Movie Review: Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d'une chute)

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

A brilliant courthouse drama from France. 

This film's plot is a seemingly very simple one. When a man dies from a high fall, his wife is suspected of having killed him. While this sounds like a simple who-done-it, it is anything but. In fact, whether or not she killed him is not the main point of the film. Rather than focusing on what really happened, this movie is about the emotional states of the characters as well as the idea that we might never fully know anybody. Both of these are especially explored through the couple's son, Daniel. We delve into what it feels like for a child to have his childhood taken away from him with one quick tragedy. Through many of the scenes revolving around this character, we feel his difficultly to deal with the emotional weight that is thrust upon him. We also delve into how this character deals with learning how little he ever knew his parents and how this makes him doubt everything he ever thought he knew. This leads to some incredibly emotional and truly uncomfortable moments that stay with you well after the credits roll. While his mother is the main character, it is Daniel who remains the heart of the film. He causes us to see the whole movie from a different perspective than we might have otherwise. This film also delves very much into the complexity of the mother. Through much of this movie, we have no idea if she killed her husband. Yet we are going through this whole ordeal with her. Because of this we at once deeply sympathize with her, while also having part of us doubt her at the same time. This again drives home the idea of wondering if we can really know anybody. This especially can be seen when we are made to look at her marriage. Like the other people in the courtroom, we simply can only piece together assumptions based on the little we are told. There is no conclusion we can come to without a certain amount of assumption being necessary. As we peek into their private world, we are unable to fully comprehend, yet we are forced to come to an assumption simply because we are human and can't help ourselves. All of this is captured in an incredibly intelligent script by Justine Triet (who also directed the film) and Arthur Harari. The movie is also enhanced by some truly incredible performances by Sandra Hüller and Swann Arlaud.

Since this is a courtroom drama, there is not surprisingly a large amount of dialogue throughout. Yet this movie never feels visually static or uncinematic. Justine Triet and cinematographer Simon Beaufils keep this film consistently visually interesting. In fact, there are many perfectly staged visual moments that will stay in one's mind long after watching the movie. This is especially true of the scenes that take place at the house of our main characters. The look of this house and the snowy landscape that surrounds it create an image that encapsulates the conflicting nature of the story, though both its visual beauty and how it looks isolated from the rest of the world.    

This is simply essential viewing for movie fans.