This year, one Oscar nomination had audiences buzzing. Amongst popular titles like “Argo” and “Silver Linings Playbook” a lesser-known French film emerged. “Amour” is the intimate story Anne and Georges, an elderly couple in the later stages of their lengthy marriage. The bond between them is quiet, resilient and warm, though one day Anne suffers a stroke, which leads them down a path that no one expects and everyone fears.

Actress Emmanuelle Riva portrays Anne, and she was rightfully nominated for Best Actress because of her performance. Even through her harrowing deterioration within the film, she emits incredible grace. While many movies track a happy path to a happy ending, Riva faced the challenge of carrying her audience along with her character on a steady physical and mental decline.

Despite the hardship Anne undergoes, Riva manages to mold a character that is truly beautiful inside and out; this is a difficult feat in today’s cinema. Because of the quiet nature of the movie, the details she enacts are unusually powerful. Riva imbues Anne with a characteristic kind of na’ÛÎÀve blink that is absolutely tender and masterfully done. These kinds of facets glow so brightly in a movie that is so internally and emotionally driven. The audience comes to know Anne on a remarkably intimate level.

In one scene, Anne sits at the kitchen table, flipping through old albums with her one hand that has not become paralyzed. As she turns the pages, the camera focuses in on the pictures themselves as Anne describes how beautiful life is. This scene is so characteristic of the warm and reflective nature of “Amour.” Its sparse dialogue is always completely purposeful. The audience is given the sense that there is nothing gratuitous added.

Actor Jean-Louis Trintignant portrays Anne’s loving husband, Georges. The chemistry he enacts with Riva is wonderful. There is no sense of sexual tension between the couple, but rather a slow and persistent love that is, ultimately, far more gratifying and heartbreaking. Trintignant exhibits a kind of tenderness that cements the couple and drives the film in a remarkably peaceful way despite its upsetting content. There are countless quiet moments that he drives to perfection, despite their lack of dialogue.

“Amour” is infused with a tremendous amount of symbolism, which has a usual potential to bog down a film completely and weigh too heavy to hold an audience. In this case, though, it is done impeccably. The movie steers away from melodrama completely, ensuring that its deeper implications affect the audience rather than overwhelm them. It is difficult to generate a symbolic film that operates well, but here it is perfected.

Though French is spoken throughout the entirety of the movie, it truly enhances the film, especially for those who do not know the language. It shrouds the film in a kind of mystery and also reminds its audiences that enduring love is vast and worldwide.

“Amour” is quiet and intimate but can hardly be described as slow moving. Its peaceful nature is absolutely haunting. It serves as proof that a film does not have to rely on heavy theatrics to form a journey that is momentous and poignant.

“One of the most endearing things about ‘Amour’ is the relationship,” said sophomore Andreas Tsironis. “It is one of the most realistic relationships I’ve ever seen in a movie. The characters’ love for one another is so unconditional and incredible.”

As its title suggests, “Amour” is a story of love. While this is an obvious theme in current cinema, here it is captured through an unconventional lens that refreshes the topic and grounds it in reality. It is popular to idealize love in cinema, though “Amour” represents one of the most romantic films to date despite its lack of gaudy grandeur. It is a thoroughly beautiful film that will simultaneously frighten and move its audience. It will cause them to fall in love with a new definition of the word.