Movie Review: Anatomy of a Fall

3.5 stars out of 5

This is like a jumbo episode of La Loi et L’Ordre. And perhaps they purposely used a title similar to the legendary courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder. Our story begins in the French Alps. German actress Sandra Hüller plays German author Sandra Voyter, being interviewed in her family’s chalet by a young journalist. Both the two women and we the audience feel tension right away, as someone is rudely playing very loud music upstairs at their home. Turns out it is Sandra’s French husband. Their mostly blind son Daniel takes Snoop the dog for a walk, perhaps to avoid a harried situation at home. When he and Snoop return, Daddy is lying dead on the ground outside the chalet! Did he jump… or was he pushed?

Sandra’s old lawyer pal Vincent shows up to calm her down, and represent her as evidence against her begins to pile up. Swann Arlaud, who plays Vincent, looks like an anime version of Martin Short.

Thus the procedural aspects of the story go into high gear. And the movie is quite compelling as we see the role of police, attorneys, investigators (looking at, yes, the actual anatomy of a fall), the media, and soon enough, the French court system — with a vision-impaired child “witness” in the mix. Sandra’s “outsider” status — she never wanted to leave London and move to her husband’s hometown — is further amplified by the request that she speak French when testifying (and when talking with her son in the presence of a court-appointed guardian), a language she clearly struggles with. Though not exactly cinéma vérité, director/co-writer Justine Triet keeps things realistic; when there’s a surprise in the courtroom, even the camera appears to be caught off-guard.

As details unfold, we learn of a variety of strife in the marriage. And thus the relationship is seemingly on trial as much as the possible murder is. To me, that was less interesting than all the legal wrangling, and I found that the later part of the film dragged a bit (unfortunate with a total running time of 2.5 hours). To top it off, late-surfacing details in the case were convoluted and that left me frustrated. For someone raised on judge-and-jury stories, bring in that just-discovered piece of evidence and/or a surprise witness, give me an unassailable verdict, and let’s clear the courtroom!

Nevertheless, Anatomy of a Fall is a well-performed, nice piece of filmmaking, and if you have greater tolerance for squabbling couples (Marriage Story, anyone?), you’ll likely enjoy this even more than I did.