Anatomy of a Fall

Combined Rating: 7.95 (Peter 9, Dad 6.9)
Combined Best Picture Ranking: #6 (Peter #3, Dad #9)

Peter: The most contentious disagreement between the two of us. I was disappointed to hear his lukewarm reaction to this stellar film. The brilliant trick of Anatomy of a Fall is not that it’s a whodunit that’s never definitively solved, which, yes, is obvious from the opening website link. That’s a banal detail compared to the powerful and devastatingly human story that’s being told here. “Devastatingly human” is a term I’d use to describe all of my top 3 entries. 

Joe: Over time, I’ve grown to appreciate this movie more than when we originally walked out of the theater. Without question, this one suffered for me by being sandwiched between the viewing of a far more powerful movie the night before and a more emotionally satisfying movie the night after (what will end up being the top 2 movies in our combined ratings). 

Peter: There’s also a dog in this ensemble, and he’s as excellent as the human cast. 

Joe: So true. Might be a Top 3 dog performance of all time for me. Old Yeller? Nope, dead. Marley? Annoying. Also dead. I’d probably have to go with Toto at #1 — pound for pound, the most badass dog in cinema. I’d put Snoop next — unlike Marley and Yeller, death comes for him but he drinks some salt water and says, Not Today! And then at #3, I’m going with Snots from Christmas Vacation. One of a kind performer who makes the most of his limited screen time. 

Peter: Sandra Hüller holds this film on her shoulders with a powerhouse performance. My favorite of all the acting nominees this year, without question. If she pulls an upset, I’d be ecstatic. It’s the kind of performance that feels very lived-in and nuanced, but also just explodes off the screen. 

Joe: Somewhere, brow furrowed, Julianne Moore is saying WTF? Hüller is superb; she acts without a shred of phoniness. Her character is an egomaniac who I found to be both unlikeable and unlovable, yet somehow I ended up rooting for her to escape the clutches of the court system. 

Peter: Milo Machado Graner, a newcomer who is not, in fact, actually blind, also really impressed me with his soulful performance. I maintain that he and Sandra are kind of like co-leads in what I would consider to be more of a coming-of-age story than a courtroom drama. 

Joe: Here is exactly where Peter’s movie-watching depth leaves me still paddling in the shallow end. I will freely admit it — I wanted the damned murder to be solved. I was praying for the last scene to be Sandra coming home from the acquittal, going up to the attic, and then pulling a bloody aluminum bat out of the floorboard while her lips curl into a thin, sinister smile. Spoiler: that did not happen. 

Peter: It’s a story, first and foremost, about the destructive power of change. The key moment of the entire film is when, after Sandra is acquitted, her son tells her “I was worried about you coming home.” Sandra responds saying that she was worried about coming home. Daniel deals with the irreparable damage of understanding, while Sandra deals with the irreparable damage of being understood or “seen.” 

Joe: Once again, Peter’s maturity runs laps around mine. I would have been giddy if, instead, Daniel had said to his mother, “I see you’ve been swinging your bat…” Fade to credits. 

Peter: Those courtroom scenes, where all of this couple’s secrets are unleashed, are fascinating and do make one wonder what’s going on in the French courts… but the most interesting part is when they cut to Daniel’s reaction as his innocence is stripped away. The last 15 or so minutes really make the movie for me. There’s so much poignancy in the crushing reality of all of it. Sandra talking about feeling completely empty after the acquittal really connected with me, as did the part about not wanting to be “seen” crying on the subway. Man, what a great character! I love that the core mystery is never solved. The complexity and gray areas are so much more interesting. As I said before, the courtroom stuff is solid. Perhaps one criticism could be that the prosecutor is cartoonishly exaggerated, but I have to admit he adds a lot of fun. The fight between Sandra and her husband is the most praised scene, deservedly so. Absolute edge-of-your-seat stuff. If the Oscar winners were based solely on the acting clips submitted, Huller would easily win assuming that was her submission. 

Joe: I agree. I think this is the scene that has won the movie a couple of major screenplay wins already. She kind of kicks his ass in the argument with a shocking lack of compassion “You’re coldhearted. You have no pity,” he says near the end of the exchange. She replies, “Yes, and you have way too much for yourself.” Whoo that’s a tough one. 

Peter: The quieter moments of these phenomenally well-rounded characters’ layers being subtly revealed have really stuck with me as well. We’ve also got what is, for my money, the best opening scene of the year. I didn’t know that particular 50 Cent song going in, but there’s something very provocative about it on full volume. Great choice, Justine. 

Joe: That was some of the most unpleasant and extended use of diegetic music — a concept I learned from Peter — that I’ve experienced, perhaps ever. I’ve never been a fan of steel drums in the first place but now I truly hate them. Triet is an extremely manipulative director. Yes, the nonstop cacophony was shorthand for a power play between a married couple on the edge, but I also imagine it was meant to unsettle us in the audience. It succeeded — it put me in a foul mood that I never quite shook off for the rest of the movie. 

Peter: Justine is making a lot of provocative choices here, with the almost mockumentary-like filmmaking style being another example of what I was talking about previously with enhancing a message through aesthetics and form. Well-deserved Director nomination and I think she will be taking home the win for Original Screenplay. The case of why it wasn’t submitted as France’s International Feature has probably been cracked. Justine Triet made a very anti-French-government speech, which the French government did not appreciate. What I think is amazing is that after another film that clearly didn’t have as much passion as this one (The Taste of Things) was selected instead, Triet was a good sport about it and called The Taste of Things “boring and annoying.” A level of pettiness we should all aspire to.