The always provocative and transgressive Gaspar Noé seems to have taken a radical turn in his style. He continues to experiment with cinematographic language, like that split screen with which he has played in ‘Lux Æterna’, but in ‘Vortex’ we see a more mature and restrained filmmaker -very rare in him- to give a tender and painful portrait of love in old age and during the harsh process of neurodegenerative disease.
But the more contained and calm appearance is more superficial than anything else, and at certain points it goes dragging the story to one of his anguished nightmares trademarks of the house. That particular move, which shows maturity but also classic irreverence, is another point of comparison with another francophone film with which it was going to be compared yes or yes given the premise. This is ‘Love’, a masterful film that we can see on HBO Max (in addition to Filmin and Movistar +).
In health and illness
Unfortunately for Noah, the comparison couldn’t hurt him any more. Apart from the fact that her film has some problems in fully marrying its visual artifice and her story, ‘Love’ is one of those films that became an essential classic almost from the first moment it was seen. One of the best films of this century, which seemed to hide a calm work of maturity by Michael Haneke, but returned to completely destroy us and leave us with less faith in humanity than we started.
The film follows a French couple in their eighties, Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), happily retired after a lifetime dedicated to teaching music. They live very comfortably, in a fabulous apartment in Paris, with several students who have managed to prosper in the orchestral circuit and a daughter (Isabelle Huppert) who also prospers in the family business, although she has marital problems.
Everything is practically idyllic until tragedy strikes unexpectedly. Anne suffers a stroke, a sudden interruption of the blood supply to the area of the brain, and she is paralyzed. The consequences of her are overwhelming, since she not only has difficulties with movement, but also cognitively she gradually fades due to dementia. A very hard test for the love that nurtured this marriage and also to the family.
‘Love’: impotence and frustration
It could be said that Haneke likes to wallow in pain and misery too much, but really his portrait is much more complex than that. There is a lot of helplessness and frustration on the part of this father, not only trying to take care of his wife when he himself is no longer physically and mentally fit, but also dealing with his daughter. And, despite the constant pain that becomes part of the routine, there is still a motivation that seems to be driven by what we call love.
A love that is not maudlin, that is developed and complex. For this reason, some of the most devastating things we see in the film are as shocking as they are morally ambiguous. And they lead you to personal questioning. What would you do in such a situation? The way Haneke navigates all of that is, as well as deeply depressing, exquisite. Without giving up the nihilism of strong punch from him, he gets a really intimate and excellent film.