Anatomy of a Fall
A suspenseful courtroom drama seems a typically American genre. However, the French are also quite good at it, as we recently saw in Alice Diops Saint Omer. Director Justine Triet proves it once again with her new film, Anatomy of a Fall, which won her the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival and five European Film Awards, among others. The lead role in this film is played by German actress Sandra Hüller, who must now be counted among Europe's leading actresses.
Samuel Maleski lies dead in front of his house in the French Alps. He fell from his balcony, but how was this possible? Was it suicide, or was he pushed? The only witnesses are Samuel's wife Sandra and their blind son Daniel. Suspicion falls on Sandra and she consequently ends up in the dock. The prosecutor goes to great lengths to prove Sandra's guilt, but her lawyer Vincent Renzi goes equally far to exonerate her.
Anatomy of a Fall has already won numerous awards. Last Saturday night (for us, Sunday morning), it won one more award: the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, a screenplay co-written by director Justine Triet herself. Reason enough to bring one more to the big screen. In Rialto De Pijp with Dutch subtitles, in Rialto VU with English ones.
