While I was impressed with the director's earlier works (White Ribbon), this movie to me did not deserve to win the best Foreign Film.
Okay, whatever that transpired in the events from start to finish, they may have been based on true accounts, but from what I saw, they are more voided of 'amour' which was the exact opposite of my expectations (even though the movie deliberately gave off a spoiler of the ending from the first 3 minutes of the movie).
What I see throughout the whole ordeal was selfishness.
Lets start of with the wife. The woman refused hospital treatment at the beginning was understandable. But when she knew later on the sacrifices her husband is doing on her behalf, if she loved him and her family enough, she should have reconsidered her decision before losing away all consciousness through a slow but degrading state of losing away one's mind. If she did consider those options somewhere along the way, the movie failed to show it. Now that is selfish.
Lets go to the husband. Now that is another selfish bastard. He may be a stubborn character judging from how he treats the nurses and his own family members who doubted his intentions. That is understandable. But, he knew he was as fragile as she was (what happens if he got into an accident? Or if he ended up in the same fate as her?) He knew he was not qualified to take up such challenges all by himself. And yet, he asked for the barest minimum of assistance from nurses (who are not part of the family, they may cause trouble) and neighbours who helped with minimum chores. Now is that love? Love should have prompted him to seek help from family members - if not, he should at least seek help from his close friends, which I am sure at least one of them encountered such situations and would be able to help him. Doing all of these things alone, is hardly a moral thing to do and hardly inspiring.
The daughter. She is also selfish. Based on her conversations with her father, it is clear that she was not taking it seriously. If I am in her place, and my dad refused to convey to me what was going on, I would ASK THE NEIGHBOURS, who knew their situation better than the daughter. i would ASK HIS FRIENDS. I would probe until I find out what was really wrong as soon as I suspected something about it. At the very least, if I cannot spare my own time to come over to the house, I should get myself involved in getting some really competent people (doctors, friends etc) instead of letting my own father HANDLE EVERYTHING. The movie had at the very least showed that the daughter did not care to consider or mention any of those options.
Now can you tell me, if this movie deserves such a title? Maybe so, if the purpose is to force us to ponder about what is right and wrong in such situations. To me, the director should have chosen a better title. Not every viewer have the level of maturity to understand the meaning of the movie especially with such a controversial title. While the more intelligent crowd may be in awe of this movie, I feel that he had been disrespectful to the mass audience...we expected more, and most of us have parents and are expected to take care of them when they are old. Now, Haneke, are you trying to give us amour? Or making us senile and confused?
Okay, whatever that transpired in the events from start to finish, they may have been based on true accounts, but from what I saw, they are more voided of 'amour' which was the exact opposite of my expectations (even though the movie deliberately gave off a spoiler of the ending from the first 3 minutes of the movie).
What I see throughout the whole ordeal was selfishness.
Lets start of with the wife. The woman refused hospital treatment at the beginning was understandable. But when she knew later on the sacrifices her husband is doing on her behalf, if she loved him and her family enough, she should have reconsidered her decision before losing away all consciousness through a slow but degrading state of losing away one's mind. If she did consider those options somewhere along the way, the movie failed to show it. Now that is selfish.
Lets go to the husband. Now that is another selfish bastard. He may be a stubborn character judging from how he treats the nurses and his own family members who doubted his intentions. That is understandable. But, he knew he was as fragile as she was (what happens if he got into an accident? Or if he ended up in the same fate as her?) He knew he was not qualified to take up such challenges all by himself. And yet, he asked for the barest minimum of assistance from nurses (who are not part of the family, they may cause trouble) and neighbours who helped with minimum chores. Now is that love? Love should have prompted him to seek help from family members - if not, he should at least seek help from his close friends, which I am sure at least one of them encountered such situations and would be able to help him. Doing all of these things alone, is hardly a moral thing to do and hardly inspiring.
The daughter. She is also selfish. Based on her conversations with her father, it is clear that she was not taking it seriously. If I am in her place, and my dad refused to convey to me what was going on, I would ASK THE NEIGHBOURS, who knew their situation better than the daughter. i would ASK HIS FRIENDS. I would probe until I find out what was really wrong as soon as I suspected something about it. At the very least, if I cannot spare my own time to come over to the house, I should get myself involved in getting some really competent people (doctors, friends etc) instead of letting my own father HANDLE EVERYTHING. The movie had at the very least showed that the daughter did not care to consider or mention any of those options.
Now can you tell me, if this movie deserves such a title? Maybe so, if the purpose is to force us to ponder about what is right and wrong in such situations. To me, the director should have chosen a better title. Not every viewer have the level of maturity to understand the meaning of the movie especially with such a controversial title. While the more intelligent crowd may be in awe of this movie, I feel that he had been disrespectful to the mass audience...we expected more, and most of us have parents and are expected to take care of them when they are old. Now, Haneke, are you trying to give us amour? Or making us senile and confused?