Review of Amour (2012) by Bestpony — 26 Nov 2013

Amour is a very dry film, seemingly as elegant and lifeless as the museum-like apartment in which the elderly couple lives. In a way it feels necessary, focusing with unflinching precision on an aspect of love and relationships that is usually overlooked (and certainly not by accident).

The problem is, as the title suggests, this is a film about a phenomenon, a philosophical concept, but not about people. The two characters do have names, but for all intents and purposes they are just Old Person 1 and Old Person 2, and as the camera's gaze bounces off their impeccably shot faces and rests on shelves full of old, dusty books, it becomes apparent that this isn't really a drama, but more of an essay, and instead of a punch in the gut it delivers a long, stern lecture.

You should absolutely see it if you haven't already, but that's the central problem with Amour: it's the kind of film that you watch because it's important, not because it's good.