2012 Cannes Film Festival Predictions: Michael Haneke’s Amour

Gist: ‘The humiliation of the elderly’ is the original one-line mission statement for this one. Haneke cancelled the project in its early stages after he watched a Canadian film that he thought was too similar – presumably Sarah Polley’s Away From Her – but he quickly reworked the script to a point where it became it’s own thing enough to finally get made. Isabelle Huppert will have somewhat of a supporting role as the daughter of a man who suffers mightily after his wife is disabled by a stroke. Sure to not be a fun time at the movies, but should be wrenching and deeply affecting still.

Prediction: No need to predict, really: this will be in the Main Competition. All of his films since the original Funny Games – except for the American remake, natch – have premiered somewhere in Cannes, and this film has been ready to go for a while now, waiting for May to arrive. He finally won the Palme in 2009 for his previous film, The White Ribbon, so don’t put any steep bets on this one taking the top prize unless it is head-and-shoulders above everything else.