Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Amour Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 22, 2013

Winner of Oscar Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Michael Haneke's "Amour" (2012) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; making of featurette; and Q&A session with director Michael Haneke. In French, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The couple

Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant, The Conformist, And Hope to Die) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Léon Morin, Priest) are in their 80s and living in a large apartment somewhere in Paris. They are retired music teachers who like to attend concerts and talk about classical music. They are still very much in love.

One day, the couple’s relationship is tested after Anne has a seizure of some sort while having breakfast with Georges. Concerned about Anne’s health, Georges immediately contacts their doctor, who confirms that she has had a stroke. Partially paralyzed, Anne begs Georges to promise that he will take care of her at home, because she does not want to spend her final days in a hospital. Rather reluctantly, Georges agrees.

Soon after, Georges and Anne are visited by their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert, Time of the Wolf), who is married to an Englishman and spends most of her time on the road. Eva offers to assist Georges, but he makes it clear to her that he and Anne do not want her to be in the middle of their relationship. At first Georges’ directness upsets Eva, but later on she agrees that he is right to ask her to respect their privacy and leaves.

Meanwhile, Anne’s condition deteriorates, and Georges is forced to hire a nurse to look after her. Anne’s desire to put an end to her misery, however, creates a great deal of tension between Georges and the nurse, as he incorrectly assumes that the nurse isn’t as careful with Anne as she should be. Visibly frustrated, Georges fires the nurse and proceeds to do as much as he can to assist the bed-bound and already unable to speak properly Anne.

Michael Haneke’s Amour, which won the prestigious Palme d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival last year, is an uncompromisingly honest, to the point of at times being cruel, film about love and dignity that should resonate with anyone who has had to see a loved one gradually lose his hold on life. The film is about those final moments when one has to cope with the realization that death is a natural part of life.

Despite some genuinely disturbing sequences where Haneke points the camera at Anne and shows her suffering, Amour isn’t a hyper-realistic film. The intent behind it is not to shock the viewer, but to give a sense of the inevitable - a type of experience virtually everyone will have to deal with at some point. This is done with a great deal of respect and kindness.

There are no stylistic surprises - camera movement is minimal while close-ups are often prolonged. Virtually the entire film also takes place inside the apartment where Georges and Anne have spent the majority of their life together. They are not always in front of the camera and silence often becomes quite heavy. As it is almost always the case with Haneke’s films, there isn’t a music score.

Trintignant, arguably the greatest French actor alive, is incredible as the reserved and respectful Georges. Haneke wrote Amour’s script for Trintignant, who came out of a 14-year retirement to play his part. Riva, a true legend, should have won an Oscar Award for her enormously moving performance.

Amour was lensed by cinematographer Darius Khondji, who also collaborated with Haneke on the English-language remake of Funny Games.

Amour Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Michael Haneke's Amour arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

The high-definition transfer is essentially identical to the one Artificial Eye used for their Blu-ray release of Amour in the United Kingdom. Shot with the Arri Alexa camera, the film has a crisp and very clean look. Where light is restricted some of the indoor footage could look a bit subdued, but depth and clarity are always excellent. Colors are lush, natural, and very stable. Compression is very good. Overall image stability is also outstanding. To sum it all up, this is an excellent presentation of Amour that should please folks in North America who have been waiting patently waiting to see the film on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Amour Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0. For the record, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has provided optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

Because Amour does not have a prominent music score, dynamic intensity is quite limited. However, depth and especially clarity are simply terrific. The dialog is always very stable, clean, and exceptionally easy to follow. For the record, there are no pops, audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent. (But it is not identical to that used on the Artificial Eye Blu-ray release).

Amour Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Amour. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

• Making of Amour - this featurette also appears on the Artificial Eye Blu-ray release of Amour. It contains raw footage from the pre-production process and the shooting of the film. Also included are clips from interviews with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, and Michael Haneke. In French and German, with imposed English subtitles. (25 min, 480/60i).

• Q&A with Director Michael Haneke - director Michael Haneke explains why he wanted Jean-Louis Trintignant to play the main character in his film (Mr. Haneke wrote the script specifically for the French actor), why so many of his films deal with fear, and discusses the importance personal impressions have for him as a director, etc. In English, not subtitled. (All answers are in German, but are translated in English). (39 min, 1080i).

Amour Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Michael Haneke's Amour comes to Blu-ray in North America rather late, but I think that folks who have been patiently waiting for a local release will be very pleased with Sony Pictures' technical presentation. In my opinion, this is one of the year's must-own Blu-ray releases. Do not miss it, folks. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.