April 20, 2024
end of life issues

Palme d’Or goes to euthanasia film

Michael Cook

Another meditation upon compassionate euthanasia is making headlines among film buffs. “Amour”, by the Austrian director Michael Haneke, won the Palme D’Or at Cannes this week.

For a link to the YouTube video, click here. 

Another meditation upon compassionate euthanasia is making headlines among film buffs. “Amour”, by the Austrian director Michael Haneke, won the Palme D’Or at Cannes this week. Starring the veteran actors Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, it tells the story of Georges and Riva, a couple of 80-year-old retired French music teachers. Riva has a stroke and gradually declines into helpless dementia to the dismay of her husband and daughter. The outcome is not difficult to guess.

Haneke’s films are austere to the point of misanthropy but he is one of the most admired directors in Europe at the moment. Critic Roger Porton, in The Daily Beast, explains that “one of Haneke’s major themes has been the struggle of modern, middle-class Europeans to live in a world where time-honored religious values have eroded. Some early reviews of Amour claim that George’s and Anne’s love for music is redemptive and serves as a surrogate for traditional religious belief.”

“Amour” will be released in the US in December. 

Michael Cook
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