“Things will go on, and then one day it will all be over. ”

‘Amour’, directed by Michael Haneke in 2012, is a French drama following the story of an elderly couple whose lives are turned upside down when one of them suffers from a debilitating stroke. Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva play Georges and Anne Laurent, an elderly couple who live in an apartment in Paris. One day over breakfast, Anne zones out. This seemingly innocuous moment turns out to have dramatic consequences. Anne ends up paralyzed on her right side and deteriorating. Georges cares for her and the film follows the couple as Anne slowly slips into a suicidal despair and George struggles to cope with the daily requirements of care and the psychological impact of his wife slipping away from him. It’s a bit like Yasujirō Ozu’s ‘Tokyo Story’ told in slow motion. The same themes are here – the younger generation showing concern but too wrapped up in their own lives to actively intervene. Here though, there is a greater sense of tragedy and, when Georges finally snaps, shock.  Haneke uses the apartment as a third character, roaming his camera around the rooms in a way that reminds us of the history of the couple. There are a couple of stand-out fantasy sequences that shock, particularly a nightmare that Georges has that emphasises the claustrophobia and hopelessness of his situation. The film is dark but there is also a heart-warming subtext: it is as much about the life that Georges and Anne have had as about the life we see them endure.

Would I recommend it? Yes – it’s a profound and moving film, spare in terms of character and setting, but more intimate than Haneke’s previous films. It’s like ‘Funny Games’ but more grounded and less showy. Watch in a double bill with ‘Tokyo Story’.