They are played by Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant , both now in their 80s, and although they've been giants of the French cinema for decades, I can't say that I recognized them at this age. What must have drawn me were certain qualities: their self-possession, their inner peace, a sense that they had earned the right to be together. They are Anne and Georges. We learn they've spend their lives performing and teaching music. Later we will learn that the concert is being performed by a young master Alexandre Tharaud who was Anne's pupil.
In a sense, they have brought forth this beauty into their own lives. Its opening scene essentially tells us how it will end.
Now regard Anne and Georges at breakfast soon after. He doesn't even notice that she has momentarily frozen. She is … somewhere else. The specific shots of this sequence are masterful. Then she returns, unaware that anything has happened, but something has, and her stroke is the beginning of the end for their history together. Georges and Anne have shared a great love, and now Georges, during an implacable series of scenes, becomes a member of one more audience, watching the end of what he and Anne built and will now lose.
Old age isn't for sissies, and neither is this film. Trintignant and Riva courageously take on these roles, which strip aside all the glamor of their long careers he starred in "A Man and a Woman," she most famously in "Hiroshima, Mon Amour".
Their beauty has faded, but it glows from within. It accepts unflinchingly the realities of age, failure and the disintegration of the ego. Yes, and to watch "Amour" invites us — another audience — to accept them, too. When I saw "Hiroshima, Mon Amor" , I was young and eager and excited to be attending one of the first French art films I'd ever seen.
It was long after the bodies had been removed and the obsequies were over. I was puzzled by the ambiguity of the death and the symbolism of the couple walking out of the apartment, and now I want to see the beginning scenes again to take more notice of windows open in which rooms, and if there was any indication they entered the small room off the kitchen where presumably his body was found.
I also found myself unexpectedly moved when the neighbor commented on how strong he was being. After reading comments here, I watched the opening scene again: When the police enter the apartment at the beginning of the movie, there are TWO rooms that have been sealed with tape from the outside.
Why tape his own room closed? My guess is that he was probably found wandering aimlessly in the street, but what happens to George is not really relevant. The focus of the movie is their relationship. The daughter visiting the apartment was long after the death of Anne and George. She had not previously been given a key and would always knock for entry via George.
On the passing of Anne, George had sealed the room to prevent the inhabitants of the building finding Anne before he passed. The bedroom had two doors which he sealed. There was no sign of of our in the bedroom when the body was discovered with the flowers. This gives us closure by confirming that George died rapidly of heartbreak as is so common in life long couples, and Anne led him to his redemption based on her knowledge of his image… Cruel at times, but loving… Which summed up his final acts smothering Anne, and her back in control as she was in their partnership before the stroke.
It is and I just recently saw a preview of this movie and just had to watch it. I had never heard of it when it first came out. Yet, I can honestly say better late than to never have seen it. Its a foreign film with only English subtitles, but well worth the reading, and watching. Georges proves his love thru all he does for Anne. He realized Anne had given up and he came to a decision that moment she refused the water. Which inturn broke his heart and frustrated him so much, that he acted out instantly with a slap to her left cheek.
Which made him feel so guilty, that is when I think it all hit him to put her out of her misery. So he taped off the doors, picked out her best dress, went and bought flowers to adorn her with, and tidied up and write his daughter one last letter of how things went. In the process of writing the pigeon showed up. I do believe this distraction had two purposes. Firstly, I think the pigeon represented life that he could hold next to his heart, and secondly, he set it free as he stated in the letter it was symbolic of all he had gone thru and that he was letting go…moving on.
She and her father are in the living room talking about her life. There are warm, rich colors in the furniture, clothing, and lighting. The walls are covered with bookshelves and pictures. Finally, Eva asks about her mother, and we learn Anne has had an operation for a blocked artery, and it failed. More strokes can be expected, and she will get progressively worse.
Some meaningful lines from both George and Eva follow. But when I came here a short while ago, I suddenly remembered how I always used to listen to the two of you making love when I was little. For me, at the time, it was reassuring. George is talking about the closeness of their marriage, and Eva conveys how her parents love provided a sense of security.
There is a cut to sometime in the future as the apartment door opens. Again we, the viewers, are inside the apartment, greeting them as George enters followed by a paramedic who wheels Anne in a wheelchair.
George is very unsettled and not sure how to act. After they settle in the living room, Anne makes George promise that he will never taker her back to the hospital. There is no discussion allowed. This is her wish, and he is to follow it. After helping Anne into bed, George hovers over her, unsure of what else he can do to help. The bedroom has shades of yellow and a warm glow. Light comes primarily from table lamps, creating shadows. Anne is obviously worried about George and tries to reassure him that she can do things for herself.
She is suppressing her fear of what is to come the best she can. By now the director has used the placement of the camera, close-up shots, and warm lighting and colors to make the viewer feel comfortably at home and use their point of view to be an integral part of the story. One slowly realizes why the shots of people coming into the apartment are always from the inside.
I do not believe that is the case. Rather, I believe the entire movie is shot from the point of view of the apartment itself. The one scene that convinces me of the latter is the last scene when Eva returns to the apartment after both of her parents are dead.
The camera is still inside and follows her around as she walks through the apartment. She calls for him to come in, and she is seen on the toilet with her panties below her knees. He helps her stand and then pulls her panties up for her, just like one would do for a toddler. This is a medium-long shot so that the viewer is not intrusive but present. It evokes sadness, pity, and the fear that we could end up that way.
The next day, they are sitting at the kitchen table, and George tells Anne a story describing what is discussed in this book. It is about a time when he was young and went to a movie alone. Leaving the movie theater, George found himself to be very emotional, but he was fine by the time he got home. A short time later, he recounted the film to a neighbor and became even more emotional than when he was leaving the theater.
What he described was that as we relax and let ourselves absorb what we have seen, the more a film will have meaning for us. However, I do not believe that is why this story was in this film.
Rather, it was a way for George to describe how his emotions were playing upon him in the present without directly admitting it. George looks older and older. His skin begins to wrinkle even more, then starts appearing shriveled. He begins to look nearly as gaunt as Anne, because he, too, is slowly fading.
Accompanying this, the lighting of the scenes initially darkens slowly, and then it becomes brighter, but harsher and colder. The characters faces become almost devoid of color.
When Anne is unable to speak, she communicates with her eyes, and George starts responding in a like manner. The audience has no trouble understanding the communication and can identify with both of them. All of this is quite effective in carrying the viewer through the time span.
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