an attack and the couple's bond of love is severely tested as she descends into physical and mental debilitation.
Haneke focuses with physician-like steadiness on the test it puts on Georges' love for his wife. She feels humiliated by her condition and hates to be seen, but she can't refuse the agitated visits from their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert).
In a special cameo, young classical pianist Alexandre Tharaud (who performs Schubert, Beethoven and other music in the film) appears as Anne's brilliant pupil, who has become a world-famous recording artist.
A deserving winner of the 2012 Palme d'Or.