It’s an understatement to sayAnatomy of a fall that it was our favorite film of 2023. Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Oscar for best screenplay… the feature film of Justine Trietco-written with his companion Arthur Harariswept through Hollywood like a tidal wave that no one expected. “When we started writing this project with my life and work partner Arthur Harari, we were in the middle of a pandemic, stuck in our apartment, and strangely, no one died. I remember we were like, ‘Okay, we’re having a lot of fun, but this is way too radical and dark. No one is going to see this movie. It’s too long, they talk all the time, there’s not enough music, a couple fighting, a suicide, a dog vomiting.’ But I wanted to make this film. I don’t know exactly how things worked out but I’m so happy. I was able to do exactly what I love” declared the filmmaker on the stage of the Golden Globes while receiving the award for best screenplay. It is precisely this scenario that is now being released in literary form, in a commented version accompanied by drawings by David Lynch.
The tidal wave ofAnatomy of a fall
We remember it like it was yesterday. There were 21 contenders. 21 films in the running for the Palme d’Or. After 11 days of competition, the jury of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, then chaired by Ruben Östlundfinally awarded the ultimate reward to the French director Justine Triet. Once it arrived in theaters, the film flirted with 2 million admissions, placing itself as the biggest success for a Palme d’Or since Between the wallsof Laurent singsin 2008. However, on paper, Anatomy of a fall could indeed prove a little too austere to become a blockbuster. An unlikeable heroine, accused of the murder of her husband, a chalet lost in the snowy mountains, a visually impaired child, a gray court, two and a half hours long and a cast depleted of stars. But on the big screen, the whole thing becomes magnetic, played and filmed with precision, tightened by an implacable narration whose verdict is crystal clear – unlike the innocence of its protagonist, which divides the spectators… If we add an excellent sense of editing, provided by Laurent Sénéchaland admirable shots, we obtain a masterful trial film.
Carried by the interpretation of Sandra Huellerthe film of Justine Triet denounces the treatment of extraordinary women by society. Sandra’s character is in every way the nemesis of the patriarchy: an ambitious bisexual woman, she is unequivocally more famous and more talented than her husband, who works in the same field as her – literature. Just as many traits which will be criticized by the terrible lawyer played by Antoine Reinartzannoying in bad faith. With its impeccable casting, the film allows the very young Milo Machado Graner to win his first nomination for the César, as best male revelation.
