L'Amour à mort
1984 Drama / Romance   
 
  • Director: Alain Resnais
  • Script: Jean Gruault
  • Photo: Sacha Vierny
  • Music: Hans Werner Henze
  • Cast: Sabine Azéma (Elisabeth Sutter), Fanny Ardant (Judith Martignac), Pierre Arditi (Simon Roche), André Dussollier (Jérôme Martignac), Jean Dasté (Dr. Rozier), Geneviève Mnich (Anne Jourdet), Jean-Claude Weibel (Le spécialiste), Louis Castel (Michel Garenne), Françoise Rigal (Juliette Dotax), Françoise Morhange (Mme Vigne), Jean Champion (Voice), Yvette Etiévant (Voice), Bernard Malaterre (Voice)
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Runtime: 92 min
  • Aka: Love Unto Death
 
 
 
Summary
During an archaeological survey, Simon meets and falls in love with Elisabeth.  They share a few months of passionate love before Simon has a seizure and is proclaimed dead by his doctor.  Miraculously, Simon is revived but he is changed by his near-death experience.  Elizabeth is terrified of losing Simon for good, but Simon refuses to have any medical examinations.   She seeks the support of her friends, Judith and Jérôme, both pastors, but they are unable to share her anguish and cannot understand the nature of her love for Simon…

Review
Whilst not in the league of Resnais’ earlier cinematic achievements, L’Amour à mort offers a solemn and unusual meditation on the relationship between love and death.  The intense performances from the four lead actors (Resnais’ dream team Arditi, Ardant, Dussollier and Azéma from the director’s preceding film La vie est un roman) is perhaps the film’s strongest selling point.

The film is far less satisfying than most of Resnais’ other films, although it does offer a distinctly unsettling experience.  Unfortunately the somewhat abstract narrative, laden with trite references to scripture and the paranormal, punctuated by inexplicable musical interludes with images of black space, makes this a heavy and somewhat inaccessible film.

© James Travers 2002


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