Anatomy of a Fall

Anatomy of a Fall (2023) a French procedural thriller, released last year to universal acclaim, won the Palme Dor at Cannes and was nominated for five Academy Awards and seven Baftas, including Best Film and Best Director.
When German novelist Sandra Voyter’s husband is mysteriously found dead in the snow below their Alpine chalet, she becomes the main suspect. The only potential witness is their blind son Daniel. At the ensuing trial, Sandra and Samuel’s marriage is minutely dissected, with every piece of evidence cleverly open to opposing, equally plausible, interpretation. This is where the film flies, becoming so engaging. Between the extreme opposites of ‘guilty’ and ‘not guilty’ lie so many shades of culpability and doubt, which makes a nonsense of trying to grasp a simplistic binary verdict from a complicated marriage.

This is a tense, cerebral drama with an outstanding central performance from German actress Sandra Huiler and rightly deserves all of the international awards it has won. ‘Continually takes your breath away ’ Daily Telegraph.

A:

Very powerful- the very best evening of cinema! (A)   Totally compelling (A) Gripping. An insightful exploration of internal psyche and relationship conflict. Not convinced all that would be allowed as legal evidence.(A)  What a huge film; beautiful, powerfully emotional and real. Incredible acting (A)   Brilliant acting, amazing story, perfectly executed. (A)   Brilliant, powerful, amazing acting (A)  Tremendous film full of tension and pathos – what happened to innocent until proven guilty? (A)  Brilliantly observed. Oscar for Messi! (the dog)(A)
Very well directed and filmed – compelling story, excellent script and brilliantly acted (A)    Thank goodness it had a happy ending after all that drama (A) Clearly the French haven’t heard of the presumption of innocence, or beyond reasonable doubt! (A)  Brilliant script, great acting. A complex dilemma. (A)  Fantastic. Superb actors. Great presentation. Excellent courtroom scenes (A)
What a good script, excellently acted and very enjoyable.(A)    Very good film & an interesting insight into a culture that I’m not very familiar with (A)
My only criticism is the length although I’m not sure how it could be shortened. Always interesting to see the difference between French and English courts. Such drama + acting. Such a dilemma as not possible to see guilty or not. Child’s answer? (A) The dialogue was excellent (A)
An excellent demonstration of how a trial can be a rhetorical combat based on partial information. (A) Masterful acting and direction (A) Very realistic, wonderful acting – particularly the boy! (A) Very though provoking and flew by – didn’t feel like it was 2 ½ hours. (A) A courtroom drama which held one’s attention . Well executed and anything seemed possible. Very enjoyable. (A) It was the dog that did it…. (A) Thought provoking. Excellent (A)

B:

Brilliantly acted, love the film, 2^nd time of seeing it. (B)      Extremely well acted. Kept the attention all the way through.(B)     Full of suspense.(B)   Reminded me of my jury service and how trail by jury with barristers is like a boxing match (B)     It felt like a real story and I love that the doubt remains on the verdict. (B)    Only in France?  (B)       
Powerful acting – especially the child! Too long! (B) Very emotional but difficult to understand when they spoke French and I read English. (B) The dog was outstanding!(B)
I found the French judicial system very interesting. (B) A bit drawn out! But very interesting! Child actor remarkable – testament to French education. (The teaching of philosophy.) (B)

 C:

Too long, too detailed but interesting (C)    Enjoyed it but couldn’t quite get totally interested. (C)
The wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow – just like this film!(C)

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