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Traditional wedding vows are widely known. We've all heard them numerous times. Take this man or woman to be my wife or husband... for better, worse, richer, poorer, in sickness, and in health... but love is more than saying those words. Love means putting them in practice when the worse really comes, when the money runs out, when the sickness comes, and doesn't leave. That is the situation in which the two leads in this Michael Haneke film find themselves.
Amour follows Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), an old retired couple living alone in France. Their lives go on in a fairly normal way as they enjoy breakfasts and lunches together, and attend musical concerts from former students. But things take a turn for the worse when Anne suffers a stroke that progressively deteriorates her health, while Georges has to take care of her.
I had been dreading to watch this film ever since its release. As a matter of fact, I actively avoided it because I've always been very sensible to depictions of the pains and suffering of the elderly; especially since my grandmother passed away 10+ years ago, something that still hurts to this day. So when I opened the floor for recommendations about films with senior characters, my wife brought it up and said "it is time".
But although I was dreading more the angle of the elderly from the perspective of a grandchild, the film got to me in more ways than one. Sure, memories of me and my mother taking care of my grandmother came up. But then I was also reminded of my own mother, who is not that young anymore. And finally, I thought of me and my wife and how would things be if that was our situation in the future, when it will all be over.
The constant in all three angles is the title of the film: "amour", love, amor. Because no matter how many times I had to feed my grandmother in her last years, or help my mom with some house chore, or sat at the bedside of my wife at the hospital, love was and is there every step of the way. Certainly Haneke takes his own unique path to ask us and challenge us, but also show us what is love. Not the romanticized, puppy love, but the sharp pain of seeing that special person suffer and wither away in front of you.
A big reason why this film succeeds in portraying that is on the excellent performances from Trintignant, but especially Riva. The way they both convey the intimacy and closeness between Georges and Anne, even while he's moving her from a wheelchair, feeding her dinner, or giving her a bath, it's something powerfully moving. To see the regression in that person you love, from a night dress to a diaper, from a wine glass to a sippy cup, from meaningful conversations to just uninteligible babbling, it is all the ultimate test of what is really to love someone... for better, worse, richer, poorer, in sickness, and in health.
We can question the final actions and what's really behind them, but I think we can make an argument that what happens in the end can be seen as a manifestation of love. We've all seen loved ones suffer, we've all felt that pain. But as hard as things might be, as worse as things might get, as precarious as health could be, in some way, one day it will all be over.
Grade:
AMOUR
(2012, Haneke)
A film featuring senior citizens prominently
-- recommended by Jess --
(2012, Haneke)
A film featuring senior citizens prominently
-- recommended by Jess --
"Things will go on, and then one day it will all be over."
Traditional wedding vows are widely known. We've all heard them numerous times. Take this man or woman to be my wife or husband... for better, worse, richer, poorer, in sickness, and in health... but love is more than saying those words. Love means putting them in practice when the worse really comes, when the money runs out, when the sickness comes, and doesn't leave. That is the situation in which the two leads in this Michael Haneke film find themselves.
Amour follows Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), an old retired couple living alone in France. Their lives go on in a fairly normal way as they enjoy breakfasts and lunches together, and attend musical concerts from former students. But things take a turn for the worse when Anne suffers a stroke that progressively deteriorates her health, while Georges has to take care of her.
I had been dreading to watch this film ever since its release. As a matter of fact, I actively avoided it because I've always been very sensible to depictions of the pains and suffering of the elderly; especially since my grandmother passed away 10+ years ago, something that still hurts to this day. So when I opened the floor for recommendations about films with senior characters, my wife brought it up and said "it is time".
But although I was dreading more the angle of the elderly from the perspective of a grandchild, the film got to me in more ways than one. Sure, memories of me and my mother taking care of my grandmother came up. But then I was also reminded of my own mother, who is not that young anymore. And finally, I thought of me and my wife and how would things be if that was our situation in the future, when it will all be over.
The constant in all three angles is the title of the film: "amour", love, amor. Because no matter how many times I had to feed my grandmother in her last years, or help my mom with some house chore, or sat at the bedside of my wife at the hospital, love was and is there every step of the way. Certainly Haneke takes his own unique path to ask us and challenge us, but also show us what is love. Not the romanticized, puppy love, but the sharp pain of seeing that special person suffer and wither away in front of you.
A big reason why this film succeeds in portraying that is on the excellent performances from Trintignant, but especially Riva. The way they both convey the intimacy and closeness between Georges and Anne, even while he's moving her from a wheelchair, feeding her dinner, or giving her a bath, it's something powerfully moving. To see the regression in that person you love, from a night dress to a diaper, from a wine glass to a sippy cup, from meaningful conversations to just uninteligible babbling, it is all the ultimate test of what is really to love someone... for better, worse, richer, poorer, in sickness, and in health.
We can question the final actions and what's really behind them, but I think we can make an argument that what happens in the end can be seen as a manifestation of love. We've all seen loved ones suffer, we've all felt that pain. But as hard as things might be, as worse as things might get, as precarious as health could be, in some way, one day it will all be over.
Grade: