Exceptional quartet for Michael Haneke’s new composition

Winner of three awards at Cannes, including a Palm d'Or, Michael Haneke presents his seventh film in the Official Selection: Love. A rare theme in his work, played by an unprecedented cinematic pairing: Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva.

Contrary to the rumours, which were probably inspired by the darkness of Michael Haneke's work, the film's title should be taken as seen. Love is indeed the subject of the twelfth film by the Austrian director. A love that unites a couple of retired music teachers, who are brutally tested when Anne, the wife and one half of the couple, suffers a stroke.

To interpret this dire situation, which is also a reflection on the violence of old age and illness, Michael Haneke cast two French actors, intimately intertwined with the history of cinema. Emmanuelle Riva was the unforgettable leading female role in Hiroshima Mon Amour by Alain Resnais and in Therese Desqueyroux by Georges Franju, for which Claude Miller has just completed his new adaptation. As for Jean-Louis Trintignant, absent from our screens since Janis and John by Samuel Benchetrit in 2002, he made his mark with his very distinctive voice in major films such as …And God Created Woman, A Man and A Woman, The Conformist, La Terrazza, Three Colours: Red and Z, which earned him the Best Actor award at Cannes in 1969.

In addition to Isabelle Huppert (the couple's daughter), who is here working with director Michael Haneke for the third time, the film also features the pianist Alexandre Tharaud, who appears here for the first time in film (as a former student of Anne) and himself plays works by Schubert, Beethoven and Bach. This was one way for Michael Haneke, who dreamed of becoming a conductor or composer, to express his love for classical music.

B. de M.

The film will be screened in the Grand Théâtre Lumière, on Sunday 20th May, at 8:30, 15:00 and 19:30.