Though its out on DVD at the end of the month, you might want to seek out this gem during its limited theatrical run over the next few weeks and soak in the experience on the big screen. A 2010 festival favourite, Amer is a throwback/homage to the Italian Giallo genre, a curious and distinct type of 60s/70s murder/mystery inspired by the crime fiction literature that emerged in the late 20s (the word Giallo (yellow) refers to the colour of the crime paperbacks).
Told in three parts, Amer focuses on Ana, first a young girl with a morbid fascination with her grandfathers corpse, second, a burgeoning beauty at the dawn of her sexual awakening, and finally, an adult who returns to her childhood home where her fascination with sex and death first began.
Fans of Dario Argento and Mario Bava will know what to expect; a strange, dream-like and sometimes surreal horror of sorts, brimming with eroticism and violence. But Amer isnt merely an Argento/Bava imitator, and certainly, Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzanis film doesnt strictly play by the Giallo rules, going beyond the usual black-gloved killer premise and delivering a more experimental and arthouse horror, placing the aesthetics above plot and story.
An overwhelming banquet for the senses, Amer is a film awash in highly stylised and abstract visuals and a heightened soundtrack consisting of ticking clocks, teeth grinding and a magnificent score utilising recycled movie soundtracks by the likes of Ennio Morricone. An uncompromising mood piece, Amer is a sensory overload of psychoanalytical symbols and images (and mostly dialogue-free), which gives the film a rather academic and emotionless feel, and certainly, the films general lack of human emotion will ultimately leave you feeling unmoved. But, for pure style and audio/visual panache, Amer is an unequivocal triumph; a mesmerising, hypnotic and stunningly beautiful 90 minutes of film.
Overall Verdict: A beautifully stylised concoction of sex and violence straight out of the mind of Freud. Not everyones cup of tea, but undeniably gorgeous from start to finish.
Reviewer: Lee Griffiths