Length: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
Age appropriateness: This movie is rated PG-13 in the United States. The story is fairly mature, and we recommend that teenagers watch this film with parental supervision. There is very brief nudity in a scene where the wife is being bathed.
Review: Amour has been acclaimed as one of the best, if not the best, film of the year. It is the deeply moving story of an elderly couple's struggles as the wife slips into dementia. From an educative perspective, Amour gives an accurate view of this disease of aging, and more particularly, the way that it affects families. The acting of Jean-Louis Trintignant as the husband and Emmanuelle Riva as the wife, both retired music teachers, is superb. But (spoiler alert) be aware that the ending is emotional, and may be controversial for some. We highly recommend this film for mature students in high school health and psychology classes studying aging. The film is in French with English subtitles. Click here to enlarge the film poster.
Creators and stars: Alexandre Tharaud, Carole Franck, Catherine Leterrier, Damien Jouillerot, Darius Khondji, Dinara Droukarova, Emmanuelle Riva, Guillaume Sciama, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Michel Monroc, Jean-Pierre Laforce, Jean-Vincent Puzos, Laurent Capelluto, Margaret Menegoz, Michael Haneke, Michael Katz, Monika Willi, Nadine Muse, Ramon Agirre, Rita Blanco, Stefan Arndt, Suzanne Schmidt, Veit Heiduschka, Walid Afkir, William Shimell
Awards: Palme d'Or at Cannes; Best Foreign Language Film (New York Film Critics Circle, National Board of Review, Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, New York Online Film Critics, Boston Society of Film Critics); Best Actress for Emmanuelle Riva (Los Angeles Film Critics, New York Online Film Critics, Boston Society of Film Critics); Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Actor at the 25th European Film Awards; Toronto International Film Festival, 2012; Telluride Film Festival, 2012; Austria's Official Selection for the 85th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film |
