Anatomy of a Fall
Synopsis: A man is found dead below a house’s attic window. His wife says she was asleep at the time of the incident. Was it suicide, an accident or murder?
Anatomy of a Fall is a mystery that unfolds in the French Alps. A middle-aged couple live in a chalet that they are renovating. Their twelve-year-old son spends a lot of time tramping about the snowy environs with his border collie, Snoop (Messi). A few days a week they travel into nearby Grenoble where Sandra (Sandra Hülle) and Samuel (Samuel Theis), both writers, teach at university and Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) attends school.
One bright day, Sandra has a guest, a student who is interviewing her regarding her stellar writing career. Sandra sips wine and enjoys the woman’s company, it seems. Well, for a while anyway. Soon 50 Cent’s P.I.M.P. is blaring from upstairs– like the floors are shaking. Sandra squirms. Is that the adolescent son acting up? No, it’s the dad acting up. The kid is escaping the thundering bass by venturing out for a hike with his dog. I was afraid the high decibel din would set off an avalanche.
Sandra tells the student that her husband is renovating the attic and likes to listen to loud music while he works. She apologizes and ends the interview, saying they can talk in Grenoble. Maybe Sandra was afraid that her husband would start singing along to the misogynistic ode to sexual exploitation. Why didn’t she just go upstairs and ask the guy to stop being an a-hole? Well, maybe she does after the visitor leaves. We don’t know because the scene shifts to the boy’s hike.
When Daniel gets near to the house, in an unusual move, his dog breaks away from him. It’s out of the ordinary because Snoop is a guide dog. Daniel is blind. Sensing something is amiss, the boy inches towards where he heard the dog scrabble to. We see the scene featured on the movie poster: a prostrate body in the snow with blood surrounding the head. Close to his dog now, Daniel reaches down to clasp Snoop. He lets go and tentatively begins to feel around on the ground for whatever it is that has the dog so upset…. He’s screaming for his mother now. Moments later, she runs out and sees the body of her husband.
Now you’re involved. And now you want to learn the truth: accident, suicide or murder?
The police/gendarme arrive after Sandra’s emergency call. She and her son are in a state of shock. The police take statements. The boy saw nothing, of course. Sandra said she was taking a nap. The body goes off to the morgue.
The police begin an investigation, so Sandra hires an attorney to shepherd her through the process. The lawyer is an erstwhile friend, Maitre Vincent Renzi (Swann Arlaud). They were friends back in college, so I wondered if they had a history. Hmm…
Sandra tells Vincent the same account she gave to the police. They go to the attic where Sandra is understandably spooked. Vincent is focused and professional. He asks questions and goes right up to the open attic window. Vincent wonders aloud how he could have fallen. Sandra asks: Well, what else could it have been?
The rest of Anatomy of a Fall– or, by its original French title, Anatomie d’une Chute- is an examination of that question. Without mincing any words, Vincent explains to Sandra that a jury would not believe that her husband fell from a window due to its elevated position. Why would it even be open in the winter? She answers that he could’ve become warm from his work. No, Vincent says. If the case goes to trial, maintaining that Samuel committed suicide would be her best defense. Sandra stammers: This could go to trial?
Get ready for some courtroom drama. I usually avoid courtroom dramas because they often enter Dullsville territory. Interminable & boring testimony. Fortunately, the courtroom testimony is compelling. Also, there are plenty of scenes back at the chalet, as Sandra and her son grieve and try to cope. And the poor kid– he cries in his room or plays the same song over and over on the piano. I was relieved that Daniel couldn’t see the investigators pushing mannequins out of the attic windows to see what they’d hit on the way down.
As Anatomy of a Fall progressed, I became really intrigued by the operation of the French justice system. First of all, the robes are magnificent. No funny wigs like in Britain’s courts: it’s all quite stylish. The state’s prosecutor/ advocate général wears a loose-fitting scarlet robe with a Santa hat (minus the white fur) clipped onto the fabric behind his left shoulder. What could the history of the hat be? Maybe because courtrooms weren’t well-heated in olden times? Idk, but Antoine Reinartz as the avocat confidently parades about the courtroom, robes aswirl, nose in the air. He seems to personally dislike Sandra and anyone associated with her. Even her son! Yes, Daniel is an observer in the courtroom. A judge took him aside one day and recommended he not attend, but he said he would anyway and there you have it.
People seem to do whatever they want in the French court system. In America, the judge is always slamming the gavel and yelling for Order in the Court! But in France, the defendants interrupt witness testimony. You should see the glare Samuel’s psychiatrist fixes on Sandra when she disputes his declaration!
And I was like wuh? because there seem to be three judges perched high above the action, like they are attending the opera. Sometimes the judges interrupt too. And not to rule on a matter of law, but because they have questions too. I know this is meant to function as a way to ascertain the truth, but it really seemed like they were picking on Sandra. It made me wonder if Jean Valjean ever had a hope to not become prisoner 24601.
Meanwhile the jury members–who do keep quiet, maybe from boredom– stare at Sandra in her Angela Merkel pantsuit. Her lawyer does his best, but in his sober black robes with attached black hat, he lacks the flair of the prosecutor. Also, the prosecutor acts like he’s friends with the judges. Maybe the people present in the courtroom dislike Sandra because the deceased is French and the defendant is German. I know, how was that marriage ever going to work?
I wanted the truth. I yelled at the screen: Get to the flashbacks! Sure, evidence is presented during the proceedings, but the verdict hinges on whose version you believe. The prosecutor is all like: She did it in a bid to rid herself of the husband she hated. And she’s German! The defense counters: Mais, non! She is a mild-mannered professeur. The husband was un klutz.
While we anticipate a flashback– they will happen, dear reader– we spend time with Sandra, Daniel and doggo back at the chalet. It can’t be comfortable living at the scene of the crime. And it’s also awkward because there is a court-appointed staffer staying with them. Usually, the family would speak in English, but Marge (Jehnny Beth) instructs them to communicate only in French.
You know that Sandra isn’t crazy about this because we learned earlier that she felt not speaking her mother tongue/ Muttersprache and moving to France was a sacrifice. She said she wanted to stay in London. Ahem…yes, we know that–no history shaming–but Germany has gone to great lengths to reach London. And Paris. Anyway…
Sandra does her best to care for Daniel during their ordeal. At one point she even hugs her son. (Perhaps a unique scene in cinema?) It’s clear that Sandra cherishes her son, encouraging and consoling him. But what of her marriage?
Besides unraveling the mystery of Samuel’s death, the narrative is a dissection of Sandra and Samuel’s relationship. Just one teaser from —yes, finally–a flashback… Over wine, the couple strive to put together a schedule that will work for the family. Samuel complains that he has no time for writing or himself. Sandra says she takes care of all of her responsibilities. He needs to be more efficient. Ja. “You made us live here among the goats!” Ha!
Will the jury be able to reach a just verdict? And the boy… does he know something? Will Sandra’s Germanness be held against her?
Anatomy of a Fall put me in mind of John Patrick Shanley’s stellar script, Doubt. Writer-director Justine Triet’s story, along with Sandra Hüller’s remarkable performance as Sandra, kept me in suspense. You could imagine she was capable of a heinous act. Then again… certainly not.
For my own part, I kept noticing how good she was to her son and their dog. Then again, you could see how she could get really angry with her husband. Picture him blaring unsavory music everyday! You get the idea: lots of conflicting information.
What is certain is that the French Alps looks like an idyllic ski destination, with plenty of shopping in Grenoble. Just stay away from any open chalet windows.
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