Amour

This multi-prize-winner is actually a rather small picture, a two-character drama that takes place mostly inside a nicely appointed apartment in Paris. And if there’s a largeness of theme operating in that intimate setting, it too sounds rather daunting—the two characters are an elderly married couple, a pair of retired music teachers, with husband Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) tending to wife Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) in the aftermath of two strokes, the second of which brings rapidly advancing physical debilitation with it. Part of what is distinctive about Amour is that it deals with its grim subject matter in a manner that is both brutally frank and gentle and compassionate. Plus, as its title should remind us, Amour is also a love story, albeit one that is not conventionally “romantic.” Pageant Theatre. Rated PG-13.