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Kelaru & Fulton rating: ★★★★★
Runtime: 2hrs 31 mins
Anatomy of a Fall is a court drama that makes an art out of ambiguity. It relies on Sandra Huller’s performance and a documentary style of filming to expertly deliver the tension and family drama surrounding this murder trial.
Being a court drama, the film heavily relies on the actors, in particular Sandra Huller’s who delivers a career-defining performance, worth studying in film school. Through her acting, she makes you continuously change your mind about her being guilty or not, even in the final scenes where we see her interactions with her husband. She was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars in 2024.
We are watching the aftermath of the death of Samuel, husband of Sandra and father of 11 year old partially blind Daniel in what appears to be an accidental fall from the attic of their chalet in the Alps. the remaining 2 hrs of the film peels away at this family life with every layer being more revealing and crushing for the mother and the son.
The film adds to the ambiguity by employing a documentary-style of filming which adds to the realistic feel of the drama. The mostly hand-held camera angles positioned behind objects or among crowds of people and helped by the sharp sound and pitch-perfect acting, you feel like you are watching the real trial of the century.
The writing - winner of an Academy Award for Best Original Writing - works beautifully to ratches up the tension by throwing things like language barrier for Sandra, who is a german that has lived in London and now lives in France. She speaks three languages but is forced to speak French in court, which is not her native language but adds to the tension and ambiguity of the proceedings.
Or the 11-year old son, Daniel, who is partially blind due to an oversight of care by one of the parents and does not seem affected by the inquisition-level interrogation that his mother is submitted to in court.
When combined, all of this make for a truly compelling story that doesn’t let go until the very end and it just highlights the complicated family life with the added pressure of a failed writer, competition between the parents and a child that has lost his childhood to no fault of his own.