“Anatomy of a Fall” Focus on the invisible The Truth

true hero

Thus, this film is open to multiple interpretations. What makes this possible is, first of all, Sandra Hüller's performance, which leaves room for interpretation. And of course, the film itself, like her performance, is thoroughly ambiguous. Even when testimony is shown on film, it is an image imagined in the mind of the person listening to the testimony, and does not objectively reflect the actual events themselves. Only Sandra (and Samuel) know The Truth, and both the words spoken by the prosecution and the words spoken by the defense are merely subjective "interpretations" of the situation, and there is no end to interpretations. In that case, the trial is not a place to discover The Truth, but only a place to decide which story, the prosecution or the defense, is more persuasive. Many courtroom films include an epilogue that overturns the verdict after it has been handed down, because of this inherent weakness of the trial itself.

Who will settle this battle of interpretations? Daniel holds the key here. In fact, a large part of the trial scenes can be considered as Daniel's recollections as he plays the piano, as he appears with the caption "One year later" (*4). Most of the scenes in which the testimony is visualized also begin with him imagining the scene. During the trial, Sandra is often seen in shots over Daniel's shoulder (pseudo point-of-view shots). One could even say that Daniel is the true protagonist and true narrator of this film.

“Anatomy of a Fall” ©2023 LFP – Les Films Pelléas / Les Films de Pierre / France 2 Cinéma / Auvergne‐Rhône‐Alpes Cinéma

Daniel's situation, in which his vision is severely limited due to his visual impairment, can also be seen as a metaphor for the situation of the audience, in which information is only partially provided. In fact, there is no need to use the word metaphor; in terms of the amount of information he has, he is in a similar situation to us. In the scenes in which Daniel answers questions during questioning, there are very few shots capturing the facial expressions of the interrogators. Without cutaways, Daniel's facial expressions are shown endlessly, strongly conveying his confusion, bewilderment, and feelings of helplessness. In the scene in which he gives his first testimony in court, Daniel dutifully turns his face to the interrogators every time the prosecutor and defense lawyer ask him questions, but here too there are almost no cutaways, and the camera moves in an arc to keep his face in focus. As a result, we can visibly understand that Daniel is being "manipulated."

Furthermore, Daniel learns about the problems his parents had, so it goes without saying that his mental situation becomes even more difficult. However, despite this, he does not give up on facing The Truth. Even though he is advised not to attend the trial because hurtful stories will come up, he heads to the courtroom. He strains his eyes, which have a limited field of vision, and tries his best to see. Then the time for decision comes. The only one who can bring the trial to an end is Daniel, the narrator of the trial. The situation will move towards a resolution when he repeats the same gestures he made when he found his father in the snow with his loved one.

(*1) A ball bouncing down a staircase isn't just a horror movie. For example, this motif was used to effectively heighten the suspense in Fritz Lang's espionage thriller " Coat and Dagger " (46), in which Gary Cooper plays a physicist who is said to be one of the models for Robert Oppenheimer. The oldest example of this use that I have been able to confirm is the mystery film The Bat Whispers (30) directed by Roland West, which was also one of the earliest widescreen films, but it may date back even further. I would like to thank Katsuyuki Nanba and Hiroshi Nishida for their help in searching for examples.

(*2) The original title of this film is Anatomie d'une chute, and the English title is Anatomy of a Fall . It is thought to be a reference to Otto Preminger's courtroom film Anatomy of a Murder ( 59), which was released in Japan under the title A Certain Murder. Strictly speaking, the French title of A Certain Murder is Autopsie d'un meurtre, so one might ask why the original French title is not Autopsie d'une chute, but since Preminger's work is known worldwide by its English title, I think the original French title was chosen after that. This is just my guess. By the way, autopsy is autopsy in English, which means "autopsy".

(*3) https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-10-13/anatomy-of-a-fall-review-palme-dor-winner-sandra-huller-justine-triet

(*4) About 50 minutes into the film, Daniel appears wearing a red sweater and playing the piano with the caption "One year later." The trial has already ended at this point, and he is waiting for the verdict to arrive. The fact that the plot is structured in this way is no secret, and is hinted at several times along the way, but it is not revealed clearly enough for everyone to see until the end of the film.

Text: Naoko Shinogi

Translator and film critic. Translated books include "Fred Astaire Autobiography" and "Edward Yang" (both published by Seidosha), "BOND ON BOND" (Space Shower Network), "The World of Wes Anderson: Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "The World of Wes Anderson: The Grand Budapest Hotel" (both published by DU BOOKS), and "Typography and Design of Science Fiction Movies" (Film Art Publishing).

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"Anatomy of a Fall"

Friday, February 23, 2024 (National Holiday) TOHO Cinemas Chanter and other theaters nationwide

Distribution: Gaga

©2023 LFP – Les Films Pelléas / Les Films de Pierre / France 2 Cinéma / Auvergne‐Rhône‐Alpes Cinéma