The Truth We Choose to Believe
| Title: | Anatomy of a Fall |
| Watchable: |  |
| Director: | Justine Triet |
| Writer: | Justine Triet, Arthur Harari |
| Lead Performances: | Sandra Hüller (Sandra Voyter), Milo Machado Graner (Daniel) |
Sandra interrupts her trial testimony to declare "No one understands what a couple represents because it creates complete disorder which makes everyone lose their way."The word "chaos" has remained in my mind since she used it during her court proceedings. The relationship between people creates an unmanageable situation which makes them unable to understand its structure.
The movie "Anatomy of a Fall" by Justine Triet shows a dead body in snow with wine-like blood to explore the hidden aspects of human relationships and our need to understand unexplainable occurrences.
The film maintains a distant perspective from its first moments until the end. The graduate student conducts an interview with Sandra until the steel drum version of "P.I.M.P." starts playing repeatedly from upstairs. She tells him her husband works at the moment. The man passed away during the first hour of their conversation. The question remains whether he fell or someone pushed him. We need to understand the fundamental reason which demands us to acquire all available knowledge.
Sandra Hüller maintains a continuous transformation between her genuine self and her courtroom persona throughout the entire performance. During the French language struggle she experiences a complete physical contraction of her body. The language difference creates an additional distortion which distorts our understanding of her character. The situation made it impossible for me to decide if she used strategic thinking or if she was actually confused while using deception or showing actual uncertainty. She displayed these two emotions at different moments during the time. She showed no emotions whatsoever.
The film presents a recorded argument between Sandra and her husband which occurred on the night before his death as its central focus. The court presentation of the recording leads to a single flashback in the film. Sandra claims that the recorded argument does not show their actual behavior. The recording contains our voices but it does not show our true nature. The distinction between spoken words and actual actions caused me to become confused. What remains after our spoken words and physical movements disappear into nothingness?
The film achieves its highest point during Daniel's most difficult situation. Milo Machado Graner delivers a devastating performance as Daniel who tries to restore his parents' relationship through court supervision after their relationship collapsed. The character's inability to see everything perfectly serves as a powerful metaphor yet Triet chooses to leave it untouched. The character cannot view everything that exists in front of him. The audience shares the same inability to understand everything.
The prosecutor and defense attorney present their individual interpretations of Sandra and her marriage and the events from that day to the court. The two accounts appear genuine to me. The two accounts seem to lack essential information. The film presents no solution to determine which account represents the truth because this absence serves as the main objective. The audience functions as a jury which seeks a complete explanation to resolve the case.
The theater experience brought me an unpleasant feeling which made me less connected to people in my social circle. I have developed numerous stories about my relationships which I believed to be factual. I have taken numerous instances of disorder and transformed them into false explanations.
The film presents no solution to its mystery. The experience made me aware of how little we understand about our ability to understand things.
