‘Anatomy’ Class
Director Justine Triet and star Sandra Hüller breathe life into two genres at once.
Anatomy of a Fall
Director: Justine Triet • Writers: Justine Triet, Arthur Harari
Starring: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis
France • 2hr 32mins
Opens Hong Kong January 11 • IIA
Grade: A-
The title, poster art and courtroom dramatics of Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d'une chute) make it look like yet another dyed-in-the-wool mystery thriller. A courtroom drama that can rival the best (The Verdict, A Few Good Men), filled with shocking revelelations, surprise witnesses and long, dark nights of the soul for both accused and their counsel. And it is. The thriller about a writer, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller, the forthcoming The Zone of Interest), on trial for murder when her partner, fellow writer Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis), dies after falling from a window, has all the drama you could want. But it’s like director Justine Triet, who cut her teeth on documentaries and romantic dramedies – like the Palme d'Or nominated Sibyl – heard every lament about how dead dull family dramas are, and how I couldn’t care less about angsty middle-class white people issues. What, you disagree over the shade of ecru for the new window blinds? Boo hoo.
Well, Triet strikes gold this time, literally, with a Palme d'Or winner that’s about much, much more than French jurisprudence. Anatomy is anchored by the hard-working but underappreciated Hüller, best known for Toni Erdmann, and could easily be called Anatomy of a Marriage. It’s whip smart, thought-provoking and best of all exploits courtroom drama convention to slowly reveal the so-called truth of this couple’s complex reality. This is what I mean when I say there’s nothing wrong with following the rules; procedurals are fine as long as they’re injected with something new or compelling. It’s not much to ask but no one seems to do it.
Guh-gong!
The ball gets rolling when a student is trying to interview Sandra in the living room of her Grenoble home while Samuel works upstairs, aided by 50 Cent blaring so loudly it practically shakes the tasteful Alpine decor. Sandra makes a few quips, they give up and make plans to meet another day. Some time goes by, we guess, and the couple’s vision-impaired son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) returns from walking his dog Snoop to find Samuel on the ground in a pool of frozen blood. He screams, Sandra comes out, cops and ambulances are summoned, all that hoo-hoo. But Sandra calls family friend and lawyer Vincent Renzi (Swann Arlaud) too. Later, French police investigating the incident are so befuddled by inconsistent blood spatter they bring a murder charge. Off to trial Sandra and Vincent go, to face the state’s attack dog advocate general (Antoine Reinartz, BPM (Beats per Minute)). And does he have it out for her.
As becomes clear to both us and the court, you can’t really know what’s happening in anyone’s marriage. Behind closed doors that perfect couple may be a disaster area. And while Samuel and Sandra aren’t quite a disaster area (admittedly a subjective determination) they are two complicated people in a complicated relationship. As the state makes its murder case layer by layer, Anatomy of a Fall lays bare the truth of the Maleski family’s circumstances the same way. Each piece of supposedly damning testimony simply uncovers skewed power dynamics, feelings of displacement, lingering guilt over accidents and infidelity, professional resentment and vague judginess regarding sexuality. Triet uses the red herrings and “Eureka!” tropes (Snoop the, er, dog’s gack is crucial) to create a totally engrossing deep dive that begins with us wondering if Sandra did it, but ends as an interrogation of messy modern romance. Her guilt or innocence is irrelevant.
Triet’s previous films have been fine, but this by far the best material she’s written (along with partner Arthur Harari) so far, and Anatomy deserved the Golden Globe (can you believe that shit’s back?) for screenplay it won at the start of awards season on January 7 (let the games begin!). There’s not a line of dialogue or action out of place, and every detail means something. It’s also her most assured work as a director, in which she lets her ace cast breathe while fully inhabiting the characters, and wisely contrasting cinematographer Simon Beaufils’s pristine landscapes with the claustrophobic, old school spaces of the courtroom. But it’s Hüller who steals the show. The eerie calmness she demonstrates while trying to keep it together is as tense as any lawyer antics; the affection she clearly has for Daniel that never quite morphs into the kind of bond he had with Samuel is heartbreaking. You can almost see the cap she’s trying to keep on her fiery indignation and the robust sexuality she intellectually opts to tamp down – at least for now. Optics! She’s just amazing. At first blush Anatomy of a Fall’s low-key anti-climax may feel unfulfilling to some but after two-and-a-half-hours of intense debate (never dull, so kudos) the ambiguity feels right. Who said courtroom dramas were the same old same old? — DEK