Pjtaylor-96-138044 Review of Anatomy of a Fall

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

If a man falls out of a window and nobody is around to hear it...?

[8/10 · 23 April 2024]

'Anatomy Of A Fall (2023)' is all about the ambiguities of life... and, by extension, death. Refusing to conform to expectation, this courtroom drama plays out in a delightfully unencumbered way that makes it feel decidedly more realistic than others of its ilk. Although the trial scenes aren't actually all that believable in terms of how'd they play out in real life, they have a naturalistic feel and somehow manage to keep you glued to the screen despite their comparative subtlety. The direction is masterfully restrained, only delving into flashbacks on occasion and framing them as entirely subjective visualisations of often pure speculation (as so much of the case is). There's an argument scene in this that perfectly encapsulates what it's like to be involved in a spat with someone close to you, with both parties struggling to communicate their feelings as they take it in turns being unreasonable and often following one thing with the total opposite thing as if it's part of a single cohesive thought. It's loud and it's heated but it isn't excessive or, worse, silly as these scenes so often are, and it encapsulates what's so excellent about the overall film. It's a really well-made and compelling experience that plays with time-tested tropes in a way that makes them feel fresh. Its acting is also absolutely sublime across the board, with Sandra Hüller and Milo Machado-Graner giving awards-worthy performances and very good boy Messi giving us a heart attack with his standout scene. It's a really strong effort that makes you feel like one of the spectators so often featured in the background of its courtroom scenes, voyeuristically watching a small part of a full life be dissected in the desperate hope that it'll all make sense in the end. Even though it gives us and its jurors the same information at the same time, it doesn't feel concerned with having us come to a conclusion regarding its central mystery. It's about the process, not the result. Some questions simply don't have a definitive answer. If a man falls out of a window and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?