There's a scene in Michael Haneke's latest film (the winner of this year's Palme d'Or, AMOUR) in which one of the main characters talks about a film he saw long time ago. The main characters are an elderly married couple: (the music teachers) Georges and Eve (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, respectively). So Georges is telling Eve about a film that left him a big impression – now he can't really recall the film itself (name, its story and stuff) but only the huge emotion he felt with it not only while watching it but also while later telling someone about it.
AMOUR is a film about that emotion. If Jean-Louis Trintignant's character can only remember now, as an elderly man, what that film made him feel, then Haneke only wants that you (and his characters) feel something. AMOUR ain't a film with a big, intriguing story. In fact, it opens with the conclusion of the whole thing, which is certainly about that mentioned married couple – there's nothing much going on, besides some music concerts, until Even begins to show serious health problems (she suffers a stroke actually and soon of paralysis). Obviously we know that there won't be much hope for her.
I don't think none of these are spoilers, hell, you already guessed the conclusion to the story of Eve. Like I said, Haneke decided to go a bit non-linear with the very first shot of the film – he's telling the audience something like "yes, she dies, I'm not going to give you any hope and I just want you to feel something". And it's really impossible not to; certainly the main performers are the principals responsible for that.
If anything, Emmanuelle Riva gives one of the very best performances of the year (perhaps the best). It's a daring work that shows her huge dedication and commitment. Think in the following words that, at least according to IMDb, the Mexican director Carlos Reygadas (POST TENEBRAS LUX) said when asked about the nudity in his film BATALLA EN EL CIELO (2005):
"We are all naked when we go to the shower. At least twice or three times a day we are naked. And most of us have sex, once a week or more. It's a thing that occurs often. But it's not represented ever on film. So the normal thing to do would be to ask every other director why they don't have sex in their film and not ask me about it. I am the only normal one".
In AMOUR we deal with the whole process of a terminal illness: the preoccupation, the desires of the patient, the care giving, the desperation and well, just day-to-day issues. And Haneke is just as normal as Reygadas; therefore if you think he is not going to show a day-to-day activity like taking a shower in its pure form, well, you better think again. This is part of the reason to say Emmanuelle Riva did such a great, daring work.
Not many people are interested in watching the latest film about a terminal illness. That theme alone makes for a very difficult experience, certainly, and well, this one is even more than the average; it's almost a horror film, with truly terrifying, thought-provoking material. It left me shocked even when, like I said, you know everything right from the very beginning. You better find out why!
*Watched it on 14 November, 2012
AMOUR is a film about that emotion. If Jean-Louis Trintignant's character can only remember now, as an elderly man, what that film made him feel, then Haneke only wants that you (and his characters) feel something. AMOUR ain't a film with a big, intriguing story. In fact, it opens with the conclusion of the whole thing, which is certainly about that mentioned married couple – there's nothing much going on, besides some music concerts, until Even begins to show serious health problems (she suffers a stroke actually and soon of paralysis). Obviously we know that there won't be much hope for her.
I don't think none of these are spoilers, hell, you already guessed the conclusion to the story of Eve. Like I said, Haneke decided to go a bit non-linear with the very first shot of the film – he's telling the audience something like "yes, she dies, I'm not going to give you any hope and I just want you to feel something". And it's really impossible not to; certainly the main performers are the principals responsible for that.
If anything, Emmanuelle Riva gives one of the very best performances of the year (perhaps the best). It's a daring work that shows her huge dedication and commitment. Think in the following words that, at least according to IMDb, the Mexican director Carlos Reygadas (POST TENEBRAS LUX) said when asked about the nudity in his film BATALLA EN EL CIELO (2005):
"We are all naked when we go to the shower. At least twice or three times a day we are naked. And most of us have sex, once a week or more. It's a thing that occurs often. But it's not represented ever on film. So the normal thing to do would be to ask every other director why they don't have sex in their film and not ask me about it. I am the only normal one".
In AMOUR we deal with the whole process of a terminal illness: the preoccupation, the desires of the patient, the care giving, the desperation and well, just day-to-day issues. And Haneke is just as normal as Reygadas; therefore if you think he is not going to show a day-to-day activity like taking a shower in its pure form, well, you better think again. This is part of the reason to say Emmanuelle Riva did such a great, daring work.
Not many people are interested in watching the latest film about a terminal illness. That theme alone makes for a very difficult experience, certainly, and well, this one is even more than the average; it's almost a horror film, with truly terrifying, thought-provoking material. It left me shocked even when, like I said, you know everything right from the very beginning. You better find out why!
*Watched it on 14 November, 2012