Amour

Love. The true meaning of which only Taylor Swift is stupid enough to claim to understand. The theme of this movie is about an old man who is supporting his ailing wife. There have been movies which express the pain and neglect felt by people of Old Age, but none of them portray the sense of self- respect and the courage shown by senior citizens as well as this French movie.

The movie, in short, was as close to perfection as any movie could be. Near perfect direction, amazing acting, heart-wrenching script and an appropriately timed soundtrack make it next to flawless. Reviewing such movies is very hard for any movie reviewer worth his salt. It’s like when a mortal is brought in front of perfection himself and asked to critique it. The only thing we can come up is an odyssey of praise for such great works of cinematic perfection. But still, I will make an attempt.

The movie starts off with a couple of scenes depicting a happy married couple. There is a scene where the man is flirting with his wife after a visit to the opera. The scene was so ‘typically’ French, I had to smile. Two 90 year old people, living in an apartment, all by themselves, visiting operas, without a care in the world about the neglect they face from their children. Just two people enjoying life at its dusk. Since the movie starts off in such fashion, there was almost no more need for any character development. I sympathized with them right away. The scene where the woman has her first stroke is shocking, unsettling, in fact. That is where this movie turns into a gut-wrenching ride into what love demands from a spouse. There is a scene in the trailer where the wife (who is also a piano teacher) is playing the piano and the man, who till now has shown no visual sign of him missing her, is sitting in the corner watching. He suddenly turns off the tape recorder and sighs. The woman on the piano disappears. Silent, short, powerful. It is the subtlety of the movie which makes it such a treat to the observant eye. A quality which seems lost on both Hollywood romcoms and almost 90% of all Bollywood fares.

The movie is predictable, but in a further unsettling kind of way. As in, the feeling when you know what is going to happen, but you dread it so much that you don’t want it to. The slow pace of the film only adds to that dread. This movie could very well be used as a reality check by most modern couples. Just watch the film and ask your boyfriend “Would you be willing to do that for me when I’m old?” and bam, you are single. (You’re welcome, Ladies.) I will concede, the first thing I did after watching the movie was call up my grandparents. It guilt-tripped me so badly that I just had to.

Final Verdict: This movie is next to flawless. A haunting, gut-wrenching experience, it will leave you with a ton of tears at the end and an experience you will never forget. It thoroughly deserves the rating I’m about to give it.

10/10