Anatomy of a Fall/Anatomie d'une chute (2023)

The conceit of this Cannes winner is the explore the end of a marriage through the gimmick of a trial and it's a brilliant metaphor. This mystery of did-a-woman-kill-her-husband, told through following her murder trial is the perfect symbolism for the autopsy of the end of a relationship. Evidence is provided, perspectives are examined, but can we ever know who is culpable? Triet's tense and gripping film plays this game so effectively and without relying on some of the cheap tropes of court room drama that we are used to from lawyer shows on TV. 

In the end we get a resolution to the trial but do we ever know for sure? The film both gives us a reasonable resolution but enough doubt to wonder. We cannot know these sorts of answers, not really, and that is a difficult, but salient, point. We are presented with the idea that at some point we just have to decide what we believe. It's a fascinating if uncomfortable thesis that is well argued. 

And the film itself is just entirely entertaining. It is a bit long but never feels so. Triet knows how to film a trial and we are enraptured throughout. Hüller is amazing. She is complicated and vulnerable and hiding something... because she is human. Aren't we all. She is as impenetrable as the subject of such a difficult trial should be. 

Overall the film is quite remarkable. I do struggle with parts of the third act which are hard to discuss without spoiling things. Mainly it's around the role of the couple's son and how his role in the trial both shouldn't happen in such a proceeding and the film's resolution relies on deus ex machina revelations from the child. I just feel the film fumbles these developments which weakens the otherwise outstanding story. 

I also struggle with the film relying on general audiences mistrust of bisexuals to fuel its complications. Like another very well made film recently, Passages, Anatomy of a Fall falls into the trap of the bisexuals-are-untruthworthy trope. I wish the film had found away around that.

But it isn't enough to ruin the film for me. I still came out of Anatomy of a Fall impressed and quite moved by the questions it asks us and the way it leaves us to sit with its implications. I love the film didn't have any dramatic reveals and instead plays out with a realism that doesn't give easy comfort one way or the other. Just like when a relationship comes to and end.

Anatomy of a Fall/Anatomie d'une chute

Starring: Sandra Hüller 

Director: Justine Triet

Writers: Arthur Harari, Justine Triet