The Pain of "Amour"

The Oscars are fast approaching, and since I've covered just about all the major nominees, it's about time I wrote about "Amour." I saw the film at the end of last year, but was extremely hesitant to address it, because it's a difficult piece of work. All Michael Haneke films are, from what I've seen of them, and I still find it astonishing that the Academy would single out his newest film this year for honors. "Amour" simply does not fit the profile of your typical Oscar contender. It features a pair of older, celebrated French actors who Americans would not be particularly familiar with. The subject matter is certainly weighty and important, but the scale is small and the drama is intimate. There are no gimmick's like last year's "The Artist." There are no controversies, like those raised by "Zero Dark Thirty." And rarely do you see a film this raw and honest and bleak, with such limited commercial prospects, penetrate the defenses of the generally more conservative, more Hollywood-oriented, mainstream-oriented Academy electorate.

Then again, "Amour" is perhaps one of the most accessible Haneke films. The story is simple enough. It concerns an elderly couple, Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), who are both in their eighties, and have enjoyed a long and happy relationship. One day Anne pauses a little too long in the kitchen, her movements arrested and her face going blank. Something has begun to go very wrong, and Georges is helpless to prevent Anne's slow, but certain decline. She suffers a stroke that leaves her bedridden and in need of constant care. She undergoes an operation that makes things worse. One of her last coherent requests to Georges is that she not be hospitalized, so Georges takes on the monumental task of caring for her needs at home, as best he can. Nurses and aides are retained, and then dismissed when Georges finds fault with their treatment of his wife. The couple's grown daughter, Eva (Isabelle Huppert) comes to visit and tries to intervene, but Georges is resolute. How it will all end is no mystery. The story is told in flashback after an opening scene where the police force their way into Georges and Anne's sealed-off apartment, to discover Anne's carefully laid out corpse.

When I first heard about "Amour," I was expecting something much grimmer and more disturbing. Michael Haneke is known for emotionally harrowing films that frequently employ shocking violence and reveal the darkest, most grotesque sides of human nature. In "Amour," there are no hidden monsters, no awful secrets to be brought to light. There is only a man who loves his wife, but who pays a heavy price for that love. Haneke confronts the audience with the reality that even the happiest relationships end in cold death, often demanding unbearable pain and suffering before the end. Perhaps that's why "Amour" comes across as one of the more humane Haneke's films. His characters are allowed a measure of peace, and perhaps even a little sentiment before the end, which make the harsher scenes go down quite a bit easier. Make no mistake that "Amour" presents an unflinching end-of-life narrative that many viewers will find difficult to watch, but it's not cruel, and it's not without mercy. Perhaps one of our most reliable modern provocateurs is softening a little with age.

The performances of Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva are remarkable here, creating an evolving onscreen relationship that feels very rich and genuine. Riva is particularly strong. Her character may not have much control over her situation, but displays a steely willfulness and defiance that keeps her very present in the narrative. As for Trintignant, his character's decline is in some ways more pronounced and devastating to watch than this wife's. In the often overlooked and sorely undervalued category of films starring elderly actors, these are rare, challenging roles. I'm not nearly familiar with the long careers of Riva and Trintignant as I should be, but I've seen them both in various French classics from the 60s and 70s, and it's gratifying to see them get the chance to continue to do good work.

Ultimately, though, I'm not sure what I think of "Amour." It's a brave, challenging work of art featuring great performances, and I'm very glad the Academy went for it instead of something easier and more familiar, like "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." On the other hand, so much of the movie is about the immediate, visceral impact of experiencing the couple's end, and the story feels sorely lacking in the kind of context and depth that might have given it more lasting impact. Haneke is not a director in the habit of giving straightforward answers, but this time his oblique symbolism and ambiguous moments don't work as well as they have in the past, and I had no urge to try to unpack them. I came away neither shocked nor particularly moved, though I was impressed with the filmmaking and the approach to the subject matter.

"Amour" is a bold and impressive film, but I didn't get much out of it.
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