2023-05-31 07:32:18
“Anatomy of a Fall”: A Different Cinematic Aesthetic (Press Kit)
The jury of the main competition, at the 76th session (May 16-27, 2023) of the “Cannes” Film Festival, headed by the Swedish Robin Ostlund, awarded the “Golden Palm” for “Anatomy of a Fall”, by the French Justine Trier (1978), participating in the competition / The festival itself for the second time, after “Sibyl” in the 72nd session (May 14-25, 2019). With this victory, Triia is the third director to receive the “Front” award, after New Zealander Jane Campion for “The Piano” (1993), and Frenchwoman Julia Decorno for “Titan” (2021).
Such a victory, considered daring by Ostlund and his committee, would raise the usual question: Was the “Anatomy of the Fall” more worthy and worthy of the “Front”? He asked the question on the one hand, and dealt with the film in isolation from the other awards on the other hand, perhaps they would oppress him a lot. Granting comes mainly according to the vision of the arbitration committee, taking into account the distribution of other prizes, and achieving the greatest possible balance. Especially considering the participation of female directors in a third of the competition films, and their exit without major awards. Did the committee consider this matter? A question to which the answer will never be known.
Away from guesses and questions, does “Anatomy of a Fall”, cinematically and artistically, deserve the highest award at the “Cannes” festival? Compared to competition films, it is easier to answer critically, even compared to other films by female directors competing in competition. As none of them featured any female director who presented something new or attention-grabbing, with the exception of the Italian Alechi Rorficher in her latest and strongest film, “The Illusion”, one of the very important entries in the competition, in general, although it is not easy to interact with or receive in public, compared to “Anatomy of a Fall.” Which will appeal to all ages, tastes and levels.
As for the level of competition films in general, and compared to others, artistic aesthetics, cinematic works, innovations, deep proposals and treatments, “The Wonderful Days” by the German Wim Wenders, “The Old Oak Tree” by the British Ken Loach, “Falling Leaves” by the Finn Aki Kaurismaki, and Area of Interest” by the British Jonathan Glazer, and “On Dry Herbs” by the Turkish Nuri Bilgi Ceylan, stronger, more brilliant, deserving and deserving of the award. However, winning one of these films would have gone to male directors, with the exception of the Best Actress award, of course.
This quick critical discussion does not mean that “Anatomy of a Fall” is not out of place in the award, or that it is cinematically bad, or that it is not artistic. Quite the opposite. The film is made with remarkable craftsmanship, in all its levels, especially the scenario (Teriya and Artur Arari), acting and directing. It is also characterized by a very great amount of suspense, excitement, and mystery, and addresses all tastes, which means that it will receive wide acclaim and acceptance when it is shown to the public. Also, it is difficult to confine it to the genre of crime, investigation and investigation films, or to compare it to the popular and famous series in this genre, which is related to crimes and their analysis.
Sandra Woetter (German Sandra Holler) is a German writer. She lives with her husband, writer Samuel Malesky (French Samuel Theiss), and their son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), who is visually impaired (11 years old), in a mountain chalet in the French Alps. One day, suspicions swirl around her, after she is “accused” of killing her husband, after he fell from the upper window of the chalet. Did Sandra really kill him? how? Why? The questions are confusing, and the interesting events try to answer them, between accurate and detailed investigations, re-enactment of the crime, and lengthy heated trials, which reveal Sandra’s life, her past and secrets, her homosexuality, her complex and ambiguous relationship with her late husband, his recent suffering due to the difficulties of writing, his intense jealousy of her and her literary success, And because of a question about who was responsible for the accident that their son was exposed to, and he lost half of his sight.
The nature of these interwoven complexities is gradually revealed in a long trial, which is decided by the testimony of the son, after the discovery of an audio recording of a heated argument that causes a quarrel between Sandra and her husband, days before his death, which the deceased recorded without her knowledge. Despite this, there is difficulty in resolving the issue, because of the multi-layered and very accurate facts that do not help discover the mystery of the fall, or whether there was a crime or not. All this without slipping into the genre of police films, crime or investigation, with all its lightness, repetition and similarity in facts, circumstances and events.
Until the end of the trial, Sandra finds it extremely difficult to preserve her life, her art, and her love for her son, away from what happened, despite her bold personality, toughness, and psychological balance, and despite being rational to the fullest degree. A very difficult female composition, performed by Sandra Holler with persuasion, sincerity and mastery, for which she deserves the award for Best Actress, or for her role, also wonderful, in Glazer’s “Area of Interest”. However, the rules for awarding the “Golden Palm” prevented her from awarding the award, which was won by Turkish Marvi Dezdash for the role of Noray, in Gilan’s masterpiece, “On Dry Herbs”.
“Anatomy of a Fall” does not stop at dealing with, intensely, powerfully and honestly, socially, psychologically, and humanely, the dynamics of couples and marital life and its deep, confusing complexities; As it dives more into the lives of the spouses, it raises several questions about the relationship between the man and the woman, and what the concept of the family means.
If its original idea and title was an attempt to find out how to fall, and to dissect whether the fall is a crime or not, Triya’s film discusses, in greater depth and on many levels, the emotional, physical and psychological fall between the spouses, mainly. One of the most important and accurate things, also technically, and related to the relationship of the spouses, is the fact that they do not speak the same language, as they communicate in a third language, English, in an attempt to create a ground on which they meet. This explains why Sandra doesn’t speak French all the time. It also raises what it means to be a foreigner on trial in France, that is, in a country that is not your own, and in a language other than your mother tongue. The fact that Sandra is German, speaks English, and tries to speak French that she is not fluent in, creates inconsistency and ambiguity related to the way she expresses herself and her feelings, which leads to more confusion and confusion regarding her personality and identity, and her sincerity in the first place.
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#Anatomy #Fall #Terreya #Cinematic #Aesthetics