Review of Amour (2012) by David W — 29 Jul 2017
Do you like lots of well directed stellar acting and not much else? Then you will love Amour. It's not a knock against this terrific film, but you should know what you are getting into. If you remove everything from a drama except for (mostly) two actors, one apartment, and a low-concept story, you are left with lots of room to stretch those artistic muscles.
Amour is about an elderly couple who are still very much in love and dealing with the trials of old age. The film asks "What would you do for the one you love?." This question becomes more relevant when the proud wife, Anne, suffers a stroke and the indignities that follow while being cared for by her noble husband, Georges.
The film is more concerned with people's reaction to an event than the event itself. This is evident near the beginning of the film where the camera is locked on a jarring wide shot of an audience watching a live musical performance. You never see the action on stage because this movie isn't about that. What you need to pay attention to is the people's reactions.
In fact you only see two significant action moments in the whole film, one at the beginning that begins the conflict and one at the end the resolves it. The rest of the film takes place in the in-between moments. A funny funeral moment is described but never witnessed, we see Anne return from the hospital but never actually see he receiving care, and many other cinematic moments are cut out.
The film is about how far you would go for love but it's also about dealing with pain. When pain is experienced together, who's pain should be accommodated? It's great.
The climax of the film... I'm not sure I'm on board with. Made me feel odd, which I guess what the point but I'm still sorting out my feelings on that. It's a long and slow movie but I was engaged the whole time until that moment, then I felt every minute of the rest of the film. I even audibly exclaimed "Are they gonna make us watch this whole part?!".
Great film. Not for everybody. Great for discussion.
This review of Amour (2012) was written by David W on 29 Jul 2017.
Amour has generally received very positive reviews.
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