Susan Granger’s review of “Anatomy of a Fall” (Neon/Lionsgate)
Golden Globe-winner as Best Foreign Film, Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” has a scandalous premise that should intrigue true-crime aficionados.
The whodunit plot pivots around Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis) a writer who dies suspiciously after falling from the upper floor of an Alpine chalet and is discovered sprawled in the snow amid a trail of blood from a deep cranial wound.
Since she was the only other person in the house, his renown writer wife, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Huller), is suspected of murder. Did she push him? Did he tumble accidentally? Or did he commit suicide by jumping?
The French family drama that subsequently ensues examines various aspects the couple’s marriage, including the testimony of Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), their troubled, visually-impaired 11-year-old son, in court in Grenoble.
German actress Sandra Huller adroitly pleads the wife’s case – which is not surprising since director Justine Triet and her writing partner/father of her two children, Arthur Harari, wrote the enigmatic script with Sandra in mind.
“I was captivated,” Huller has said in interviews. “I’d never read anything like this – the division of power between modern couples – and I wanted to find out if she did it…but Justine never told me!”
What is revealed is that, while Sandra is German, she came to live in France, where Samuel grew up. Noting that their marriage was based on “intellectual stimulation,” she admits that she’s committed adultery and has engaged a lawyer, Vincent Renzi (Swann Arlaud), with whom she was once involved.
“I did not kill him!” Sandra testifies, so her defense centers on the assertion that Samuel committed suicide.
FYI: Despite its acclaim, “Anatomy of a Fall” cannot win an Oscar as Best International Film. Why? Because France did not submit it. Instead, the title selected was “The Taste of Things” (“La passion de Dodin Bouffant”), a period romance revolving around ancient French cuisine. Even after France’s snub, Triet’s film is, however, eligible for nomination in other categories.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Anatomy of a Fall” is a psychologically intense, elusive 8, streaming on Prime Video, iTunes and Vudu.
