Anatomy of a Fall | Review

INFORMATION:

Director: Justine Triet

Screenplay By: Justine Triet, Arthur Harari

Starring: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz

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Winner of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival's Palm d'Or, Anatomy of a Fall follows Sandra, Samuel, and their visually impaired son, Daniel, as they live in the remote French Alps just outside a small town. When Samuel is found dead, Sandra is accused and tried for murder, begging the question: Was it murder, or was it suicide?

On the surface, Justine Triet's award-winning film is a sharp, precise mystery and courtroom drama examining the anatomy of Samuel's fall and whether Sandra played an active role in his death. Yet, is this truly what Triet is interested in exploring and contending with in this film? No, within the film's first twenty minutes, Triet tells her audience exactly how to watch her film and what to focus on. In the scene, our German writer, Sandra, and her lawyer, Vincent, have a no-holds-barred conversation where Vincent shares the stark reality of the situation; given the evidence and the circumstances, Sandra is the prime suspect, proving an accident or a 3rd party's involvement will not be possible. What follows is only a sentence or two, but it speaks volumes.

SANDRA

Stop, stop. I did not kill him.

VINCENT

That's not the point. Really.

This quick yet telling moment tells us, the audience, this is not a film in the literal sense about examining Samuel's fall. It does not matter whether Sandra killed Samuel or not, and whether that question is actually ever answered is up for debate. Still, Triet expertly employs the courtroom procedural genre to her advantage, drawing her audience in, to tell the tragic story of the "fall" of the relationship and love that Sandra and Samuel shared.

In this sense, the trial dissects and unapologetically picks apart Sandra and Samuel's relationship piece by piece and without remorse. Thus, as the trial wages on, we learn more and more about the pair's lives together, their wants, needs, ambitions, resentments, and ultimately, how they got to this bitter breaking point, one derived from Daniel's tragic accident, which the couple, fundamentally, never recovered from. The trial is profoundly intrusive, uncomfortable, and hawkish; it feels gossipy and tabloid-esque; it feels like we shouldn't be a part of this. I am no expert in French law or court proceedings, but this aspect of the film felt very intentional and jarring. Outside of the blood spatter, the head wound, and the height of the fall, all items presented in court are speculation, weaponizing anything in the couple's years of being together.

In one of the performances of the year, Sandra Hüller, as Sandra, has life, her most intimate, embarrassing, and weak moments, laid bare in front of complete strangers who know nothing of her actual life and, worst of all, Daniel. In the most brutal, heart-wrenching scene, the entire court listens as Sandra and Samuel hit rock bottom; this is their fall. In an argument that eventually turns violent, the extent of which we will never know, the couple heatedly discuss any number of topics that have boiled over, from their sex lives, infidelity, work, and who sacrifices the most for Daniel, this scene is a raw portrait of how tragedy and guilt can poison and overcome us. It makes us think about how we as humans can be hypocritical and pass judgment on others even in the lowest, darkest, most vulnerable of times.

To drive the point home, Triet's direction often feels like we are following a salacious, scandalous true crime documentary to juxtapose with the real, human story at its heart. To do so, Triet switches to handheld cameras and heavily features on-the-scene news crews reporting on the events live.

Finally, in a beautifully acted, masterfully written, and directed scene, Daniel testifies once again. In this one scene, Daniel tells us exactly what should be front of mind. Maybe Sandra did murder Samuel, or maybe she didn't. What matters is the stark reality of family life and what parents sacrifice for their children. In one of the most exquisite, skillful, and delicate scenes, Daniel reminisces to the court of a time when Samuel was driving him home. During the drive, Samuel uses Daniel's seeing-eye dog, Snoop, to speak metaphorically about himself. Daniel speaks to the court about his father; he remembers his words,

'"Do you realize what his life is? He's not just your dog, he must understand what you want, he must predict your movements or what could put you in danger, he spends his life guessing everything you need, thinking about everything you do not see. Maybe he's tired of always taking care of others, maybe at some point he won't be able to take it anymore. He saw that it made me sad because I started to cry, but he continued anyway and I remember that at the end he said "When he has to leave, he will leave, and that's how it will be." Maybe you should prepare yourself. It will be hard but it won't be the end of your life."'

Now, even this incredible scene may make it seem definitive as to what really happened between Samuel and Sandra. Yet, maybe Daniel lied, deciding to save his mother versus staying quiet and condemning her to a life in prison. As Daniel testifies, Triet brings us into the conversation in the car. Here, Daniel's words are spoken by Samuel, possibly implying he is, in fact, lying. Marge even definitively told Daniel he MUST choose. At the end of the day, we may never know.

Triet's "Anatomy of a Fall" is one of the year's best, sticking with you long after begging you to dig deeper and engage with it.

Final Score: 8/10

"When we don't have all the elements to be sure of how something happened, we have to look around, that's what we're doing in this trial. And when we've looked everywhere and still don't know how something happened, we're forced to ask ourselves why it happened." - Daniel