Review: 'Amour' directed by Michael Haneke

Amour is what passes for a love story to a guy like Michael Haneke. Let's just say the Austrian director's films are....well, a bit of a downer. They're all a tough sit, extremely challenging films that cut right to the bone, and Amour may be the toughest of all.

It's not hard to imagine that the same man who gave us The White Ribbon, Funny Games (twice!!), and Caché, all brutal examinations of the human condition, would take a similar approach to the story of one couple's utter devotion in the face of debilitating illness. Similar in tone and gravity to Sarah Polley's excellent Away from Her, Amour follows George(Jean-Louis Trintignant) and his wife Anne(Emmanuelle Riva), a couple now in their 80s and living a quiet life in Paris.

Haneke lets you know right from the start where things are headed, as the film opens with the "Boom" of men breaking down their door, and finding Anne's dead body in the bedroom surrounded by flowers. But it's not the conclusion that matters, which is why Haneke is quick to show us. George and Anne are still a vibrant, active pair, who clearly are very much in love and loving retirement. Until one day their usual morning breakfast is interrupted by a disturbing few moments as Anne seems to completely blank out. Her mind paralyzed, she's had a stroke and barely remembers what happened.

It's just the beginning of what will be a degrading downward spiral for Anne. A woman used to her own independence, you can see the embarrassment and frustration as she's reduced to a complete invalid, deteriorating so that George must take care of her every need and bodily function. The great Isabelle Huppert plays their daughter, who fights with her father over how best to take care of Anne. She sees the reality of the situation, and like a child wants her mother around as long as possible. George just wants to spend whatever time he has left with the woman he loves, even if it's solely as her caretaker.

Haneke never shies away from the most uncomfortable moments, forcing us to watch and consider our own thoughts on mortality. Would we have George's strength to carry on? Is the decision he's ultimately forced to make a selfish one, or the ultimate expression of love? Chances are your own personal biases will mold your opinion on such things. Emmanuelle Riva has been earning all sorts of praise for her performance, including a Best Actress nomination, but it was Trintignant who carries the greatest emotional burden. The wariness and grief he carries with him is nothing short of heartbreaking.

Amour is a meticulously crafted, brutally honest glimpse at a love's tragic end, but Haneke's trademark reservation does him a disservice. It's just a bit too understated, neat and clean. We're kept at such a distance from George and Anne that it's hard to emotionally connect, which makes the gradual pace nearly intolerable.  A devastating film that feels twice as long as its runtime probably isn't going to appeal to very many. At the very least it doesn't scream out for repeat viewings.