By José Alberto Hermosillo
"Anatomy of a Fall" is a sublime, thrilling, and transcendental modern work of art - masterfully written, directed, performed, photographed, and edited.
The family courtroom drama focuses on a freak accident, its repercussions, and the unsettled battle of the sexes continuing after death.
The 2023 Palme d'Or winner contains three familiar and robust characters who speak in different languages - French, German, and English- as a common ground. Despite their blood ties, the three members of the family are
drawn into life-changing circumstances where death, entrapment, and murder play
a significant role in their lives. But absolutely none of them plays the victim
in this well-rounded, multi-layered story.
Up in the snowy mountains of Grenoble, France, the apparently
harmonious family comprises a successful, busy German author named Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller), a frustrated French writer/teacher, Samuel Moleski (Samuel Theis), and their son, Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner).
Milo Machado-Graner is a young and promising actor with a successful career in French movies such as "Stuck Together" and "Waiting for Bojangles." The talented actor is extraordinary in "Anatomy of a Fall." He portrays a legally bling, independent teenager who likes to hike with his service dog, Messi, on the snowy trails of the Dauphine Alps, where they live.
Later in the film, we learn that the intellectual couple constantly fights because they blame each other for their child's accident that left him with impaired vision and how to manage their "precious time" to take care of their eleven-year-old son.
Because of the accident, Daniel developed a high sensitivity to light exposure, which
made him partially blind. He is independent but still needs adult
supervision. Despite his impairment, Daniel plays the piano beautifully and walks daily along the mountain trail with his trained dog.
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| The dog Messi from "Anatomy of a Fall" at the Oscar Luncheon. |
Le chien, Messi has been
recognized as the absolute winner of the "Palm Dog" Award for his performance
in this movie during this past edition of the Cannes Film Festival. He is
making big waves on Hollywood's red carpets during the 2024 award season.
After Samuel's tragic death, Daniel continued his piano
lesson, rehearsing "Asturias" (Leyenda), which was composed by Issac
Albéniz. The strident music played during "The Fall" and replayed during the gathering
of evidence is adding to the confusion and chaos. The music recurs and is a
pivotal part of the narrative.
"Anatomy of a Fall" is divided into three structural parts: the day of the accident, the trial, and the unexpected resolution.
The film cleverly builds tension in some scenes; in others, it lingers through the beauty of the natural
locations thanks to Simon Beaufils's gorgeous cinematography ("My Donkey,
My Lover, and I," "Knife + Heart).
After the "fall," the trial is immediate. The film progresses rapidly, as the family has no time to grieve. Furthermore, we see the wife in the house training with her lawyer on
what to say or not to say before the trial and how she has to justify the
bruises on her arm.
After examining all the evidence and collecting the people's
statements, the prosecutors find some discrepancies that may alter the cause of
death, whether the case can be considered an accident or murder. Even though
the film clearly stipulates the legal repercussions of the "questionable death" that happened
a year later.
The prosecutors found the
husband's recordings of some of the most recent couple's fights playing in the courtroom. That surprisingly new piece of incriminating evidence may point against the famous writer.
The struggle
between the two writers becomes a battle of the sexes, with the husband's evident frustration at his wife's success making him seem to ignite and manipulate those intense discussions.
The recordings were made
without her consent or knowledge, which is considered illegal in some States of the
United States. Still, in France, they are used as contentious proof of the
couple's instability.
In European films, children are often treated as adults, no matter how complex or disturbing the situations they endure. The legally blind boy becomes the key witness in the case.
For a child, it is devastating to lose his father, witness his mother's trial, listen to the recordings of his parents' fights in court, and give his crucial testimony that may incriminate or save his mother.
Testifying as an adult makes Daniel aware of the situation, and he must decide whether he would like to save his mother or help the prosecutor bring her to justice.
The performance by German actress Sandra Hüller ("The Zone of Interest," "I'm Your Man," "Toni Erdmann") is impressive. She displays a wide range of emotions, and even when she lies, we think she is telling the truth.
In "Anatomy of a Fall," French director Justine Triet cleverly
plays with perceptions of the truth, shaped by each player's needs,
interests, and points of view. Justine Trier graduated from the Paris School of
Fine Arts and is an Oscar nominee for Best Director; she has an extraordinary
filmmaking career with solid previous projects such as "The Age of Panic," "Sibyl,"
and "Victoria." Across all her films, she has three recurring themes: family,
writers, and legal matters.
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| Justine Triet, Palme d'Or Winner, Cannes. Photo: Par Par François BECKER et © 2023 AFP |
In light of the theory of eyewitness unreliability, "Anatomy of a Fall" can be related to Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon." A few years later, in 1964, Hollywood released a remake of the Japanese classic "The Outrage" starring Paul Newman. This particular Western, directed by Martin Ritt ("Hud," "Hombre," and "Norman Rae"), is another clear example of how the truth can be distorted by witnesses' points of view, backgrounds, beliefs, and personal experiences.
In 1957, Sidney Lumet's "12 Angry
Men" rounded off the perceptions of twelve jury members who had to deliver the
conviction or acquittal of an eighteen-year-old boy accused of murder. They had
reasonable doubts and concluded that there was not enough hard evidence to
prove the boy's guilt.
Since its premiere in Cannes, "Anatomy of a Fall" has collected numerous awards worldwide. In the US, the film has been nominated
for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress,
Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing.
In France, the film won six César Awards, including Best Picture. In England, it won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. In Spain, it won Best European Film at the Goya Awards Ceremony, and the list of recognitions for the French/German joint goes on.
In this legal matter, winning or losing the case in court would not bring peace to the souls of the people involved. Still, it raises more questions about what is next when they lose someone they love in a freak accident and if the accident was intentionally planned or a successful suicide attempt. It is all up to the viewer to figure out what really happened.
Regardless of any conspiracy theory, the film is open to public interpretation. Let "Anatomy of a Fall" sit for a while to process an unforgettable film that is making big waves around the world for its enormous quality in storytelling.
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