Review of Amour (2012) by Ryan M — 18 Feb 2013

After watching Amour, I can now say I've watched every single movie nominated for best picture this year. I honestly didn't expect much of this movie other than an independent pretentious art-house film about two old lovers. For me, I've always been the person who's preferred the much darker and daring films nominated than the ones that take no risks and feel like Oscar bait. I've always liked The Social Network better than The Kings Speech and I've always liked Drive better than The Artist. I really expected this to be full on boring Oscar bait. I will admit I was wrong. Amour is one of the most raw, gut wrenching and brutally truthful films I've ever seen on old age.

Two older musicians are living in France. One has a stroke and the couple have to go through the hell of experiencing one of them die of old age in the most painful and embarrassing way possible. I always hate when movies pull the Oscar bait by being very manipulative and sad in the most clichéd and fake way possible (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close anyone?) Amour isn't that movie. This movie is written so that it can show you every excruciating thing about death. This movie has so much detail to how the daughter reacts, how her older piano student reacts and how the couple reacts. The acting and directing makes this film unbearably heartbreaking but the writing as well is simply stunning. You hear the couple banter as they walk closer and closer to the abyss. They remain positive at first but slowly lose their dignity as well as their sanity. This films screenplay is very detailed in the sinking in of the sadness. Writing: 9/10.

The directing makes this movie excruciating to sit thought in a good way as well. This movie is not very fast in editing like Skyfall, Argo and Zero Dark Thirty. This movie holds on shots for a long time which allows for the raw emotion of the film to sink in. There are a lot of close up shots of the two main actors to give focus to the sadness of these two human beings. The film takes place entirely within the apartment that the two live in, this therefore adds to the tension and anxiety that you may already have. Despite being about two musicians, this music has very little music. I think this is to again add to the rawness and brutal reality of the situation. This film is definitely very unnerving in how it is edited, where it is shot and how it sounds. This movie is already unbearable due to the heartbreaking script but the directing is raw and intense enough as to where this film is excruciating in a good way. I respect director Michael Hanake for making one of the most gut wrenching psychological thrillers I've seen in a while. Directing: 10/10.

The acting is incredible. Emmanuelle Riva is heartbreaking as the dying woman and she is in pain throughout. She bears her soul on the screen and gives one of the most depressing performances I've ever seen. Jean-Louis Trintignant plays the husband who can do nothing but sit by as his wife dies and he loses his sanity, he does a great job too. You see her struggle take its slow and painful toll on his psyche and his fall into insanity is a breathtaking and incredible if hard to watch experience. There are a lot of close ups on their faces so they both have to be at their best. They both again are portraying in such a raw fashion that at times these two seem to almost be dancing with death. This acting has to be at the top of its game for this movie to work in the way that it's filmed and they are flawless. Every second on screen with them is a heartbreaking hell and you suffer with them. Acting: 10/10.

What can I say? Amour is a gut wrenching, raw and disturbingly real look on old age. The film is one of the best filmed movies I've seen in a while and every second is filmed in a tense, hellish claustrophobic fashion. Every scene is edited less as a pretentious manipulative art house film and more as an insanely excruciating psychological thriller. The acting between the two is realistic and the two bear their souls wide open throughout. The film just all around is a heartbreaking psychological thriller than can't end well. The film overall: 97%.