Here’s the NEON-released trailer for Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall.” It deservedly won the Palme d’Or last month at Cannes. Sandra Huller should have probably won the Best Actress prize as well, but the jury wanted to spread the wealth.
“Anatomy of a Fall” is a staggering 150 minute achievement, a Hitchcockian puzzle. It’s no surprise to hear that Triet had originally envisioned it as a TV mini-series before being convinced of shooting it as a movie. This is the kind of film that would easily fit as a high-quality HBO mini series, and I do mean that as a compliment.
In my 05.21.23 review of the film, I called it an “automatic Palme d’Or contender.” Sandra Hüller plays Sandra, a German-born, France-based novelist who gets accused of killing her husband. Coincidences and clues start to pile up, but there’s still an uncertainty that invades this film.
At its best, this is a film about the unknowable, the frustrating aspects of life’s unanswered questions. Triet tackles the intimate stories that we tell, the truths, and falsehoods, that slip through the cracks. The ambiguity here is damn-near perverse.