I likely wouldn’t have watched “Anatomy of a Fall” — or per its own title card, “Anatomie D’Une Chute” — if it wasn’t nominated for Best Picture at this weekend’s Academy Awards.
That’s not because I put a lot of stock in the Academy Awards. That’s because there’s unfortunately not a lot of overlap between my personal tastes and French legal thrillers.
“Anatomy of a Fall” is a film I’ve been aware of for several months, but not more than its premise. A writer, played by Sandra Hüller, must prove her innocence when her husband illogically falls to his death from an upstairs window.
That premise gives murder mystery. Instead, despite wholly centering on the circumstances of and the emotions around that fall, the film dispenses early with the real logistics of what happens and instead focuses on the drama of a decaying marriage and the emotions of their young son — who has a visual disability and who is the first to stumble upon his father’s corpse.
The film is gripping, doling out breadcrumbs and details at a grueling pace while constantly increasing the tension between Hüller’s Sandra and her son Daniel, played by Milo Machado-Graner.
Hüller stuns as a chilly lead who is caught in lies, who admits to her resentments, and who explores dark inclinations in her writing. She repeatedly delivers impactful and nuanced monologues, shifting between speaking in English and in French, battling against the suspicions and prejudices levied against her.
In many of these sequences, the camera hangs on Hüller and pulls away from everyone else, lingering on every word and every hesitation as Sandra seeks to craft her arguments and defend herself across language barriers.
The film explores relationships, impositions, creativity and guilt with a nuanced touch.
I certainly felt the film’s length dragging on, clocking in ultimately at roughly two and a half hours, but its endless displays of courtroom skirmishes and especially a flashback sequence to an argument between Sandra and her late husband were rapturous.
“Anatomy of a Fall” isn’t a general audience pleaser, but it is an impeccably crafted and intimate examination that left me thinking in a way that I value, a way that several of my most recent trips to the movie theater can’t contend with — “Dune Part Two” of course excepted.
I’m disappointed I had to wait so long to get the opportunity to see this film. I’m even more disappointed that I had to do so on my couch since it never arrived at the local theaters, but only three of the 10 nominees for 2023’s Best Picture ever did. “Anatomy of a Fall” is available to rent on streaming services that allow purchases like Amazon Prime Video.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
Sandra Hüller portrays Sandra Voyter in “Anatomy of a Fall.” (Promotional photo courtesy Neon)
