Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Anatomy Of A Fall 

This is a thrilling, well acted and overall one of the best films I’ve seen this year! Now I heard very little about this film expect from word of mouth when it premiered at Cannes earlier this year. All I knew was the performance by Sandra Huller I heard was amazing and that it was a film I should keep my eyes out for which I did. Now I caught a screening of this film late at night and I’m glad I went because the sheer way this film is told in such a tense and layered way kept me totally engaged into the story and it’s chilling, shocking and an outstanding film I hope people go see. It’s a shame a lot of people won’t be seeing this film for the fact it’s a French film and not many people watch foreign films but if you can get past the subtitles the quality of this story is so captivating you’ll be glad you saw it. As it plays out as a courtroom drama that also delves into the possibility of it being a murder case the film walks many lines and does it in such a brutally honest way that you can’t away. 

Firstly, The way this film unfolds in front of you is amazing. As I mentioned it wears many hats in terms of themes as at first it starts off very slow and gradually the tension builds overtime. We see the death of the husband  at the first 10 minutes of the film now the audience we are now left trying to piece together how this man died. The film wastes no time at presenting every possible angle of how he could of died was it Murder, suicide theirs so many possibilities and it draws you in by making a solid case for each single possible scenario and has you questioning which it could be so your always thinking up to the last frame of which was the real way it went down. It’s an amazing way of breaking this story down as if it was going to go the route of let’s say Gone Girl which you could draw some similarities too because the partners in both films are questioned the only difference is that in this film it has a key witness to the case which is their child who was the only person at the house at the time his father died. So we are also seeing the film in many ways from the point of the son and he himself dose not want to think his mother was capable of doing something so horrible or did his father end his life we don’t know and the son is thrust into the media circus of the ongoing investigation. Having that aspect put into the narrative was very engaging as I’ve never seen that in a courtroom drama before it made for such a more heartbreaking lens through the story as the son is torn on listening to the disturbing facts and the opinion of the courts but at the same time the love for his mother is so strong he does not want to think of her in such dark ways. That whole part of the story I found so gripping to see unfold of the dynamic between the mother and the son. Now I have seen a lot of crime/ courtroom films but the way Anatomy Of A Fall presents the facts and the crime at hand felt so raw and real. As the Mother is the one who is thrown into question to if their was any Foul play involved and the way the court runs with the possibility of her murdering her husband is unsettling because they grill her in court and use any arguments they may have had as fuel and or ammunition to present to the jury that it could of set her off to do something so unspeakable. The way they even include a woman to come into her home to observe her relationship with her son to make sure she is not influencing her son’s opinion about the trial. Those details really make the big difference the sheer length the filmmaker Justine Triet went to in order to make this as realistic as possible with how a crime like this would be looked into by the courts and the authorities and then brining the heartbreaking family dynamic into the picture was amazingly well presented into the story. There is never a moment you aren’t locked into the performances, the nail biting story at hand and the sheer brilliant direction. This film takes its time to fully engage the viewer from each aspect and its air tight screenwriting and tones that are explored through the film amazed me and the sheer style and way this film was captured was so well done. 

Secondly, The performance from Sandra Huller is truly outstanding! Now there is quite an impressive cast on this film but the performance everyone is going to take away from this film was the powerful leading performance by Huller. She gives a performance that not only is the best of the year but will stay with you long after the film is over she is truly phenomenal giving an emotionally charged performance of such complexity. Then you have a performance from another actor I think a lot of people aren’t giving enough attention to and that’s Milo Machado - Graner who plays the son Daniel in what is one of the most impressive performances I have seen from such a young actor this year. He has to as I mentioned look at the situation from both sides without being biased and you can see his heart is breaking as each day that passes of him hearing his mother being painted in such a terrible way. On the other hand he has to look at this from a non judgemental point of view but for anyone it would be very hard not to become emotional over something that is so personal to him and he gave a truly terrific performance. He also has great onscreen chemistry with Sandra Huller you really believe their mother son relationship while their relationship starts to strain due to the court case going on. He gives such a solid performance that I hope is not overlooked as he is tremendous in the film. Then you have also Swan Artaud who plays the person defending the mother in question regarding the death of her husband and he works tirelessly to make sure she is taking the proper approach to make sure the courts aren’t looking at her in ways that will not win her the favour of the jury. He looks at each angle as realistically as possible and guides her on what to say and drills her on how the day her husband passed what his mindset was like if their was any resentment or anger between the two that day he makes sure he can fully understand the picture of their marriage so he can have every question answered to the full extent when in court. It is a performance that is not big and bombastic but quiet but yet still gripping and I thought he did a truly great job at playing the defence lawyer who wants the best for her and her child and that genuine emotion is presented so well through his soft spoken but at times firm delivery. Everyone from top to bottom all gave amazing performances but it is the truly special performance from Sandra Huller that will stay with you.

Lastly, Anatomy Of A Fall is one of the best films of the year! It packs a punch with truly outstanding acting, direction, storytelling, editing the film just knocked it out of the park from each department. It also unravels a crime mystery through the view of the family and the sheer emotional tension that led up to the death of the husband. Having the viewer essentially be the jury themselves by looking at the facts and coming to a conclusion on their own if it was Foul play or suicide the film has a open ending so the viewer can sort out what they think the ending is. I loved that aspect as it didn’t go from the angle that the mom did kill her husband but it did present that she could have as well so by having the audience constantly question the morals of the characters was a great way into telling this gripping tale. Anatomy Of A Fall is a brilliant film everyone should run to the theatres to go see I recommend everyone go see this film.

This film revolves around the death of a husband and when the only person who was in the house was his wife and their visually impaired son. 

Rated R : Violent Images|Some Language|Sexual References

Sandra Huller : Huller is breathtaking in this film! Now I haven’t seen reality anything with this actress before viewing her in this film but after seeing her very strong performance in this film I definitely will be keeping an eye out for her as she’s an incredible actor. Now her role in this film is as the mother who goes through so much criticism as she is put under the eye of the law to see if she was capable of murdering her husband. Now how she plays the part of this character is extraordinary as she plays both sides of her heart what I mean by that is when we see the death of her husband occur we are put into the mindset that she is innocent and that she couldn’t of possibly of done this. So we the audience are on the side of her but as the film progresses and we see evidence come to light showing she potentially could have Huller is able to bring not a darkness to her but a mysterious element to her eyes and personality that makes you think could she have gone that far to have killed her husband it is a fantastic hat trick of a performance. As since a lot of the film is spent in the courtroom of her getting grilled by the justice system we see her defending herself that she is innocent but their is a moment where we see an audio recording of her husband and her arguing the day before his death and that argument is visualized onscreen in a crackling scene of such intensive emotion. the scene itself felt so organic and natural it almost feels intrusive to watch as it flows like a real argument the writing is so well done and Huller holds nothing back in those moments letting her true feelings of her marriage be spilled out in sometimes cruel comments. She has the lines she delivers land with such passion that it makes the hairs on your arms stand up. Considering a lot of her performance is very much pulled back as she is trying to look good to impress the law enforcement and the jury she cannot let herself fly off the handle and that is the one time she is listening to that tape with such disappointment within herself that the public saw her loose her control like that in a heated conversation with her husband. As then after that scene ends we see her in a entirely different light thinking sure she is restrained and quiet in court but is that all a show or is that genuine it makes you question everything about her. Huller lights the screen on fire with such fierce and deep rooted emotional sincerity that bleeds through her eyes. You can see when she wants to just let this case be over and think to herself how dare the courts and media spin the narrative that she was a contributing factor to his death. She try to matin that innocence when even the courts think she would use her books she wrote as a way to release her anger about her marriage through her writing and that gets analyzed to the one hundredth degree. She also hates the fact her son has been strung along into this case so you can see the sadness wash over her eyes but when it came to her marriage and them asking her about the mental state of her husband her eyes become dark almost cold looking and she makes you think that she is not telling the courts something. The way she was able to convey so much with her eyes was brilliant her performance is one of my favourite of the year it is so emotionally complex and she stretches herself to each aspect of her heart and has you see such intensity through each frame of the film with her fantastic performance on full display. She plays it so subtle but yet its the loudest and most memorable performance of the whole film she truly is a tour de force and has you feel for her but also scared of her all at once its a terrific performance by Huller. 

Milo Machado - Graner  : Milo gives a performance that will get so overlooked and it’s a damn shame! Milo is a young actor who I also have not seen any prior work of before this film but altering seeing his heartbreaking turn in the film I definitely wanna see want to see what work he does after this film. He plays a visually challenged son who is thrust into the media circus of his fathers death. Now he has the most devastating character in the film for the fact his mother is being ripped apart in court and having to hear such terrible things be said about his mom and then at the same time deal with the death of his dad who his mother could be potentially responsible for. In the beginning of the film you can see he thinks his mom had nothing to do with the death of his father but as the court case drags on and he tries to keep himself together and not get emotional which would break most people you see his perspective on his mother shift in the second half of the film. As the courts originally did not want him present in court due to the dark things that could come to light about his mom he confronts them and tells them head on that regardless if they let him sit in on the trial or not he will still look it up online he will find a way to keep up with it so them dismissing his presence in court wouldn’t change anything. Now with him being heavily involved in wanting to know if his mom is innocent or not they keep a woman in the house with him and his mother so she does not talk about the case outside of the courthouse so she won’t influence his opinion on the charges she is accused of. One of the best aspects of his performance is the scenes he has with his mother in the house while the case is going on. As we see his relationship with her start to strain and become way more distant and he begins to question his mothers innocence and by the middle point of the film he can’t even look at her anymore as he is so disgusted with her especially after that recording is played that day. His performance is heart shattering as he is being pulled into two different directions he wants to believe his mom but he also has to look at the hard facts right in front of him that point to her potentially being capable for the death of his father. He has a few scenes where he cries and or just emotionally shuts down to how draining the trial has had on his heart and he shows it with such raw exhaustion of his soul Milo Machado - Garner gives a incredibly strong turn in this film that shouldn’t be ignored. 

Justine Triet : Justine gave such astonishing filmmaking with her work on this film! She gave such tremendous direction on a story that could have been such a generic courtroom drama but instead with her great vision and style brings something that stays with you long after the film is over. As the film deals with the death of a husband she brings such a realistic look at how something like this would play out both in the courts but also how it would affect the home of the people who have to deal with all and the mental toll it takes on them. Taking that approach in researching everything almost to a detective point of researching to accurately showcase how this plays out really made the film pop in ways most courtroom dramas don’t. From the very beginning of the film you are right away intrigued into the story even in the smaller moments with the mother talking to her lawyer you cannot take your eyes off the screen if its from the razor sharp writing, fantastic direction and style that never felt over flashy or even the solid performances at the centre of it. This film works on each level and never has a dull moment Justine captures the anxiety and madness of it all and makes the audience feel like their in the courtroom with how the camera is even positioned its very tight angles that whip back and forth between the mother and the people questioning her so you can feel the tension rise. She not only has you care yes about the mother and how she wants to be proven innocent of any wrongdoing but she also shifts focus on how this sort of situation would affect the children or child involved and I loved she included that as it may seem small for some but it makes a big impact. She also shows was he pushed, did he jump they analyze each possible way down to the positioning of how he fell and where his head landed the amount of detail put into this film is amazing it made you feel like you were watching a documentary. As the performances felt so natural and organic and the story felt so real her approach to telling this story of the death of this father and husband isn’t presented as a thriller but a drama that shows the workings of the justice system and how they can spin any narrative to make someone even slightly seem like they could of murdered their loved one just from a argument they had a day or days prior and use that against the person as ammunition to fuel their case against them. Even if they’re innocent or not they can make it work in their favour and it’s terrifying how realistic this film takes that theme and presents it in such a brutally real way. Justine gives such pitch perfect direction that is among one of the most subtle but affective directed films of the year.