Anatomie d'une chute: our opinion of Justine Triet's excellent Palme d'Or winner

Justine Triet's new film, Anatomie d'une Chute, winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, arrives in cinemas this Wednesday, August 23. With Sandra Hüller and Swann Arlaud in the cast, this trial film richly deserves its award.

Justine Triet's latest film, Anatomie d'une chute, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The thriller stars Sandra Hüller and Swann Arlaud, and follows the story of a family confronted with the suspicious death of their father, and the ensuing trial in which the mother is accused of murder. Scheduled for release on August 23.

Anatomy of a Fall trailer

He's a teacher, she's a writer and their son, Daniel, is an 11-year-old visually impaired boy. The three of them live in a remote châlet near Grenoble, but their lives are turned upside down when Samuel, the father of the family, falls to his death in mysterious circumstances. Suicide or homicide? It's impossible to say, and his wife Sandra is soon suspected of the murder. A trial is held to settle the matter and examine the anatomy of the fall.

For her fourth feature film, Justine Triet once again impresses. After La Bataille de Solférino, Victoria and Sybil, the filmmaker makes a true declaration of love to her actress, Sandra Hüller, with this magnificent role tailor-made for the German actress, who would have been a shoo-in for the acting prize.

Anatomy of a Fall is a relentless trial film in which the filmmaker reinvents the highly codified genre. The lawyers dissect the couple's lives, exposing the worst of each other's dirt to determine the truth, before the eyes of little Daniel, traumatized by the death of his father. The latter is brilliantly played by Milo Machado Graner, and a magnificently staged testimonial scene puts him at the center of the plot for a few minutes, showing the extent of his talent.

Samuel's death is an inextricable enigma, and Justine Triet never settles on the truth. She and her partner, cinematographer Arthur Harari, have penned a finely honed, highly effective screenplay. The film gradually turns into a pure thriller, and takes our breath away at its climax, the film's central sequence, a couple's argument in flashback. The staging, the cutting of the action and, above all, the performance of the two actors. This scene alone establishes Anatomy of a Fall as one of the best films in the Cannes Festival 's official selection, and earns it a well-deserved Palme d'Or.

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Justine Triet's Anatomie d'une Chute: the Palme d'Or 2023 arrives in cinemas - Reviews and trailer

Anatomy of a Fall trailer

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