Year of Release: 2023
Director: Justine Triet
Starring: Sandra Huller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis, Jehnny Beth, Saadia Bentaieb, Camille Rutherford, Anne Rotger, Sophie Fillieres
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review
"Anatomie d'une Chute/Anatomy of a Fall" is one of the most awarded films of 2023. It has won numerous accolades including the Palm D'Or at Cannes, several Cesars, a BAFTA and an Academy Award. It's been a triumph for writer/director Justine Triet, following a series of well received films that flew somewhat under the radar. The film follows the story of Sandra Voyter, a novelist who lives with her husband and son in a chalet near Grenoble. We first witness her in the chalet, interacting with a student who comes for an interview that has to be rescheduled, since Sandra's husband starts playing music very loudly and on a loop, which makes conversation virtually impossible. Sandra's son, Daniel, has a visual impairment, and as the student leaves, he takes his guide dog Snoop for walk. As Daniel is coming back to the chalet, he notices a body lying on the floor and not moving. He realizes it's his dad and screams for his mom. The police is called and an investigation begins on what exactly has happened. Sandra maintains it must have been an accident. Sandra's old friend and lawyer, Vincent, hints at a possible suicide, which Sandra somewhat corroborates since Samuel her late husband, had stopped taking antidepressants a while back, and had attempted an overdose on aspirin a few months earlier. After conflicting testimonies from Daniel, the revelation of a head injury on Samuel, alongside a recording of an inflamed fight between Sandra and Samuel the day before the incident, leads to Sandra being indicted on charges of homicide.
One of the most remarkable things about "Anatomie d'une Chute/Anatomy of a Fall" is the fact that while the premise of who was responsible for the death of Samuel seems to be a driving force for the narrative, what is really intriguing about the whole feature is the fact the director takes us on a journey of unveiling who these characters actually are, what their relationships are based of, and that is in itself the base of this film, more so than the suspenseful aspect of who is the responsibly party for that dramatic event. The film is filled with interesting nuances and details that slowly reveal who Sandra is, and the type of relationship she and Samuel cultivated. These details that pepper the narrative make it that much richer, including the fact that the couple spoke in English, since Samuel was French and Sandra is German, therefore they communicated in a language that was a compromise for both, where one did not have to rescind their own cultural identity. This of course changes once Sandra has to stand trial, as she needs to communicate in French for an audience who does not know her. The details behind the relationship with her husband due to their son's accident also emerges, all these details providing a breadth of color to how their lives had been shaped, and simultaneously illustrating Sandra's personality. The director is able to capture all these events with a clinical eye, never attempting to make the film too sentimental, nor a Hitchcockian type of exercise. It's an exploration of a troubled relationship, of the bitterness and resentment that has grown between two people, that is perfectly illustrated in the heated exchange Sandra and Samuel have, which is the strongest exchange between two characters of the entire film (and possibly one of the best illustrations of the dynamics and relationship of a couple ever captured on film). Some of the supporting characters of the feature don't get as much attention as Sandra, or even Daniel, but this is their narrative, of this couple that had been on this path for quite some time. The cast is uniformly fantastic, with highlights going to Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner, and Antoine Reinartz. The production team is solid, but not particularly memorable. It's a wonderful film, worth watching.
0 comments:
Post a Comment