Mystery casts shadows of doubt
Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner, “Anatomy of a Fall,” is a murder mystery that’s more concerned with perception than resolution. Though we spend a fair amount of time in a French courtroom, the ultimate investigation involves what the viewer never knows. Scenes from a marriage can be witnessed by outsiders and interpreted in ways that don’t take into account basic truths only the betrothed can understand.
In the opening scene, we get a glimpse into the modus operandi set forth by Triet and her partner Arthur Harari in their tightly wound screenplay. A reporter comes to interview Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller), a German author living in an isolated French Alps location. Sandra’s husband, Samuel (Samuel Theis), is upstairs working in the attic. We don’t see him, but we hear him loudly blasting an instrumental cover of 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.” on a seemingly endless loop.
The harder the reporter tries to conduct the interview, the louder the music gets. It’s an act of passive-aggression, one with which Sandra appears to be familiar, based on her calm reaction. Rather than confront Samuel, she ends the interview.
Soon after, Samuel is dead, lying in a pool of blood in the snow under the attic window he mysteriously exited.
Meanwhile, their 11-year old legally blind son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), takes his dog, Snoop, for a walk in the woods. It’s a snowy landscape Daniel knows well; we never fear for his safety. Perhaps this is his special place, a safe space to get away from whatever drama is occurring at home. Kids are quite often collateral damage in the disintegration of their parents’ relationship. “Anatomy of a Fall” takes this concept to a dramatic extreme, as Daniel becomes the sole witness to his father’s fall from the attic.
Was Samuel murdered? The only person in the house with him at the time of his death was Sandra. She tells the police that her husband had been depressed lately, so she thinks he may have committed suicide. He had been working in the attic for quite some time, so he would have known its pitfalls; his familiarity with it minimizes the likelihood of an accident.
Sandra’s explanation would be convenient for her; she’s the prime suspect once the police consider Samuel’s death a potential homicide. There are morbid scenes of them conducting tests by dropping dummies out of the window to check for trajectory angles and the like. Sandra certainly seems guilty in the eyes of the law.
Even Sandra’s lawyer friend, Vincent (Swann Arlaud), who takes her case, is a bit suspicious. He warns her that the truth isn’t as powerful as what the court perceives to be the truth. I got the feeling that Vincent and Sandra had a past that existed before she married Samuel. Triet approaches so many elements from slightly askew angles that bend just enough to support conflicting arguments.
Once the case comes to trial, “Anatomy of a Fall” becomes an engrossing courtroom drama, but not for the reason you think.
The French court is a vessel for grandstanding and verbal sparring matches; it’s far less stodgy than the American ones we see in even the most absurd courtroom movies. Antoine Reinartz gives a delectably wicked performance as the prosecutor, or avocat général, as he is credited. He’s the flipside to Vincent’s more subdued defense.
It’s important to note that Sandra is a German woman in a French court who does not fluently speak the language used by her husband, son, and the courtroom. A lot of the film is in English, the common intermediary language. Again, the ideas of perception and interpretation come into play. Imagine the mistakes you’ve made while trying to master another language — the idioms and vernacular that are second nature to native speakers are often lost to or misconstrued by foreign speakers.
“Anatomy of a Fall” isn’t “Scenes from a Marriage.” In fact, there’s only one scene between Samuel and Sandra, and while we see their argument’s initial moments, we only hear the most violent part of it in a secret audio recording Samuel made of their fight. What actually happened?
Hüller gives a ferocious, slippery performance that provides few clues. She vehemently denies killing her husband, but we simply don’t know whether to believe Sandra is innocent or guilty. This is Hüller’s second film with Triet; her role in 2019’s “Sibyl” as a compulsive movie director was a fine bit of comic gold. She’s all business here: steely, scary, and at times sympathetic.
As if losing his father weren’t enough, poor Daniel is at the intersection of this investigation. His mother, who homeschooled him and likely served as the parent with whom he spent most of his time, is no longer the infallible rock he once trusted. It’s this loss of innocence that gives “Anatomy of a Fall” its aura of great tragedy. Graner delivers an excellent, heartbreaking performance.
“Anatomy of a a Fall” never gives a definitive answer to the mystery, but in the press kit, Triet says something I found intriguing: “Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse, our consulting lawyer, had advised us that when friends ask you to defend them, it’s always a trap.” Remember that Sandra asked Vincent to represent her. Is this a clue? It’s intriguing to consider, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter.
Much like the inner workings of someone else’s marriage, we’ll never know for sure.