Oscar Outlook 2012: Amour

Cannes was in love with Amour, Michael Haneke's latest film.  And he indeed was the toast of the preeminent film festival once again.  The story concerns a married couple (Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva) who are retired music teachers and the drama involves a stroke suffered by the wife.  Isabelle Huppert plays their daughter.  Haneke naturally utilized many of his usuals: sound editor Nadine Muse, editor Monika Willi.  Famed cinematographer Darius Khondji lensed the film in Paris the Winter of 2011 and worked with Haneke before on the Funny Games remake.  He was nominated for Evita and works closely with David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (coincidentally enough on Alien Resurrection, but not Alien3), and Woody Allen.  His work will be seen in Allen's upcoming To Rome with Love, as well as James Gray's Lowlife.  Costume designer Catherine Leterrier was recently recognized by the AMPAS for her work on Coco Before Chanel.  The production design crew includes Jean-Vincent Puzos, Thierry Poulet, and Haneke's wife of three decades Susanne.  Sony Picture Classic will probably release it this Fall in the US, with many international dates already set.  Most of the critics bestowed Amour with praise:

The Wrap/Awards Daily >> Groundbreaking tearjerker
Guardian >> "Filmmaking at the highest pitch of intelligence and insight"
Pajiba >> "A truly superb film"
The Independent >> Five stars, exceptional dialogue and performances
The Film Stage >> "Indescribable" and "heart-wrenching"
Indie Wire >> "Incredibly focused" and "emotionally charged," loved the performances
ICS Film >> Commendable performances in grim subject matter worth exploring
Variety >> A powerful "heart-breaker" for the older art-house set
MCN >> Acknowledges Haneke's bleak works, but suggests this is more optimistic
Rope of Silicon >> Painful to watch and found it was difficult to grade, but gave it an "A"
Irish Times >> "Extraordinary," Bergmaresque; minor quibble over the lack of realism in the messiness of dying
Hollywood Reporter >> Honest, difficult to watch story about dying.  Performances are amazing, but has doubts about its commercial prospects.
Doddle Me >> Liked wrestling with the irony of the director's pace in regards to the plot
Hypable >> Embraces the brutality of the subject matter, acknowledges its polarizing nature
Cynicritics >> Appreciated its simplicity, but only embraced it warmly.
First Showing >> Least favorite film of Cannes, would prefer to forget it

[Images via The Guardian, Altfg]

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Amour     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Killing Them Softly     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     The Paperboy     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Rust & Bone     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III