Michael Haneke (Funny Games) is known for difficult, cerebral films. But the Austrian director's latest which earned him the Palme d'Or at Cannes in May is a tender look at an octogenarian couple (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva) whose cozy life changes when the wife's health deteriorates. Rarely has aging been treated with such straightforwardness on screen. ''I don't know why that is,'' says Trintignant, 81, the star of classic films like The Conformist. ''You watch Westerns or gangster movies and you probably won't end up as a cowboy or a gangster. But most people are going to get old.''
