Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d'une Chute)
Nov 16, 2023 12:39:47 GMT
jek and juicy_but_terribly_drab like this
Post by mkb on Nov 16, 2023 12:39:47 GMT
I was initially going to post this in "The Last Movie You Watched", but this film is so good it deserves its own thread.
This is my second trip to the cinema this week (the other being How to Have Sex) where I felt I was watching a documentary rather than scripted acting. Sandra Hüller is phenomenal as the German writer suspected of having murdered her husband. Milo Machado Graner as her young son Daniel is also outstanding.
Director and co-writer Justine Triet has created something very special here that will play on the mind for some time. It’s a movie that on the surface appears to be one thing – a simple did-she?/didn’t-she? whodunnit – but is actually not that at all. Anyone seeking answers and resolution will be left disappointed. This is about how we come to terms with that which we cannot know, how we deal with it, and what assumptions and prejudices we bring to the process.
Even in an early scene, Triet toys with our preconceptions. We think we are seeing Daniel leading his dog out on a walk in the snow, but we soon learn that that is an incorrect assumption.
The masterful script seems designed to continually keep the viewer on that pivot point between believing in innocence or guilt. Just when you feel pulled in one direction, you are brought back to uncertainty by hard facts.
I had heard good things of the French inquisitorial legal system, and this is the first time I have seen it played out in a drama. It seems vastly superior to the English adversarial system on the evidence here (although I am aware we use the French approach in some family courts and mental health tribunals).
The following spoiler discusses the ending, so DO NOT open unless you have seen the film.
As an observer, we can only ever speculate as to what is real truth. That is the essence of the film, but it also has much to say about the nature of human relationships, particularly in periods of high stress and how we deflect blame on to others in order to protect our own sanity.
Five stars.
This is my second trip to the cinema this week (the other being How to Have Sex) where I felt I was watching a documentary rather than scripted acting. Sandra Hüller is phenomenal as the German writer suspected of having murdered her husband. Milo Machado Graner as her young son Daniel is also outstanding.
Director and co-writer Justine Triet has created something very special here that will play on the mind for some time. It’s a movie that on the surface appears to be one thing – a simple did-she?/didn’t-she? whodunnit – but is actually not that at all. Anyone seeking answers and resolution will be left disappointed. This is about how we come to terms with that which we cannot know, how we deal with it, and what assumptions and prejudices we bring to the process.
Even in an early scene, Triet toys with our preconceptions. We think we are seeing Daniel leading his dog out on a walk in the snow, but we soon learn that that is an incorrect assumption.
The masterful script seems designed to continually keep the viewer on that pivot point between believing in innocence or guilt. Just when you feel pulled in one direction, you are brought back to uncertainty by hard facts.
I had heard good things of the French inquisitorial legal system, and this is the first time I have seen it played out in a drama. It seems vastly superior to the English adversarial system on the evidence here (although I am aware we use the French approach in some family courts and mental health tribunals).
The following spoiler discusses the ending, so DO NOT open unless you have seen the film.
I think critics who have decried the ending, have not fully understood it. It’s not just about Daniel making his choice of who to believe; it’s whether, in making that choice, he has taken control of the situation, similar to Marlene Dietrich’s character in Witness for the Prosecution, and told the court a story that will achieve his desired outcome. How much truth was there in that story?
As an observer, we can only ever speculate as to what is real truth. That is the essence of the film, but it also has much to say about the nature of human relationships, particularly in periods of high stress and how we deflect blame on to others in order to protect our own sanity.
Five stars.
