Who doesn't love a good legal drama? Anatomy of a Fall follows Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller), a successful novelist living the small French village of Grenoble, with her husband Samuel Malesiki (Samuel Theis) and their son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), who suffers from blindness as a result of an accident. One day, Samuel is found dead outside of the home, and immediately, suspicion is cast upon Sandra. The film follows the investigation and court proceedings, and the impact this has the characters' personal lives and relationships.
Anatomy of the Fall is long, mostly subtitled (although there's a healthy dose of English, as Sandra - both in real life and her character - is German and her French isn't as good), and sometimes plodding. I can totally see people checking out of this movie, but I think it's one of those films that really rewards patience. It's about a lot of thing and interestingly, I could contrast this movie with May/December in that it examines and deconstructs "true crime" as a genre, just in a far more serious and dramatic way. We often forget these are real people with real lives that we're talking about.
This is communicated perhaps most potently by Sandra Hüller and Milo Machado Graner, whom are truly incredible in this. I was really surprised by Graner, who delivers a truly remarkable and powerhouse performance here, especially towards the end. To those who bemoan child actors, watch this movie. THIS is a child actor at his absolute best.
I also really loved how this film drip feeds information about the family and the story; the scene is set up pretty well in the beginning, with lots of little odd details that come into play later (best of which is the rendition of 50 Cent's P. I. M. P that has a surprisingly important role in the story). Just like any salacious trial of public interest, there are always twists and turns that come up and I felt the film captured that really well.
Also, for law nerds in the audience, I personally don't know if this is an accurate depiction of the French legal system or not, but it certainly is a compelling one. I found myself really interested in the more inquistorial aspect of it all; where the judges seem to play more of a "fact finding" role more than a "neutral mediator" role, more akin to the Anglo-American common law system.
Yeah, this is a really good movie; I do think it has some issues with pacing and takes a little while to get going. It's competently made and very intelligent, but to use a comparison to a film I mentioned before (May/December), I think a bit more stylization and energy would've benefitted it. But certainly a recommendation and one of those films that you couldn't really imagine being made in the USA nowadays.
Anatomy of the Fall is long, mostly subtitled (although there's a healthy dose of English, as Sandra - both in real life and her character - is German and her French isn't as good), and sometimes plodding. I can totally see people checking out of this movie, but I think it's one of those films that really rewards patience. It's about a lot of thing and interestingly, I could contrast this movie with May/December in that it examines and deconstructs "true crime" as a genre, just in a far more serious and dramatic way. We often forget these are real people with real lives that we're talking about.
This is communicated perhaps most potently by Sandra Hüller and Milo Machado Graner, whom are truly incredible in this. I was really surprised by Graner, who delivers a truly remarkable and powerhouse performance here, especially towards the end. To those who bemoan child actors, watch this movie. THIS is a child actor at his absolute best.
I also really loved how this film drip feeds information about the family and the story; the scene is set up pretty well in the beginning, with lots of little odd details that come into play later (best of which is the rendition of 50 Cent's P. I. M. P that has a surprisingly important role in the story). Just like any salacious trial of public interest, there are always twists and turns that come up and I felt the film captured that really well.
Also, for law nerds in the audience, I personally don't know if this is an accurate depiction of the French legal system or not, but it certainly is a compelling one. I found myself really interested in the more inquistorial aspect of it all; where the judges seem to play more of a "fact finding" role more than a "neutral mediator" role, more akin to the Anglo-American common law system.
Yeah, this is a really good movie; I do think it has some issues with pacing and takes a little while to get going. It's competently made and very intelligent, but to use a comparison to a film I mentioned before (May/December), I think a bit more stylization and energy would've benefitted it. But certainly a recommendation and one of those films that you couldn't really imagine being made in the USA nowadays.