Writer/Director: Justine Triet
Starring: Sandra Huller, Milo Machado-Graner, Samuel Theis
‘Powerful Drama’
It takes courage to overcome a broken marriage. Everyone recalls the time when their parents endured a sad separation. It’s difficult to forget marriage stories. In marriages facing declines, parents can’t build children a place beyond the pines. From a personal perspective, I saw negative impact of divorce on relatives. At an early age, I witnessed my aunt’s blue valentine marriage decline. Years ago, divorce threw my aunt’s dreams out the rear window. In a sad incident, my aunt had heated arguments with husbands causing resentment. Before midnight, my aunt had a fight proving a shocking sight. Experiencing sleepless states, I was speechless seeing my aunt have arguments that were endless. Truth be told, I was four years old. As a child, I couldn’t see why my aunt filed for divorce from spouses that smiled. After all, I had always believed she was in crazy stupid love. Before the marriage’s end, my uncle was a friend. As caring as Kramer, he secured kids’ future. Shining light in darkness, he ensured children’s happiness. I soon became fond of an uncle with whom I formed a bond. However, divorce ended bonds forever. After the marriage’s endings, I couldn’t find silver linings. Unable to handle the truth, loss of relatives impacted my youth. Like gone girls that disappear, loss caused despair. Years after my aunt separated for good, I’ve understood negative impact of divorce on kids in boyhood. Ultimately, the message I learnt is scenes from a marriage face damage.
As someone recalling devastating marriage downfall, I couldn’t help fall in love with Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall”. Intimate, haunting and thoughtful, it demonstrates downfall of marriages. With her Palme d’Or winning feature, Triet paints multidimensional portraits of murders causing marriages to deteriorate. Boasting breathtaking production-design, engrossing storytelling and phenomenal performances, it’s a fantastic French film. Although “Anatomy of a Fall” is unforgettable, it has pitfalls. It lacks compelling conclusions. Nevertheless, it provides thought-provoking entertainment pleasing courtroom drama fans.
Amidst France, “Anatomy of a Fall” follows a woman accused of committing husband’s murder by circumstance. Sandra Huller embodies Sandra, a female novelist experiencing marriage disaster. However, Sandra’s destiny changes after becoming suspect of husband Samuel’s murder. Facing broken hearts hard to mend, Sandra and her blind son Daniel have to defend themselves from legal end. Experiencing intense trial, Sandra questions whether marriages are ever worthwhile.
Justine Triet gravitates towards marriages. Her debut “Age of Panic” documented tragic marriage in an age of panic. With “Anatomy of a Fall”, however, Triet constructs courtroom dramas. It’s Triet’s attempt capturing French marriages, but she succeeds. Using spellbinding cinematography, Triet captures marriage tragedy. Evoking Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation”, Triet uses blocking capturing a separation. Blocking elevates the scene where Sandra’s interview with students is interrupted by her husband’s loud music blasted. It reminded me of experiences listening to aunts screaming all night leaving me sleepless. Blocking is tricky. As Richard Linklater’s “Before Midnight” proved, blocking elevate romance. David O. Russel’s “Silver Linings Playbook” suggested blocking elevate bipolar dramas. Nevertheless, it succeeds. Alongside cinematographer Simon Beaufils, Triet demonstrates marriage downfall. Triet captures marriage, crafting theatrical viewing.
If marriage downfall doesn’t attract attention, however, there’s reasons to see “Anatomy of a Fall”. From a technical perspective, odds are unlikely you’ll see a foreign-language film that’s as impressive. Celebrating Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story”, Triet employs sounds demonstrating couples arguing. For instance, sounds elevate the recording scene. During this heartbreaking scene, Daniel hears recordings of parents arguing in courtrooms. One acknowledges sounds recalling Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story”. It reminded me of my aunt’s conflicted argument with husbands showcasing resentment. Employing sound-design, Triet demonstrates couples in marriages experiencing decline. Sounds are complicated. As Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” demonstrated, sounds elevated 1950’s classics. However, it succeeds. Furthermore, music is extraordinary. Commemorating Robert Benton’s “Kramer v. Kramer”, it demonstrates marriage disasters. Through awe-inspiring production-design, Triet demonstrates marriages experiencing decline.
Another extraordinary “Anatomy of a Fall” aspect is storytelling. Triet’s screenwriting strength is demonstrating separation by symbolism. In Hollywood, movies infrequently address stress affecting children experiencing divorce process. As case in exemplar: Glenn Ficara and John Requa’s “Crazy Stupid Love” demonstrated children rising above divorce process in crazy stupid love. Fortunately, however, “Anatomy of a Fall” avoids pitfalls. Evoking Derek Cianfrance’s “The Place Beyond the Pines”, Triet employs symbolism showing parent-child bonds before divorce problem. Like photos reminding Jason of criminal fathers, dogs remind Daniel of fathers after murder. Throughout the movie, the dog Snoop symbolizes Daniel’s bond with fathers. Symbolism elevates scenes where Daniel remembers his father using dogs for support in court. It reignited memories of uncles impacting identity before catastrophes. Symbolism is complicated. As David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” suggested, symbolism elevates thrillers. Robert Mulligan’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” demonstrated symbolism elevates adaptations. Nevertheless, it succeeds. Through thought-provoking storytelling, Triet demonstrates separation.
One appreciates astonishing performances.
Sandra Huller delivers a career-defining performance as Sandra. Huller accomplished appreciation portraying happily married women in Mare Aden’s “Toni Erdmann”. It’s challenging capturing personalities of women facing marriage tragedy, but Huller succeeds. Celebrating Liv Ullmann in Ingmar Bergman’s “Scenes from a Marriage”, Huller captures personality of a woman facing damage in broken marriage. With mesmerizing expressions, she captures bravery, desperation and resentment of a woman endeavoring to prove innocence in murder investigations. It’s a phenomenal performance.
Milo Machado-Graner is magnificent as a blind child struggling to find ways to leave traumatizing pasts behind. In breakthrough role, Graner uses body language to capture blind children’s emotional toll. Commemorating Danny Lloyd in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”, Graner embodies a shining adolescent mourning separation. Whether he’s shocked hearing recordings of parents arguing or tearing up at dogs dying, Graner embodies separation’s impact on children by body language. For a first-time actor in French Cinema, Graner showcases immense charisma behind the camera. It’s a star-making performance.
Finally, “Anatomy of a Fall” would earn appreciation of everyone witnessing broken marriages in boyhood. Evoking Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood”, it captures negative impact of divorce on children during boyhood. It discusses themes including marriage, professions and trauma. Viewers aren’t required to have French identities to appreciate the movie. Its message would engage everyone experiencing doomed marriage. Consequently, everyone will fall in love with “Anatomy of a Fall”.
Despite universal message, however, “Anatomy of a Fall” can’t demonstrate damage of couples in deteriorating marriage. Triet’s decisions concluding movies without verdicts is commendable but doesn’t succeed. It’s an ambiguous conclusion without satisfying resolution leaving movie-goers with questions. Whereas this conclusion elevated Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine”, it clashes with this movie’s realism. As Rob Reiner’s “A Few Good Men” demonstrated, courtroom dramas are successful when constructing conclusions for a few good men. Consequently, “Anatomy of a Fall” falls short.
Nevertheless, fans of courtroom dramas will recognize “Anatomy of a Fall” and so will audiences giving acknowledgements to marriages. A captivating drama, it celebrates couples whose misunderstood marriages impact kids throughout boyhood. An astonishing anatomy of falling marriage among French couples that experience institutionalizations tragedy, it could lead kids to recover from divorce by honoring caregivers influencing institutionalization identity.
A magnificent depiction of couples making major decisions to end marriage stories which face tragedies, it’s a marvelous reminder of negative effects devastating divorces lawsuits have on children facing adversities.
Like precious motorcycles passed on to sons by bank robber fathers, it’s a powerful reminder of bonds children form with parents building a place beyond the pines securing their future before divorce disasters.
If movies can give hope to children whose parents make devastating decisions to file for a separation, hopefully it would incite kids to recover from divorce by celebrating parents giving their lives direction.
As powerful as Sandra’s claim to prove she’s innocent, it has motivated me to move on years after an incident where my aunt had a heated argument filing divorce settlement cherishing joyous memory of uncles with whom I built an attachment.
4.5/5 stars
The Film Buff 
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