Anatomy of a Fall

Flawless, pure dramatic form with the magnetic Sandra Hüller and a fantastic child actor. The film’s strength flows from the way it takes the central detective mystery from the field of a procedural crime movies to that of a character study with the child protagonist at the center. The post-Cannes hype was enormous, though I had mild reservations about Anatomy of a Fall due to the fact that it is in some respects too cold and professorial. (06/07/2023)

So this is a crime drama a little different from what the distributors have taught us to know. It doesn't move forward through plot shocks or emotional flip-flops. It always speaks to the viewer quietly, impersonally, but never insensitively. It follows the storylines of the investigation and trial with pinpoint accuracy and factually questions what we think we know – without ever fully answering what we think we need to know. This approach might seem unentertaining and peculiar, but despite its unjustified length, it became more and more appealing to me. (05/12/2023)

I was quite curious about Anatomy of a Fall due to the positive reviews and its success at all kinds of festivals, and after watching it I can agree that it is definitely a noteworthy film. It skillfully mixes relationship and courtroom drama and thanks to the suspenseful story, in which the pieces of the puzzle are gradually and efficiently put together, it manages to keep the viewer extremely interested for almost the entire duration. Anatomy of a Fall is first and foremost an acting tour-de-force by Sandra Hüller, whose character is incredibly plastic, you don’t really doesn't know which "judgement" (guilty or innocent) to lean towards for most of the time. Among the other performances, the young Daniel and the slick Antoine Reinartz also deserve praise. I would criticise the film for its somewhat tedious conclusion and also the form of the decisive testimony in the case – I guess I was expecting "something more". But if you look at it from a certain point of view, the film can seem ambiguous and open at the end, which can certainly be assessed positively. Either way, Anatomy of a Fall is definitely worth a watch. P. S. (Spoiler alert!) Poor dog! (23/01/2024)

Justine Triet delivers a superbly written and filmed study of family ties at a moment of the greatest test of trust, but to be honest, it passed me by in a big way. This long, largely procedural drama is unfortunately as cold as the snout of the dog starring in it, and consequently as cold as the mountain setting in which it takes place. It was a creative choice, of course, but all those pivotal dramatic moments that I had to wait a long time for didn't work and didn't interest me at all. Though I somewhat enjoyed the ambiguity of some of the messages, I am still far from enthusiastic as a viewer. [KVIFF 2023] (27/07/2023)

This is your quintessential festival film. A seemingly ordinary plot is shot in a supposedly realistic and inventive way. However, it ends up being incredibly cold, grim, and difficult to engage with. While I understand the hype — having seen a few films like this before — it just didn’t do it for me. 150 minutes of pure cinematic coldness. (05/02/2024)