Our review of Anatomy of a fall, a masterful palme d'or

"What do you want to know ? The first line of Anatomy of a Fall is spoken by Sandra Voyter, a well-known German writer, interviewed by a student at her home, an isolated chalet in the mountains, slightly intoxicated by the glasses of wine. Her 11-year-old son, who is visually impaired, takes care of the dog. Upstairs, Samuel, her French husband, is working. Or he's pretending, pushing the music volume all the way up. This is an instrumental version of the title P.I.M.P. by rapper 50 Cent. It's probably a coincidence but "pimp" means pimp, in the sense of pimp, in American slang.

Two and a half hours later, the viewer will know a lot about Sandra. His private life, his work, his infidelities, all his laundry, dirty or clean, will be unpacked in the public square during his trial. She is accused of having killed her husband, found his skull shattered at the foot of their chalet. Suicide or homicide? The medical examiner does not exclude the intervention of a third party.

But two and a half hours later, the truth slips away. The whole truth, nothing but the truth, escapes. The shadow of a doubt remains. We owe it to the interpretation of Sandra Hüller, implacable, opaque, resistant to any concession. The opposite of a Barbie, in a way. We owe it above all to the writing and staging of Justine Triet, who co-signed with her companion, the director Arthur Harari, a scenario rich in references without ever being overwhelmed by them. We will thus easily recognize the influence of Suspicions, the documentary series by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, as well as Autopsy of a Murder, by Otto Preminger.

Except that the accused here is a powerful woman whose husband we learn was a teacher and depressed. He taught their son at home while also trying to write despite his inability to create. This reversal of roles, not to say deconstruction, is not innocent. It may seem theoretical, on the contrary it is wonderfully embodied – where Saint Omer, by Alice Diop, another film about a woman accused, delights in a cold and austere distancing. From the journalistic interview to the judicial interrogation, speech is never neutral in Anatomy of a Fall. It establishes a balance of power. If Triet is so fond of filming the courts – seeing Victoria with Virginie Efira in a lawyer's dress – it is because of a taste for oratorical jousting, a form that fully assumes the meaning of combat.

The scenario writer does not make the economy of a true film of lawsuit. With criminology experts and psychiatrists who contradict each other, skirmishes between a seemingly fragile defense lawyer (Swann Arlaud) and a ruthless general counsel (Antoine Reinartz), Anatomy of a Fall is the best film of French trials since L'Hermine, of Christian Vincent, with Fabrice Luchini as president of the assize court troubled by a secret love within the jury.

A single flashback comes to break the camera of the courtroom. A sound recording broadcast as evidence is embodied in the image. A violent argument between Sandra and Samuel. They don't speak the same language. English, a third language and ground for negotiation, does not appease people's minds. They spit in their faces their incomprehension and their resentment. Sex, success, mental load, the "economy" of the couple, everything goes. Samuel's jealousy for Sandra, who eclipses or crushes him, is obvious. The scene, demented with cruel truth, makes Bergman pass for a tender heart.

"'I don't believe in reciprocity in the couple,' said Sandra at the helm. It's naive and depressing. Triet shows that, in the couple as elsewhere, equality is not given, it is taken. Besides, equality does not exist. Life as a couple is a democracy constantly undermined by coups d'etat. Anatomy of a fall is scalpel dissection of joint with child. Daniel, visually impaired since an accident, discovers his parents' story during the trial. He is played by Milo Machado Graner, impressive despite his bowl cut. The real pleading, it is to him that we owe it. This does not mean that the truth comes out of a child's mouth.