Amour Fou

Name: Amour Fou
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: March 18, 2015
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 69

2015

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Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Film Movement | Release Date: March 18, 2015 | Not Rated

Summary: Berlin, the Romantic Era. Young poet Heinrich wishes to conquer the inevitability of death through love, yet is unable to convince his skeptical cousin Marie to join him in a suicide pact. It is whilst coming to terms with this refusal, ineffably distressed by his cousin's insensitivity to the depth of his feelings, that Heinrich meetsBerlin, the Romantic Era. Young poet Heinrich wishes to conquer the inevitability of death through love, yet is unable to convince his skeptical cousin Marie to join him in a suicide pact. It is whilst coming to terms with this refusal, ineffably distressed by his cousin's insensitivity to the depth of his feelings, that Heinrich meets Henriette, the wife of a business acquaintance. Heinrich's subsequent offer to the beguiling young woman at first holds scant appeal, that is until Henriette discovers she is suffering from a terminal illness.… Expand

Director: Jessica Hausner

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 96 min

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Critic Reviews

100

RogerEbert.com Scout Tafoya

Mar 20, 2015

Amour fou, has gone some of the way towards correcting the historical imbalance of interest in the suicide pact. She’s taken liberties with the facts of the case for dramatic effect, but also because two centuries is a long time to go without someone wondering whether Vogel being shot point blank in the chest was entirely consensual. Read full review

James Lattimer

Mar 15, 2015

Jessica Hausner is less interested in historical revisionism than mining this real-life tragedy for its existential thrust. Read full review

A.A. Dowd

Mar 17, 2015

The artificiality is funny but also thematically resonant: This is a film about fake feelings, the invented romance for which two strangers forfeited their futures. And to Hausner, such a colossal waste of potential deserves not a melodramatic tribute, but the cinematic equivalent of an eye-roll. Read full review

The Playlist Nikola Grozdanovic

Mar 17, 2015

What makes Amour Fou a fascinating, if at times frustratingly idle experience, is that it seems to be saying so much with its upfront style, injections of black humor, and focus on stifled feminine disposition, yet still feels disappointingly unresponsive when mulling it over in your head. Read full review

Sara Stewart

Mar 18, 2015

The very German lack of emotion is so acute it can be hard to tell when Hausner’s playing for laughs, but Friedel is hilariously — if morbidly — tedious as the tortured writer whose pickup line is, “Would you care to die with me?” Read full review

Manohla Dargis

Mar 17, 2015

it can be a strategically off-putting movie yet one that also steals under your skin scene by scene and through Ms. Schnoeink’s slowly revealing performance as an ill-fated heroine turned future biographical footnote. Read full review

Mike D'Angelo

Mar 17, 2015

Hausner’s previous feature, Lourdes, was sometimes frustratingly opaque, but at least it had a discernible pulse. Here, she seems more interested in period décor and symmetrical compositions than in Kleist, Vogel, or any of the ideas they espouse and/or embody. Her impressive formalism is hollow. Read full review

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User Reviews

John935

Jun 19, 2016

I laughed out loud watching this at home, although I wouldn't have dared to in an American art house cinema. Morbidly funny with a 'tragic' side too, it all takes place in 1811 and viewers should expect slow pacing and a theatrical style. Definitely not for everyone but watch the trailer andI laughed out loud watching this at home, although I wouldn't have dared to in an American art house cinema. Morbidly funny with a 'tragic' side too, it all takes place in 1811 and viewers should expect slow pacing and a theatrical style. Definitely not for everyone but watch the trailer and decide. Every bit as funny as it is arty.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DotTheEyes

Dec 13, 2015

In turn despairing and droll, this partly fictionalized and highly austere biopic depicts the final months in the life of revered German Romantic writer Heinrich von Kleist (Christian Friedel) and Henriette Vogel (Birte Schnöink), the ailing housewife he convinced to join him in a suicideIn turn despairing and droll, this partly fictionalized and highly austere biopic depicts the final months in the life of revered German Romantic writer Heinrich von Kleist (Christian Friedel) and Henriette Vogel (Birte Schnöink), the ailing housewife he convinced to join him in a suicide pact. In its own extremely particular way, the film amuses as Heinrich roams aristocratic drawing rooms and dryly inquires of various women, "Would you care to die with me?," but it is also in touch with Henriette's sense of domestic isolation and the doomed absurdity of Heinrich as he tries to reconcile reality with his vision of artistic and romantic purity. There is an interesting-if-academic debate on the story's periphery regarding Germany's adoption of socioeconomic concepts from post-revolution France in the early 19th century, and the film is gorgeous to behold with its so-precise-as-to-be-mathematical tableaux.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

LowbrowCinema

Mar 23, 2015

Meticulously directed by Jessica Hausner, AMOUR FOU should not be confused with the many French films called L'AMOUR FOU. This story of poet/playwright Heinrich von Klest and his desire for an amorous double suicide in 1810 is amazing to look at and experience. Wonderfully acted and quiteMeticulously directed by Jessica Hausner, AMOUR FOU should not be confused with the many French films called L'AMOUR FOU. This story of poet/playwright Heinrich von Klest and his desire for an amorous double suicide in 1810 is amazing to look at and experience. Wonderfully acted and quite bizarre--a German story told by Austrians will always have a wit and crazy sophistication no German could dream of. Despite all this, AMOUR FOU simply doesn't jell. Once again, a talented filmmaker shot down by lack of focus and too many ideas. I kept asking, "What does this romance have to do with Prussian social change?" which actually takes up more screen time than the double suicide but to little avail. But there is brilliance here such as a scene when von Kleist once again pursues a singer to be his love in the double suicide. All in a totally whacky scene that seems downright pompous and, dare I say it, normal. And bravo once again to the dogs in this film which nearly steal the show!… Expand

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