Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

• Introduction by Philippe Rouyer (8:51 - forced English subs)

• The Making of Amour (25:46)

• Jean-Louis Trintignant talks about Amour (7:29)

• Trailer (1:56)

Bitrate:

 

Description: Focusing on the lives of an elderly couple and the strain their relationship undergoes after one of them suffers a mild stroke, AMOUR is one of the most powerfully moving, emotionally devastating pieces of cinema ever made. From one of, if not the greatest director working today MICHAEL HANEKE. Winner of the 2012 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

***

An octogenarian couple find their love put to the ultimate test when one of them suffers a stroke, and the other must assume the role of the caretaker in this compassionate yet unsentimental drama from director Michael Haneke. Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) are retired classical-music teachers savoring their golden years in a comfortable apartment when Anne experiences a stroke that leaves her partially paralyzed. As devoted Georges struggles with the formidable task of becoming Anne's full-time caretaker, a visit from their adult daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert) reaffirms just how secluded from society the highly educated couple have become since retiring

 

 

The Film:

A masterpiece about life, death and everything in between, Michael Haneke’s “Amour” takes a long, hard, tender look at an elderly French couple, Georges and Anne — played by two titans of French cinema, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva — in their final days. Set in contemporary Paris, it begins with the couple’s front door being breached by a group of firemen. One moves through the rooms, delicately raising a hand to his nose before throwing open several large windows. He may be trying to erase the smell that probably brought the firemen there in the first place and which has transformed this light, graceful, enviable apartment into a crypt.

Excerpt from Manohla Dargis at the NY Times located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Amour gets an impressive transfer to Blu-ray from Artificial Eye.  The 2-hour film is put to a dual-layered transfer and has a strong bitrate. Colors are pastel/passive looking very true and there is no noise in the darker sequences. The 1080P supports solid contrast exhibiting healthy, black levels supporting some keen detail in close-ups. There is some minor depth in the 1.85:1 frame.  It's pristinely clean showcasing some hi-def detail and there are really no flaws with the rendering. This Blu-ray probably looks like exactly the theatrical version of the film Amour. The disc offers an impressively authentic visual presentation.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amour has a most passive audio. It is transferred to the Blu-ray via a DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 1581 kbps. The film exports no depth and is almost exclusively dialogue driven with little requirement for separations - of which there are a scant couple of instances. The only music is some Schubert, Beethoven and Bach sounding subtle and magnificent via the lossless rendering. There are forced English subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

Extras :

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Great film. Wow. Haneke continues to overwhelm with his powerful cinema. Quite brilliant.  The Artificial Eye Blu-ray provides and excellent a/v presentation with very appreciated supplements. This is easy to put in the 'must-own' and 'don't hesitate' category for world cinema fans. We strongly recommend! 

Gary Tooze

March 4th, 2013

Sony, in the US, are coming out with their Blu-ray version in August 2013 here: