Amour
Retired music teachers Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) and Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) are a couple who appear to be living out their twilight years together peacefully; but, on one particular morning Anne appears to suffer from a stroke, a frightening sight for anyone familiar with the repercussions. Now a matter of time before her body rebels and another stroke steals away more of her personality and function the couple’s love is stretched to new capacities. Meanwhile, daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert) is forced to face her parents mortality from a distance, a challenge in itself. Examining selfless and selfish behaviours and the spectrum of love, how will each family member cope?
From Writer/Director Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon) comes this real, tortuous, and drawn out work. Shot with minimalist camera work and editing Haneke turns his storytelling knife in the gut of the viewer arduously, methodically, and painfully slow. From an acting standpoint, the ensemble does a fine job in their portrayals, and some scenes are quite telling and beautiful, but, ultimately the lugubrious European tempo of this film may be too much for some. Amour is rated PG-13.