This is the back of him (Jean-Louis Trintignant) staring at his wife (Emmanuelle Riva). He can't believe she's not comprehending anything. They've been happily married forever in this elegant but wrenching film about the end of a highly cultivated Paris couple.
These actors in their 80's have been successful since he was in A Man and a Woman (1966), and she was in "Hiroshima Mon Amour"(1959). As she deteriorates, they both--with great refinement--chew the scenery. It's hard to imagine that younger actors could do half this job.
She plays a retired piano teacher, and at one point a former student, a handsome young career artist, visits their intellectual Paris apartment to play for her. Best-kept secret: the actor's name is Alexandre Tharaud, and a few weeks ago, he played a lovely recital at Weill Hall, which I'm glad I tore down to hear, because I have found no mention anywhere of the connection between him and the film. (That includes a highly favorable performance review in the Times.)
While he was signing his CD (Le boeuf sur le toit--Swinging Paris on Virgin Classics) afterward, I asked his manager how a pianist gets an acting part. She said Michael Haneke, the award-winning (as is this film) German director, had made calls to audition, which Tharaud had done. He was evidently handsomer and more skilled than anyone else. (That's what he is--a pianist.) Nice pick.
So, the film wife has a stroke, followed by a botched operation, and downhill she goes, brilliantly, as her panic-stricken husband tries to cope--with his fears and her deterioration. The acting is so skilled that it's beyond acting. And every detail of decor and other characters and interactions has been carefully noted. The movie's horror and honesty is what makes it so good, and so tough to take. You watch it and head straight off to sign a living will.
I think that much of Amour may be on You Tube.