By Jim Healey
Reader Contributor
Did she or didn’t she? That is the question the film Anatomy of a Fall will answer… or not!
The 2023 French courtroom drama will be shown at the Panida on Sunday, April 14, at a 2 p.m. matinee and in the evening at 7 p.m.
The plot is simple: Novelist Sandra Voyter (played by Sandra Hüller) is married to university lecturer Samuel Maleski (played by Samuel Theis), and they are staying at a mountain chalet with their visually impaired son, Daniel (played by Milo Machado-Graner).
When Daniel returns to the mountain chalet from a walk with his guide dog Snoop, he finds his father dead in the snow from an apparent fall from the upper floor of the chalet.
Was Samuel’s fall an accident? Was he pushed by Sandra? The film presents layers of a complex relationship as the plot moves to the courtroom, where Sandra is on trial for the murder of her husband. Eventually Daniel will take the stand, but what will his testimony reveal? Possibly the dog Snoop should be put on the witness stand as well.
Anatomy of a Fall premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 where it won several awards. The film received five nominations at this year’s Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Justine Triet), Best Actress (Sandra Hüller), Best Original Screenplay (Justine Triet) and Best Editing (Laurent Sénéchal). Triet took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Besides being nominated for her performance in this film, Hüller was also recognized for playing Hedwig, the wife of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, in the critically acclaimed The Zone of Interest, an Oscar nominee for Best International Feature Film.
Anatomy of a Fall is sponsored by the Heartwood Center and costs only $5.
So, head to the Panida on Sunday and become a member of the jury to decide Sandra’s fate.
Jim Healey is a longtime member of the board of directors for both the Panida Theater and 88.5 KRFY Panhandle Community Radio, as well as an avid film buff.
