Amour
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 159 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 133 out of 159
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 159
  3. Negative: 15 out of 159

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  1. mrnice
    Aug 25, 2013
    9
    Normally I'd rate 9/10 for a really amazing film. This one understated and does not try to impress or act for you. It just is. And the thing that is in this film is something very very close to 'real'. The story of old age is important since Europe is facing some decades of 'more elderly than young people'. There will probably be lots of (similar to) these stories around Europe in the coming times. I could give the film anything from 5 to 10. But since it's original, perfectly crafted, heartfelt, sympathetic, it's a rare thing, a rare thing that can remind us and teach us something we should not (imagine to) flee from.… Expand
  2. Nesbitt10
    Aug 21, 2013
    9
    This beautifully-handled, deeply devastating work is all about the most human issue of all: inevitably and collectively, we're all food for worms. Won an Oscar in 2013 for Best Foreign Language Film of the year.
  3. sebastian1
    Aug 4, 2013
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I really loved this movie, it was a feeling explosion; there is nothing wrong in this movie; i felt the pain that expressed the old woman, but at the same time i saw the love between both of them. I recommend you to see this movie.… Expand
  4. UtopianStuff
    Jul 3, 2013
    10
    The story is so masterfully told, it's not even funny. It's heartbreaking, depressing, beautiful and lovely. It's told in the most stylish of ways and it's just masterful. Its beautifully crafted, and radiantly acted.
  5. AliBenzekri
    Jun 18, 2013
    10
    This is Perfection Heartbreaking story about love
    Haneke is a genius his work is Masterful and poignant Trintignant and Riva were out of this world what a performances a stunning work
    Words cannot describe my passion about this Masterpiece you must watch it to feel the intensity os this magnificent and sad story
  6. Pucifer
    Jun 2, 2013
    10
    In a year when two of the most critically acclaimed films were revisionist propaganda (lies) produced by the CIA, it is reassuring that at least some filmmakers are still dedicated to telling the truth. There isn't a false note in "Amour." It's not an easy film to watch, but at least it is an honest one.
  7. lahaine2012
    Apr 10, 2013
    9
    Amour was an incredibly moving love story, from the masterful Michael Haneke. Its hard to imagine that a film about two geriatric lovers, told almost entirely in an apartment could be so enthralling. But it was! This is piece of art may easily bore some and its surely not for everyone, but it is very easy to appreciate it for what it is and what it delivers. On that note Emmanuel Riva gave a fantastic performance, as well as Jean-Louis Trintignant. Filmed with simplicity, Amour was a very dense film that challenges its viewers in every way.… Expand
  8. dizzy103
    Mar 19, 2013
    9
    This is an outstandingly moving film, drawing on the insatiable taboo of mental health. The acting is sharp, clever and, above all, very convincing. Without question clutching at the heart strings, this frightfully stark and expressive film will leave even the hardest of minds in a pensive mood, at the very least.
  9. TheWalrus2000
    Mar 11, 2013
    9
    In my opinion its not a best picture contender, but Amour still brings a very strong plot and a direction that wil go down in history as one of the best ever.
  10. thairocks88
    Feb 27, 2013
    10
    What makes Michael Haneke one of the greatest living filmmakers is that his films only get better! Amour's great visual storytelling, subtle dialogue, and graceful cinematography made this film a true artistic masterpiece! Haneke provides a real and articulate story that is not pretentious or preachy. While some may condemn "Amour" for being tedious and morally ambiguous, the greatest stories are not told with quick editing, fancy cinematography, and booms and bangs! The greatest stories are told with grace, subtlety, and love.… Expand
  11. charlieW24
    Feb 22, 2013
    9
    'Amour' is a tough one. On the one hand, 'Amour' is beautifully acted (particularly Emmanuelle Riva), impeccably directed, and wonderfully crafted and written. On the other hand, in terms of entertainment, its slow, it drags, and it's by no means an exciting topic. But, all of that is drowned out by 'Amour's' true beauty. Describing it in a few words? Devastatingly beautiful.
  12. orsonmcnab
    Feb 13, 2013
    10
    Amour is a formal masterpiece, which is not to say it isn't also a transporting cinematic experience. The characters are beautifully drawn and create empathy in the audience without resorting to banal cliches. Brilliant.
  13. fiabeg
    Feb 11, 2013
    10
    Georges and Anne love each other. However, the film director gives us a mixed-up message regarding their relationship. At the beginning of the film, when the couple is at the kitchen table, Georges sees that the sugar bowl is empty, complains to her and gets upset. Moments later he gets irritated with her when she does not understand something he is talking about. Then they start to argue. Days later, when she is sick and he tries to give her some water, she gets angry and reacts in an unexpected manner. Georges response to her is shocking. Is this the first time, or has he done it before? This couple loves each other in their own particular way. They are not physically affectionate, I don’t think they kiss during the whole movie, I could be wrong. They don’t have either a loving extended family. Georges caresses a pigeon to get the tenderness he does not have. Georges face expression does not change the whole movie. He has a permanent expression of concern and numbness. He is empty, he is not, in the true sense of the word, alive. He is simply performing the task that has been handed to him. The title of the movie is “Amour” (Love). However when you leave the movie theater the last feeling you have is a loving feeling. You feel numb, empty, like Georges. It is like he has come out from the screen and swallowed you and you have become part of him. I think that this is an outstanding achievement of the director of the film. To have the ability to put the audience in such a mood. I think a very important aspect of the movie is to make you feel what Georges is feeling. Everything is going slow, you are most of the time in the corner of one room or at the bedside, there is almost not furniture, it is kind of dark.… Expand
  14. nutterjr
    Feb 9, 2013
    10
    Old age is tough and takes a lot of strength to deal with. And when the time comes and the natural decline sets in, love will help guide the toughest path ahead. Haneke has created a number of exceptional thrillers but none so horrific as Amour, his true masterpiece.
  15. HaithamBayazeed
    Feb 8, 2013
    10
    The movie is boring, for some, because it is not for everyone, or all ages, the movie is highly disturbing, and interesting. it focuses on weak people, who can't handle an accident, although it is terrible, but LOVE of coarse, will connect everything, NOT IN THIS MOVIE!!
  16. GreatMartin
    Feb 6, 2013
    9
    In a perfect world Emmanuelle Riva would win the Oscar for Best Actress but then, in a perfect world, her co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant would at least have received a nomination for Best Actor and he didn’t. In “Amour”, the movie they costar in, they are not actors creating roles but real people you believe in, understand, feel for and identify with, no matter your age.

    “Amour” is a ma     is a mass of contradictions showing all sides of life and love and that neither life or love, or both, mean ‘happily ever after’. The film is a depressing one but, at the same time, shows you how two people can love each other without saying the words. We know how the movie will end because it starts with the police breaking into an apartment and finding Anne, (Emmanuelle Riva) dead in bed surrounded by flowers. After that the title is announced, the credits start and the next scene shows Anne and Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant), retired music teachers, at a concert given by a former student and then the following morning, when, at the breakfast table, she starts staring off into space and suffers a stroke caused by a blocked carotid artery .

    The screenplay by Michael Haneke, who also directed, tells the story from the male point of view when half of a devoted team becomes a caretaker and watches the partner he has loved for so long deteriorate. At first he tries to handle it alone but it becomes too much and he hires two nurses but finds one treating his wife like a baby and taking away her dignity so with much rage showing in his eyes and controlled voice he tells her to get out. Their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert) lives overseas, very much involved with tensions between her and her husband, and has drifted from her parents though she remembers walking in on them when she was young and they were having sex, making love and enjoying it closing out the rest of the world, including her.

    Watching Riva and Trintignant expressing love with touches, looks, smiles and memories makes you forget you are watching a movie with actors being told where to stand and what to say. You feel you are looking into a world very few couples ever experience and the consequences of life no matter how much you love someone.

    “Amour” is a very slow moving movie but every moment counts and you get so caught up with the couple there are two points that you will involuntarily gasp as the whole audience does and when the movie ends you want it to go on. The ending caused many controversies between moviegoers as they walked out of the auditorium.

    This is a special love story showing what can happen at the end rather than at the beginning of mating for life, for ‘better or worse’.

    A MUST SEE MOVIE--HOPEFULLY WILL WIN OSCAR FOR BEST FOREIGN MOVIE!    … Expand
  17. nathanroberts
    Jan 17, 2013
    10
    Ultimate cinematic perfection ! this film is the symbol of life and love. Not only is it beautifully crafted but the acting is impeccable highlighting the honest and true nature of the screenplay, in my eyes film can get no better .
    Haneke is the best director of 2012 and produced the best film too.
  18. cnrcnr
    Jan 14, 2013
    10
    Amour is a masterpiece! Hanake portrays love at its most beautiful and brutal. Some of the scenes are so distressing, yet stunning. The Art direction and cinematography are visually sensational! and the acting from Emmanuelle Riva, is next to non, one of the greatest performances I have seen! Best film of 2012 and is possibly my favourite film of the last 10 years.
  19. rafamatinho
    Dec 20, 2012
    10
    Is the most intense and powerful movie that I ever watched. Never someone touched a scar like this before, Haneke as usual, torture the viewers with his perspective of the world. It's also the best movie of the year.
  20. theahsanhaseeb
    Dec 20, 2012
    10
    Amour is a meticulous, demanding and a delicate psychological drama with a story and narrative beyond your imagination, it includes the elements of love, drama, and horror in a single storyline. The beginning is a mere proof that something is going to happen in the end, but how it would, and more importantly, WHY it would, reveals in the film through old memories, poetry and heart-warming conversations. A lot of people may not like this movie and think of it as garbage, which I know would happen but let me put it this way: Not everyone can understand the true meaning of this film. You have to understand what is going on, you have to think of the story from everyone… Collapse
  21. MarkAngel
    Dec 19, 2012
    10
    Arguably, the finest movie i've seen this year. Being as close to a masterpiece as a single movie can get, this uncompromising, gently quiet piece of art, masterfully purged from any form of sentimental glitch and kitsch, treats its audiences with unbelievable dignity and respect (which is so rare in the contemporary cinema), it poses the main questions and gives indefinite and countless frameworks for answering them. In the same time it tends to be "the ultimate horror movie". The repetitive disturbances and interruptions of the music which becomes it's leitmotif, the nightmares, the stares into the void, the pigeon and ultimately, its treatment of love and death in the context of George and Anne, make "Amour" even more disturbing then "The Seventh Continent".… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 44 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 44
  3. Negative: 0 out of 44
  1. New Orleans Times-Picayune
    Reviewed by: Mike Scott
    Feb 16, 2013
    80
    Amour is a far cry from the warm-and-fuzzy version of love that most people are probably looking for on Valentine's Day. This movie is more of a slap than a hug. But reality hurts sometimes - just like love does.
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  2. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    Feb 13, 2013
    88
    The superb Trintignant and the Oscar-nominated Riva – who would win, in a just world – embody once-vigorous people in inevitable decline. Yet as another critic has said, the film is sad without being depressing.
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  3. Tampa Bay Times
    Reviewed by: Steve Persall
    Feb 13, 2013
    100
    With Amour, it's the rare feeling of watching a masterpiece unfold.
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