• Release year: 2023
• Director: Justine Triet.
• Producers: Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion.
• Screenplay by: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari.
• Cinematographer: Simon Beaufils.
• Music Department: Thibault Deboaisne.

Shotgun Commentary: thrilling, full of tension and exasperating…like any legal proceeding…ever.

Review

Anatomy of a Fall succeeds in getting on your nerves and exhausting you emotionally, which is the point, really. The film is beautiful, something not very often heard of a trial-themed motion picture, and its pace is exactly right. It is easy to get repetitive and boring with a story about a court case, and yet this narration includes all the necessary information without lingering in irrelevant facts or moments.

To the point

While it is, in essence, just like any other chapter from any series about lawyers ever made –sexual tension included–, the length of the movie brings the opportunity to take the narrative further. You get to know more about the personal life of the accused and how the whole process is affecting her and her kid, which is very interesting for one reason: there is no extra drama.

The feature is a simple account, aware of its power, so it doesn’t fall into the trap of adding anything superfluous onto it. The same way you would avoid using spices on a good quality steak, for example. It is tempting with stories like this to go overboard with tragedies and secrets until the whole plot is so muddled that you lose focus on what the main issue was about.

The way the film stays focused and to the point makes the experience so much more realistic and heartbreaking, especially when the underwhelming nature of reality dictates the end of it.

As real as it gets

Anatomy of a Fall talks about hardship and strength, about how your life can be turned upside down one day and how it will never go back to how it was regardless of the outcome of your problems. It is a story with and without an end, that’s what makes it so beautifully real. You solve one problem only to get to the next one, and you get no reward for it. Such is life, and this film is not uncomfortable to embrace that truth.

Trials and tribulations

There are a few key moments of tension where Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller), the accused, is judged for her sexual orientation. The misconception that bisexuals are just nymphomaniacs, cheaters and incapable of not wanting to have sex with everyone they encounter is a very common one. It is prejudice not often voiced, but sadly very usually experienced.

During the trial, the prosecutor feeds off of that preconception to hinder her defence. While this bias is not addressed as an issue during the movie, the discreet way it is brought up is not only great in terms of representation, but also as an accurate comment on this common discrimination.

Another controversial part of the proceeding is the recording her husband made a day before her death. In said recording, you can hear that he behaves like a child who blames his wife for everything that goes wrong in his life, even when it makes no sense. He is a man who is incapable of taking responsibility for his mistakes and decisions and, while the district attorney’s office sees that audio as proof of Sandra’s violence, it only makes the audience empathise with her more.

Personality goals

Sandra Hüller is fantastic in her portrayal of Sandra Voyter. You empathise with her from minute one, which makes the whole experience all the more intense. You feel for her, you understand her, and you suffer with her. All the emotions she goes through are shared by the audience due to how much you connect with her and her situation. The more you know, the more you admire Sandra.

Despite the feature leaving the moment of the death unseen to play with the idea that she might be guilty, Sandra leaves very clear from the beginning that she’s innocent. She’s a strong woman, very hard to irritate and too patient for murder. She’s too clever to put her child through that ordeal, she would’ve just left her partner. These signs redirect the spectator’s attention from whether she did it or not to whether justice will be served or not.

The ultimate star

Sadly for Hüller, despite her incredible display of talent, she gets completely out staged by Snoop (Messi), the family’s border collie, whose performance is so good it has you wondering whether there was any animal abuse during the film. Even after researching it and confirming there was not, you will still be suspicious. That’s how convincing it is. Truly magnificent.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Don’t date manchilds who blame everything on you, it never goes well.
• Don’t move anywhere you don’t want to, it only ends in resentment.
• Be like Sandra and don’t ever apologise for your success.

What’s your take? Have you watched Anatomy of a Fall? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀

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