"Anatomy of a Fall" review — Palme d’Or-winner is a clinical examination of a marriage
“My job is to cover the tracks so that fiction can destroy reality.”
This film was featured on my Best Films of 2023 list.
Partway through Justine Triet’s marvellous Anatomy of a Fall, two characters sit at a piano and play, as a duet, Chopin’s “Prelude, Op. 28, No. 4.” Chopin’s haunting but brief prelude was one the pieces played at his funeral, with the piece often associated with death and despair thanks to its haunting descending melody line. The scene doesn’t last for very long and most probably won’t pick up on the choice of music (I didn’t know what the piece was until I had it pointed out to me), but it reflects the sort of delicacy and careful intention that Triet brings to this film — a film that feels like an ever-descending melody into a sense of despair. In many ways, Anatomy of a Fall seems to harken back to this Chopin piece. The prelude is mostly a set of repeating bass chords accompanied by a few melodic phrases in the treble clef. It’s not a technically complex piece, in fact, it’s quite simple, but its magic lies in the performance, the spacing between the chords, the breaths the performer adds between phrases, and the deliberate staggering of the notes. Anatomy of a Fall echoes the power of Chopin. It might be a straightforward courtroom procedural drama, but the film rockets into the leagues of the best films of the year. The film sizzles with slow-burn tension, cerebral ponderings into the nature and value of truth, and the harrowing dissection of a marriage on the edge of disaster.
Anatomy of a Fall, the latest from French writer/director Justine Triet and the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, is a cold, clever, and subtle thriller. I haven’t been the biggest fan of Triet’s work in the past, but this film is a massive leap in quality for the filmmaker. The script, written by Triet and Arthur Harari, is full of well-constructed characters and deliciously written courtroom escapades. The deliberate pacing of the scenes and editing build towards a surprising, thrilling conclusion as the world of the characters is torn apart. Sandra Hüller leads a staggering cast, full of dynamic, subtle performances. It’s a film that makes the viewer eager for the truth, which forces a contemplation of what truth even means.
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| Samuel Theis and Sandra Hüller in Anatomy of a Fall. Photo via Neon. |
The film begins in a snow-covered wood-built chalet on the outskirts of Grenoble, France, in the French Alps. Sandra Voyter (played by Sandra Hüller) is a German writer living with her French husband, Samuel (played by Samuel Theis), and son, Daniel (played by Milo Machado-Graner), seemingly isolated in the mountains of western France. We’re introduced to Samuel and Sandra’s relationship with a ferocious display of passive-aggressive violence. Sandra is being interviewed by a journalist, only for that interview to be cruelly interrupted by the blaring of an instrumental steel-drum-infused cover of 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.,” bringing the discussion to a halt. The rattling bass line blasts through the house, bringing a distinct sense of agitation to Sandra. The journalist leaves and so does Daniel, in order to escape the sounds of the music. Later that day, Samuel is found dead, lying prone on the snow, having fallen from the Chalet’s third-floor balcony. The police and crime scene investigators arrive and scour the house for clues. The question on everyone’s mind: did Sandra kill her husband?
The film intentionally leaves out the time in question. We never see Samuel plummet out of the window. Did he fall? Was he pushed? We’re left only to wonder. Most of the film’s plot takes place about a year later during Sandra’s trial, a process which digs into the weeds of Sandra and Samuel’s fragile relationship, strained by the accident that impaired their son’s vision and the fact that a linguistic and national barrier separates the two. The two speak in English, rather than either of their native languages, because it’s a middle ground. Sandra’s nationality also separates her from the proceedings of the courtroom. The symbolism of Anatomy of a Fall is certainly on the nose — the frozen cabin representing the isolation of the couple, the linguistic boundary impairing the couple’s ability to hear each other, Sandra’s nationality forcing her into the role of an outsider — but I’d rather see a film that feels a little obvious than one that puts no thought into the symbolism of the text.
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| Sandra Hüller in Anatomy of a Fall. Photo via Neon. |
Sandra Hüller carries the weight of the film on her back as Sandra Voyter, a role specifically crafted for the actress. Hüller is carefully reserved for most of the film’s run, keeping a calm face through the excruciating trial. Her emotional outbursts are small and specific, which is a strength of Hüller’s performance and the screenplay. But as the trial drags on, the cracks in Sandra’s persona and story begin to form. However, these cracks aren’t so much designed to create an air of mystery but rather to highlight the fundamental rifts in her marriage that led to its disastrous conclusion.
It takes Samuel quite some time before he actually enters the film. Despite his death being the instigator of the story, he’s not seen until quite a while into the trial through a few carefully placed flashbacks, recordings, and voice memos. During the entire opening scene where Samuel is still alive, he is conspicuously absent from the whole affair. Many of the characters involved in the trial — the lawyers and Samuel’s therapist — try to give Samuel a voice, but he is ultimately voiceless through the whole process. But when Samuel does arrive, in a flashback sequence that’s probably one of the film’s memorable moments, Thesis makes a strong impression. While the flashback seems to break Triet’s rule of not directly showing us anything about Samuel, Hüller and Theis are so compelling that it’s hard to fault Triet for the scene’s inclusion in the final cut.
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| Milo Machado-Graner in Anatomy of a Fall. Photo via Neon. |
As Anatomy of a Fall pushes on, Sandra confronts a score of hostile faces in the courtroom, from the prosecuting attorney (played by Antoine Reinartz) to various character witnesses and experts highlighting their opinions on what happened to Samuel, each picking into Sandra’s life in a different way. Triet’s staging of the affair gives it so much energy. The performances are expertly guided, the editing moves quickly but never overpowers the scene, and the camera movements are very careful and intricate. The most important person for Sandra in the court, however, is not the judge or jury, but her son, Daniel. Daniel has become central to Sandra and Samuel’s story, with his witness to the events of Samuel’s death being critical. But it’s more than just his testimony that Sandra is worried about, but is what her son will think of her after hearing her entire life exposed in public. He keeps the film narratively and thematically centred around familial dynamics, which also serves as a fantastic wedge between Sandra and Samuel.
Anatomy of a Fall is more interested in questions rather than answers. While the film takes time to detail moments of the investigation into Samuel’s death, the film isn’t a murder mystery. The film is primarily concerned with examining the fundamental flaws in a marriage and how tiny fractures lead to catastrophic outcomes. And the film leaves the viewer in a frustrating, difficult place. No matter the outcome of the trial, which I won’t spoil here, the reality is that we will never know for certain if Sandra is guilty. Even at its conclusion, the film will just provoke the viewer to more questions. Triet’s icy courtroom thriller will be bound to frustrate and entice. Hüller delivers a whirlwind performance bolstered by a fascinating narrative and excellent execution. Anatomy of a Fall moves like Chopin’s Prelude — still, fragile, and ready to excite.
Anatomy of a Fall is now playing in select theatres.
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