Date: January 2013
Release Year: 2012, Director: Michael Haneke, IMDB Link
When it comes to inflicting psychological suffering upon the audience, Haneke is clearly the master. That is why I was so surprised to find out the title of his new movie was “Love”. My first thought was, it is probably a movie about obsession and the dark side of human emotions. However the movie turned out to be offering much more than that. To me, this is a true masterpiece and his best work up to date.
Story wise this is a very minimal movie. It is a story about an elderly husband and his wife, and although we don’t see how they fell in love or how they lived a happy life together, just by looking at their relationship and their daily routines, it is clear that they are deeply in love and they exist as a single life form, rather than two separate human beings. Turning point of the movie is when the wife suffers a seizure and starts to become paralyzed slowly. Rest of the movie focuses on the relationship between the couple as the sickness progresses and the end draws near.
On the surface this is a very minimal and simple movie, but on the other hand it has tons of things to tell about love, sacrifice, obsession and pride. It constantly makes you question about the meaning of true love and where does the thin line between passion and suffering lies. Acting and directing is superb, this is one of the movies where you will be immersed within the film from beginning to end. To be honest, movie effected me so much, I could hardly leave my seat at the theater after it ended.
Definitive Scenes: Audience watching the audience, visit from the old student, catching the pigeon
Score: 9.5/10