Anatomy of a Fall
As part of our much delayed plan to see all “Best Picture” nominees before the March 10 Academy Awards, we watched Anatomy of a Fall on Amazon. It is a French movie and won the Cannes Palme D'Or award for Best Picture. I recommend it for a Friday evening viewing at home, accompanied by an understated French Bordeaux. It is tight and taut production.
The film is worth your attention just to witness the performance of Sandra Huller in the lead role. She is strong, nuanced and totally captivating. In a perfect world, she would be the front runner for the Best Actress Oscar. She is that good- displaying great range emotionally and intellectually. Excellent dialogue with her husband, intriguing exchanges with her lawyer and a tender relationship with her partially disabled son. Her character is multi-dimensional. She is a successful author in a complex marriage. She is protective mother and an engaging conversationalist. She also has an edge-proud and prickly. Early in the movie, her husband dies after a fall from the top floor window of their Alpine mountain chalet. The police investigation does not confirm the death as a suicide or accident and the authorities charge her with murder. The balance of the movie is courtroom drama- French style!
The courtroom scenes have great energy. The lawyers are freewheeling- many of their questions on direct and cross examination venture into closing argument territory. They openly spin and interpret witness answers, particularly the responses given by the defendant. Unlike American criminal trials where a defendant rarely testifies, the French system allows for open give and take between both sets of lawyers and the defendant. The prosecutor is tenacious and effective and at various moments the audience must be leaning to a guilty verdict. Sandra’s lawyer is also confident, dynamic and quick on his feet. He challenges our preexisting and unconscious biases. The female judge is fair and firm. Finally, the testimony of the minor son is great cinema. Well done- the movie isn’t fancy or showy, but it stays the course and the Director is very disciplined in keeping the narrative on course.
The most outstanding bit in the film is a flashback of a heated exchange between Sandra and her husband Samuel the day prior to his death. The complexities of the marriage are disclosed with rapid fire intensity and passion. We learn Sandra is far from a perfect spouse. She has been unfaithful and has engaged in bisexual affairs. The marital sex life is poor and she isn’t an attentive caregiver to her son. Her bestselling book was based on an idea that she “borrowed” from a manuscript that her husband was working on himself. He has writer’s block, is a whiner, has lost confidence and is an irritating example of a French metrosexual. His shortcomings clearly bother Sandra. Samuel may also bear some responsibility for the accident which led to the son’s vision loss. The prosecutor uses an audiotape of the argument to great effect and it is not unreasonable to conclude that her frustration with Samuel boiled over into a sudden violent act. However, there are clear signs the couple experienced moments of great happiness and they both love their son. The director produces the necessary “doubt” on the murder versus suicide issue. There is a court verdict (I won't disclose it here) but there is plenty of ammunition to attack it. Honestly, I don’t believe either lawyer was totally convinced of the factual merits of their own arguments, but that is what good lawyers do!
Some cause for criticism exist as well. The sets are bland and the cinematography will not win any awards. Approximately 50 percent of the movie is in English- mainly when Sandra testifies in court. However, the other major players speak French and we get English subtitles of their dialogue. The production gets choppy and shaky and it is distracting. The language ping pong becomes extremely noticeable and undermines the power of certain of the courtroom exchanges. Overall, the movie is tense and rewarding. I am now a Sandra Huller fan and will search out some of her earlier performances.
