OSCARS 2024: Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Being an industry award show run primarily by people in the United States, the Academy Awards naturally tend to favor English language films. The number of times a film not in the English language has been nominated for Best Picture, much less won, is rare. Even though, the very serious film critic types tend to highlight movies from all over the year, when talking about the year's best. However, maybe things have been getting a little better in that regard.  “Parasite” sweeping the top categories a few years back might've been a game-changer, in retrospect. This year, “Anatomy of a Fall” has picked up several nominations in top categories. It's a French film, starring a German actress, in a mixture of English and French. That's a win for multi-nationalism, I'd say. 

Sandra Voyter gives an interview at her isolated cabin home but has to cut it short when her husband begins to blare music upstairs. The couple's blind son, Daniel, takes his dog Snoop, out for a walk. When he returns, he discovers that his father, Samuel, is dead on the snow beneath the house. Immediately, authorities begin to suspect that Sandra murdered her husband, pushing him from the guardrail to his death. She maintains her innocence, insisting that Samuel was suicide and killed himself. Soon, the case goes to trial and becomes a high-profile news story. The evident is stacked against Sandra by an aggressive prosecutor, forcing her son to come to his own conclusion about what happened.

“Anatomy of a Fall” belongs to the very respectable genre of the courtroom drama. This is a style of story that is linked very closely to the murder mystery, in terms of structure and pay-off. In both styles of story, we are presented with a dilemma, evidence, and a number of suspects. “Anatomy of a Fall” is special in that there's only ever one real suspect, Sandra herself. The audience's interaction with the narrative arises out of deciding whether she did it or not. This puts us in the exact same place as the jury, watching compelling evidence for both sides being laid down and forced to draw our own conclusions from what we've learned. Within this structure, “Anatomy of a Fall” is immediately compelling and keeps you hooked throughout. Each new reveal draws you in deeper, causing its two hour and thirty minute runtime to sail by.

Director Justine Triet and her co-writer Arthur Harari didn't just set out to write a persuasive court room thriller though. “Anatomy of a Fall” is ultimately about the subjectivity of truth. Throughout the film, the prosecutor and Samuel's psychologist present the image of a man with everything to live for and a venomous wife. Yet, every peek we get at Sandra's perspective of events, we see Samuel as a bitter and broken man. From certain points of view, both of these things are true. The truth is, in this case and in reality at large, objective fact can only take us so far. Some things exist as uncertainties. The version of Sandra and Samuel that exist in each other's heads were, in some ways, just as real as any other. Ultimately, “Anatomy of a Fall” comes to the conclusion that we must all choose our understanding of the truth, our own version of reality, and go from there. Because what other choice do we have?

There are other layers here as well. Unavoidably, gender comes into play. Sandra isn't just a woman but a bisexual one. She's had affairs with women in the past, something which greatly wounded Samuel. The prosecutor is brutal, tearing Sandra down on the stand and trying to create the image of her as a castrating bitch, who stole from her husband and plotted his murder far in advance. Would he be treated her this way if she was a man? Or even a strictly straight woman? One of the few times “Anatomy of a Fall” breaks its commitment to subjective reality is when it gives us a look at a terrible argument the couple had the day before the death. This makes “Anatomy of the Fall” one of the most brutal games of he said/she said that I've seen in film. The fragile egos of men and the pressures women live under all play a role in how they act, how they see things, and how their individual realities exist. 

All of its fascinating ideas aside, “Anatomy of a Fall” is just a fantastically assembled motion picture. Simon Beaufils' cinematography manages to combine visual tricks like handheld footage or smooth tracking shots with more intimate shots, that emphasizes the characters and their places within the buildings and rooms. Laurent Sénéchal's editing strings the film together elegantly, making every cut count. Sandra Hüller gives a performance so realistic, you can hardly believe she's acting sometimes. She seems like a real person, thrust into this unenviable position. Yet, when asked to really give it her all and belt it out, Hüller is simply thunderous. Milo Machado-Graner is heart-breaking as poor Daniel, who looses his dad and looses his innocence in a much wider sense. Messi the dog, as Daniel's seeing-eye dog Snoop, also has to give one of the best canine performances I've ever seen. 

The question everyone is asking after seeing “Anatomy of a Fall” is: Did she do it? That's even the film's English tagline. I do believe the movie presents as much evidence as possible for either case to be true. However, one scene I think does maybe push my opinion in a particular direction. And that's when Sandra seemingly attempts to seduce her lawyer, a moment that suggests she's really invested in being proven innocence. Yet, I suppose, even that scene is up to interpretation. Being able to generate discussion and debate is a sign of a great film. “Anatomy of a Fall” isn't just a flawlessly executed genre exercise but also a movie with so much more on its mind, grappling with heady ideas within a very accessible format. [9/10]