Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall could be the Oscar darling of 2023. The film has received a lot of awards season buzz. While mainly shown in art house-type theaters, this tour de force has sustained a long theatrical run. Positive critic reviews and word-of-mouth conversations have helped the film tremendously and at the right time. A lock to be nominated for Best International Film, Anatomy of a Fall has a chance to receive nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress in a Lead Performance (Sandra Hüller), and Best Picture. Far from an earth-shattering film, or even one that you’ll think about much after your viewing, it is a worthwhile watch that will have your mind switching back and forth through its 150-minute run-time, anticipating how it might end.
The film had been on my radar for months before I finally watched it. A subtitled courtroom drama two and a half hours long isn’t my usual go-to when I think of films I need to see. The benefit of a home viewing and breaking it into chunks as necessary from the comforts of my couch seemed like a more conducive plan of action. Only it didn’t take breaking into chunks. I found the film to be riveting from beginning to end.
Hüller(The Zone of Interest, Toni Erdmann) stars as Sandra, a successful German writer (who is most comfortable speaking English) who lives in a secluded cabin in the French Alps with her husband, Samuel (Samuel Theis), and their blind 11-year-old son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner). The movie begins with Sandra being interviewed about her life as an accomplished author at home. In a not-so-ironic way, Sandra offers the idea that writers, by nature, can use the people around them as driving forces in their stories. Sandra and her interviewer loosen up and start to flirt a little bit during the conversation. That’s when the loud striking of an organ begins to blare from an upper floor. At first, the two women ignore it (with Sandra barely even addressing it) until it becomes too distracting. The interview soon ends.
French-speaking Samuel is also a writer, albeit one far less successful. Their relationship feels icy and terse, as you might expect from two spouses in a shared profession, with one having remarkably more success than the other. There is jealousy. There are arguments. There isn’t a sense of marital bliss. The seclusion from neighbors and townfolk, especially in their small cabin, during a blustery, cold winter brings an element of lack of alone time, not so much of claustrophobia. Daniel suffered an accident in the not-too-recent future that resulted in his loss of sight. Though we don’t know precisely all of the circumstances behind that tragedy, we do learn that there is tension and blame, some of which is spoken, a lot of which is not.
One day, upon returning home from walking his dog Snoop, Daniel discovers his father’s dead body in the snow, bloodied in the head from a cabin’s attic. What we don’t know is how this happened. Did he fall? Did Sandra push him out? Was there a third-party intruder? An investigation ensues, followed by a court case. There is mounting evidence that suggests that, among other things, blood-forced trauma to the head caused the death. With no witnesses and a lack of belief that Samuel would have jumped from the window on his own and not other suspects to consider, Sandra is deemed the primary suspect and
The film’s primary backdrop switches from the cabin to the courtroom after Susan is indicted for Samuel’s murder. She’s instructed to speak in French (the language most often spoken at the family home) rather than English, which she is far more comfortable speaking. There is a judge. There are jurors. There are lawyers. It starts to feel like a typical procedural drama, which isn’t necessarily bad when done correctly. Numerous twists and turns take us on paths we didn’t expect to travel. When we start to feel sure about where the film is going, Theis throws in another wench. While the fall in the film’s title and accompanying promotional poster suggests a physical fall, this is a metaphor for the fall in their marriage.
Was Samuel’s mental state so fragile that he would contemplate suicide? Is jumping from an attic the method that would most ensure that success? Or was there so much hostility between the couple that it turned violent, leading to the inevitable? Or did he just fall? Did Daniel have something to do with it? The lawyers peel off layer after layer, with the prosecution trying to paint Sandra as an angry, adulterous narcissist who blamed Samuel for their son’s accident. At the same time, the defense cites the lack of evidence against Sandra, as well as some of Samuel’s actions in the past that suggest he wasn’t always mentally stable. Left in the middle is Daniel, whose innocence is lost through the experience as he’s forced to hear the ugly sides of both his parents.
Anatomy of a Fall is a fascinating, well-crafted case study. The ambiguity from both parties and new facts from either side that come to light as the trial progresses provide the viewer opportunities for internal contemplation. Like many independent films, there isn’t a Tom Cruise “I want the truth” A Few Good Men component. At the same time, we don’t want there to be something so forceful in a film that has a much quieter build-up, which also allows us to see the human elements of a married couple in how they treat each other, as well as how they interact with their child who means so much to both of them.
Plot 10/10
Character Development 8/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 8.5/10
Screenplay 9.5/10
Directing 9.5/10
Cinematography 8/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 8.75/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10
88.25%
A-
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