Michael Haneke - Michael Haneke's 'Amour' Stuns Cannes Audiences

The film appears to have livened up a rain-soaked Cannes, and The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw awarded it five stars out of five, saying, "This is film-making at the highest pitch of intelligence and insight. Haneke's mastery and supremacy have resounded here in Cannes like an orchestral chord". Last year, Bradshaw gave the same score to Terrence Malick's 'The Tree of Life', which went on to scoop the Palme d'Or. The Hollywood Reporter was also complimentary of the film though warned, "Magnificent in its simplicity and its relentless honesty about old age, illness and dying, Michael Haneke's Amour is a deliberately torturous watch". Another five-star review came from the Irish Times, who said, "Amour does, however, belong to the director. It is saying something to argue that this is the most austere film yet from the great Austrian director".

Another movie premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this week was Brad Pitt's 'Killing Them Softly', which also scored positive reviews.