Anatomy of a Fall Destined to be a Classic Film?

 

 

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Directed by Justine Triet

Neon/Lionsgate, 152 minutes, R (for ridiculous!)

In French, German, subtitles, and English

★★★★★

 

Welcome to Off-center views goes to court. I will be featuring several courtroom films, the first of which is Anatomy of a Fall, a French/English/German film that was nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, and won both the Palme d’or at Cannes and numerous César awards in France.

 

The first thing you need to know about this brilliant film is that the French judicial system is quite different from that of the United states. First of all, evidential rules are quite different. The courts often appoint independent investigators in criminal trials rather than leaving the task to prosecutors and defending attorneys. That’s because French trial courts are more concerned with statutory law than with legal precedents. Judges have far more power in France and lead the trials in an inquisitory manner. The standard of innocence or guilt depends upon the judge’s findings rather than the U.S. standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt.” There are usually no juries and there is very little cross examination by prosecuting or defending attorneys. If that sounds harsh, the ameliorating factor is that judges have far more leeway in probing extenuating circumstances.

 

Anatomy of a Fall takes place in the present time. Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) is a German novelist married to Samuel, a university lecturer. Their son Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner) is severely vision impaired due to a childhood accident. We later learn that Samuel blamed himself for the accident.

 

Sandra is in the living room conducting an interview, which she cuts short because the song “P. I. M. P. “ is blaring from the upper level of their chalet. Sandra assumes that her husband is playing the music at ear-splitting level because he frequently does that and claims it helps him work. However, when Daniel comes back from a walk with his guide dog Snoop, his father's body is prone in the blood-soaked snow outside the home. The open question is connected to the movie’s title; did he commit suicide or was he murdered?

 

There are suggestive but inconclusive reasons to draw either conclusion. Some testimony suggests that there was marital strain and loud arguing; Sandra counters that her outbursts were related to her discontent with being forced to move to a remote area near Grenoble. The prosecution points to ways in which murders in her novels mirrored the pattern of Daniel's death. Experts for both prosecution and defense illustrate how on one hand Daniel could not have fallen four stories without being pushed, or how he absolutely could have done so. Also introduced is that the marriage was strained because Sandra had an affair with another woman.

 

The movie is rated R ostensibly because of theme of suicide and bad language, though it’s my belief that the real reason for the R rating is Sandra's bisexuality. The movie also suggests that there is sexual frisson between Sandra and the woman she was interviewing and Vincent Renzi (Swann Arlaud), her defense attorney.

 

Other complicating matters intervene, not the least of which is Daniel’s shifting testimony. Still another is though Sandra is fluent in conversational French, as a native German speaker she has trouble following the rapid pace and can’t express herself with enough precision. (She is granted permission to switch from French to English.) Another unique aspect of French law is that when children are involved they are placed under a court monitor to prevent them from being unduly influenced and to deal with their emotional distress. Marge Bender (Jehnny Beth) plays that role quite expertly in Anatomy of a Fall.

 

Director Justine Triet reported that the 2007 Amanda Knox case in 2007 partly inspired her to co-write and direct the film. (Knox is the college student American college student accused of killing her roommate in Italy.) In that case and this film, guilt or innocence depended upon who was telling the story.

 

Much of Anatomy of a Fall takes place in the courtroom, a setting that could make for very dull viewing.  But the overlay of ambiguity, family drama, contrasting points of view, and Sandra’s coolness make this film riveting in every way. This one comes highly recommended. It might well endure as an art house classic.

 

Rob Weir