Plot Details for Haneke’s ‘These Two’

Earlier mentions of Michael Haneke’s These Two being a tad too close to Sarah Polley’s Away From Her can officially be put to rest. Essentially, both films focus on twilight years aged couples dealing with symptoms/consequences of growing old and subsequently coming to terms with it, but while Polley’s film works with degenerative disease text, Haneke’s film will strike his featured couple with a stroke – making a victim of not one, but two people. In other news, These Two will be shot in February and last for about 40 days, meaning we could see the film released by year’s end. Big question is: who will handle the score?

Gist: This centers on cultured octogenarians Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), who are retired music teachers. Their daughter (Isabelle Huppert), also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne suffers a minor stroke. When she leaves the hospital and returns home, she is paralysed down one side. The love that binds this old couple will really be put to the test.

Worth Noting: Unlike Haneke’s The White Ribbon, this production will be financed almost entirely by French coin.

Do We Care?: We finally learn what the strong musical element will be in this film and now I’m curious as to how the musical element will contribute to perhaps their union and healing process.