Depiction of love in old age takes top prize as best film

NEW YORK – Reuters

The National Society of Film Critics have selected ‘Amour’ as the best film. AP Photo

“Amour,” European director Michael Haneke’s sensitive depiction of an aging couple’s battle with declining health, was named the year’s best film by the National Society of Film Critics on Jan. 5, with star Emmanuelle Riva winning best actress and Haneke taking the prize for best director.

The group, made up of 60 prominent movie critics from newspapers, magazines and other media outlets nationwide, chose Daniel Day-Lewis as best actor for his acclaimed performance in the title role
in “Lincoln.”

Best supporting actor went to Matthew McConaughey for the male stripper film “Magic Mike,” while Amy Adams won best supporting actress for “The Master.”

In choosing “Amour” for its top prize, the critics were more in line with European honors such as the Cannes Film Festival which awarded it the Palme D’Or, than with earlier U.S. awards, many of which went to presumed Oscar frontrunner “Zero Dark Thirty.”

France’s mosr revered actors

In the film, Riva plays a woman who suffers a stroke, challenging her and her husband, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, who becomes her caretaker. Isabelle Huppert plays the couple’s daughter.

The stars are among France’s most revered actors, while German-born Haneke has been honored for many previous films such as “The White Ribbon” and “The Piano Teacher,” with a canon that often hews more towards the bleak, brutal and disturbing than the overtly sensitive.