Anatomy of a fall (2023)

I failed to catch Steven Spielberg’s 'The Fabelman" last year on big screens when it released here. I still haven’t watched it. As an absolution to that, I watched "Anatomy of a fall" in theatres and it was worth the experience.

The French movie is a courtroom crime drama about a death due to a fall. There are several movies on a murder mystery but what makes this standout from the rest is the dissection of the death and the relationship between the victim and the defendant. It has been so well done and portrayed on the screen that you become a part of the jury sooner. For the entire period of the movie, I myself kept analysing the situation as to if the defendant actually killed the victim or not.

The movie's biggest positive are Sandra Huller as the protagonist Sandra and Milo Machado Graner as the blind kid Daniel. They two shoulder the movie with such a matured performance. Daniel in particular was spectacular for the role that has had so much trauma and is in dilemma which he can't decide upon. The supporting cast that involves the lawyer, prosecution, the judge and the victim played their role to perfection.

The screenplay of the movie is another positive aspect of the movie. The movie is what one could easily tag "slow" for the frames that capture nothingness. But, that's the beauty of it, the movie captures you into its world right and you are continuously invested in the characters in it. The dissection of the relationship between the victim and the defendant/protagonist was written superbly, the rough 20-30 minute sequence was the best part of the movie in my opinion, it had so much packed in it.

Technically, the movie had no flaws. There was no background score and the camera continues to be unstable and crude that it provided a docu feel. Being used to "twist" in such movies, I did expect something surprising to happen and it was a facepalm when there weren't any.

Overall, an engrossing courtroom crime drama that's worth the experience.