ANATOMY OF A FALL (2023) ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Justine Triet
Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner,
Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis, Jehnny Beth,
Anne Rotger, Camille Rutherford, Sophie Fillières
A man falls to his death from the upper level of a chalet in the French Alps. Was it suicide, or something else? Circumstantial evidence implicates the man's wife, and there's an inquest and an indictment and a trial. In fact, it's never entirely clear what happened, and the movie, which puts the viewer in the position of being a juror, hinges not so much on want you know as what you decide to believe. You can see where its sympathies lie, but the film never overplays its hand. There's always an element of doubt. Sandra Hüller, with no makeup and often in tight closeup, is devastating in the lead and got an Oscar nomination for her performance. Swann Arlaud as her attorney, Milo Machado-Graner as her visually impaired son (a key witness) and the entire supporting cast combine to convey a sense that if justice isn't arbitrary, it's at least ambiguous. The movie's two and a half hours long, and you don't want to miss any of it. Considering the subject matter, the similarity between its title and Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder" can't be accidental.
