“Did she do it?” The question has lingered on audiences’ lips ever since Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Written and directed by Justine Triet and starring Sandra Hüller, the courtroom drama about a woman accused of killing her husband has captivated French audiences and film festivals around the world as it marches towards awards season, where it has a strong chance of nominations in multiple categories.
Triet’s knotty screenplay, co-written with Arthur Harari (her real-life partner) is as much the trial of a marriage as the prosecution of a crime. Hüller’s character Sandra Voyter is a successful German novelist whose French husband Samuel, rightly or wrongly, believes he is living in her shadow. One day he’s found dead in the snow beneath the balcony of their Alpine chalet by their son Daniel, who is blind.
An inconclusive autopsy results in a trial, where a lack of evidence from the alleged crime scene creates a void prosecutors fill by dissecting their marriage in search of motive.
Running for more than two and a half hours, this hefty character study is carried by an imperious performance by Hüller, who also stars in upcoming awards hopeful “The Zone of Interest” (which came runner-up to Triet’s film at Cannes).
Ahead of “Anatomy of a Fall’s” theatrical release in the US, CNN caught up with the French writer-director and German actress to mull what might or might not have happened.
The follow interviews were conducted separately, and have been edited for length and clarity.
CNN: Sandra, I read that you asked Justine at the start of the production if your character killed her husband or not. How much did having an answer matter to you? And did her answer help you?
Sandra Hüller: I thought it mattered to me until she didn’t answer. Then I felt that I can very well live without the answer. Because we found out quickly that it’s what the film was about, but it’s not really what it’s about. It’s about the question, what is the truth, actually? And can we ever find it, or do we have to live with the doubt? I tried to embrace the ambiguity.
Should it matter to the audience if she committed the crime?
Justine Triet: I think in a way, of course. But I hope that time after time, the movie opens another door. I think it’s more important to understand that that couple — and every couple — is a mystery. For me, it was more important to be generous with the characters and take time to understand that they’re not just one thing. She’s not “the bitch”; he’s not “the good guy”.
I think the movie could have been even longer, I would have continued to explain how each couple is always much more complicated.
Sandra, the role was written for you by Justine. Was she fully formed on the page, or was there a chance to develop her further together?
Hüller: Both. She was fully developed and we invented her together on the set. The script was perfect, in a sense that I hadn’t seen before. The way Justine and I work is a constant process and a constant conversation. There was a lot of movement in there.
Triet: I think (Sandra Voyter) is so ungraspable, elusive. She doesn’t apologize for herself for anything. She has guts, she’s not the perfect victim, she’s not crying all the time. In the courtroom I wanted her to cry quite a lot and (Sandra Hüller) was like, “No, I don’t want to do that.”
When we get to the courtroom, there’s degrees of misogyny directed at Sandra. How far did you want to take the debate around the expectations of a marriage and gender balance — or imbalance — between a couple?
Triet: The only thing that I was very conscious of before doing the movie was to play with the cliché of the couple and place her in the dominant position. It was a provocative start.
I thought it was interesting to show that when women are in that position, they are much more criticized by society. In the courtroom, the others are talking instead of her. She’s dispossessed of her narrative. Her sexual life is dissected. Everything that is a power in her life is (turned against her) in the courtroom. At the same time, because she’s a successful novelist, she could be seen as a threat by everyone.
She’s in possession of herself and that makes her a threatening presence.
What was it like on set during those courtroom days, going into these really granular details and heavy emotions?
Hüller: It’s a safe space that Justine is creating. Nobody would ever fear to make a mistake or be punished for anything or be humiliated.
The most challenging thing about the trial was not (being) able to move, really. Sandra would sit on that bench for the whole trial and sometimes she would be allowed to stand. That was hard, but also I liked that (there was) this line I wasn’t to cross. That concentration, the focus, was much higher because I couldn’t show anything through the movement of my body. I could only show it with my face or with my hands.
Sandra is a character who is not easily resolved by the film. It doesn’t try to make her any “neater” by its conclusion. Was it satisfying for you to play a character who only becomes more complex and perhaps maybe a little bit more unknowable the longer the film goes on?
Hüller: Very satisfying. Because I think — and maybe it’s the same for you — I will never completely know the friends that I have. I will always have questions about them — and also I would never dare to ask. To me, it’s a more honest way than like a normal dramaturgy, where we get to know a character better, and in the end we feel like we know everything about them. I think that’s not true.
Sandra, I’ve read that you’re a dog lover and there’s a very good boy in this film, played by a dog called Messi. I have to ask about working with him, because he plays a pretty integral role.
Hüller: I heard that he’s having a press day, isn’t that incredible? I mean, you can only love this dog. What can I say? He’s a very intelligent, compassionate partner. I will never stop thanking him for jumping on that couch in the last scene. That is something that moved me very much. I mean, it’s a trained dog and somebody told him to, but still, he could have refused and he didn’t.
“Anatomy of a Fall” is released in US cinemas on October 13 and UK cinemas November 10.
