AMOUR

Directed by: Michael Haneke

Starring: Alexandre Tharaud, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant

Run time: 127 min 

When I know that Michael Haneke is the one behind this simple titled movie, I know I will be watching something unusual and out of the box. I haven't seen Cache but I have seen Das Weisse Band which I really like.

This is a story of love, told in a cold, moving and uncompromising way. What will happen when an old couple must face their mortality and one of them is sick? It is not an easy question to answer. I have to say the ending makes me feeling uneasy, it felt like a hit into the stomach but also as a tender warm hug, a final act of true love, not in a cheesy way.

It tells the story about Georges and Anne (breathtaking performance by veteran Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva). They are in their 80s and lived in a nice apartment. It looked like that they had a happy life in their youth. 

One day Anne suffer a mild stroke that affect her right part of her body and as time goes by, accompanied by dementia. Living just the two of them in the apartment, Georges must face his fear; to witness the one he loved dearly suffer and her memory eroded. 

One scene is really beautiful, as Anne (still in a good condition), peruse the photos attached to the book and comment "C'est beau, la vie" (Life is beautiful) I realized that this is a beautiful film. Well, not in a mainstream way since most of the scenes are inside the apartment.

Emanuelle Riva is amazing, at 85 she can acted very well and convincing. Jean-Louis Trintignant is also good, he can act as a worry husband and as the film progress, began to suffer silently.

Filmed almost entirely inside the apartment with static feeling and some emotional distance, Amour is thought provoking. In the time where life expectancy is getting better and better, what will happen if we ever reach old age? Who will take care of us and what sort of love will prevail?