‘Anatomy of a Fall’- Heartland International Film Festival Review

Can a film awarded the convenient Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival be counted on to keep us enthralled? It all depends on what will be recalled the most in years. Notable victors include Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, and most recently, Parasite, all of which have become instant classics in their own right. Here, with Justine Triet’s latest Anatomy of a Fall, it could be just that for a two-and-a-half-hour courtroom drama, I didn’t know what to expect going in. But think about some aspects of Gone Girl with the unsettling vibes of the investments of a true crime miniseries, and you got yourselves one of the year’s best that has to be included in the awards conversation.

What’s the Story: Somewhere up in the French Alps at an isolated chalet, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) is a German novelist living with her husband Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis), a teacher and a struggling writer, and their 11-year-old Son Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner), who is partially blind after an accident damaged his optic nerve. That incident, in particular, strained their relationship for a few years. One afternoon, after an interview between Sandra and a young graduate student about the former’s career gets cut short by Samuel’s loud playing of the instrumental cover of 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.” while renovating the attic, Daniel, after taking his dog Snoop on a walk, finds his father dead on the snow-covered ground with the back of his head open. It’s inconclusive what happened. Was it an accident from a fall from the attic? A suicide? Or something else around the Woods. As such, Sandra seems to be the main suspect when police conduct this investigation with her old friend Vincent (Swann Arlaud) serving as her lawyer to prove her innocence that she had nothing to do with her husband’s death.

The internal conflict of Anatomy of a Fall‘s procedural mystery is quickly introduced when Sandra’s husband is found around ten minutes before the credits roll. Following that, Triet takes us into an unexpected character-driven narrative that seeks to explain what happened. Everybody wants to know the truth, but we must determine if our main character is guilty. That intrigue of unease builds through the first half, and once it goes into the courtroom scenes, those have that slow burn feel to them since we rarely cut outside to any other setting that doesn’t play out like a murder mystery. But it’s almost as if you’re a cautious fly on the wall or sitting in on trial learning about specific details about Sandra’s personal life that will come as a shock in real-time. What will anyone off guard mid-way from this recorded argument and flashback between Sandra and Samuel that probably lasts for ten minutes? It has to be one of the most intense moments from any drama this year.

Triet’s direction, along with her partner Arthur Harari as co-writer, allows you to keep guessing in the dark in a quiet atmosphere to examine that marriage isn’t perfect as many make it out to be, but that doesn’t mean it always has those go to lengths to get rid of their partner. And the surprising absence of a musical score, aside from when Daniel’s practicing on the piano, adds to being in the moment realistically.

Sandra Hüller isn’t an actress that many people outside of Germany, including myself, are likely familiar with. The only roles I could recall her from were in the 2016 movie Toni Erdmann and the upcoming Zone of Interest. This is one of the best actress performances I’ve seen so far this year, and it has stayed with me long after I left the theater. Her character, Sandra, made for a complex, subtle, and profoundly moving person, allowing us to ponder whether she murdered her husband without leaning towards a particular side. She displays a variety of emotions in this harrowing journey no one should go through, especially with a young child to raise. As we learn more about her past in these proceedings, we still root for her not to be accused, but could she do it to be a more successful writer of the two? Because of the resentment they have for each other? It’s all about believing what’s real or fiction, and Hüller, from start to finish, doesn’t leave your attention, not even for a minute.

And she isn’t the only one delivering a powerful performance, as nobody expected to see Milo Machado Graner give one of the best child performances in quite some time as Daniel. He could’ve been just the child there. Still, Graner has this much-needed purpose to the story when he’s dealing with the sudden feeling of being conflicted about what he thinks is true. He definitely comes to life in the third act when he explains the events to the court since it’s the one witness. One of my favorite shots I had to write in my little notebook right after was when the camera moves back and forth when he’s unsure about this situation.

Despite having a lengthy running time, fifteen minutes could have shortened it. But never once did I feel uninterested because it was addressed that would hold everyone’s attention. The story skillfully raises the suspense for people unsure about the legal system or under pressure to support Sandra in this trial. There’s not much room for breathing once we’re in the courtroom when she’s being questioned by the aggressive prosecutor (Antoine Reinartz), so the drama quickly becomes gripping and almost leaves me speechless.

There were rumblings following Anatomy of a Fall‘s Cannes screening, but I wanted to know if it was worth seeing, even if you didn’t know anything about it beforehand. But despite never watching or even knowing the last three films from Triet, who’s only the third woman in history to win the Palme d’Or, this should gain a wider audience. We could look at possible Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress for Hüller, and Best Original Screenplay.

Overall, Anatomy of a Fall is nothing short of a riveting courtroom/family drama that requires your patience but comes through with its thematic, complicated subtext of marriage. Thanks mainly to Sandra Hüller’s brilliant performance and meticulous direction by Justine Truit, it’ll leave you guessing intelligently.