Anatomy Of A Fall (2023)

In an ideal world, Sandra Hüller would have swept numerous awards throughout the cycle of this current season. Not to take away anything from the other great actresses in contention, but Hüller has been a shining star in two incredible films recently, with both this and Zone Of Interest. And it's difficult to pick one performance from the two that would be a clear favourite, although her turn here feels a bit more nuanced and allows her to command the screen a bit more.

Although the title is Anatomy Of A Fall, this really turns into an anatomy of a relationship. Hüller plays Sandra Voyter, a woman who finds her life put under an unflattering microscope after the death of her husband. Did he fall, or was he pushed? Without anything here overtly telling viewers if Voyter is innocent or guilty, the film forces viewers to question themselves as/if they constantly question her integrity and character.

Having been a fan of director Justine Triet for a number of years now, who also once again shares the writing duties with Arthur Harari, this feels like an impressive career high (for now, it would be great to see Triet continue making films at the same height of this magnificent plateau). Part character study, even larger part exploration of the highs and lows of relationships, I envy anyone who can watch this and not feel even the smallest amount of worry about any of their own conversations and arguments being read out in a courtroom without the context of everyday life around it (as is happening to our lead). The need to grasp for specific phrases in specific languages, Voyter speaks English, French, and German, underlines the gaps that can often lie between our inner thoughts and how things are effectively conveyed to others.

It feels redundant to heap more praise upon Hüller at this point, after my first paragraph echoing what so many have already said about her in the past year, and for some time beforehand. Her performance is absolutely perfect throughout, and her screen presence is so riveting that the film often feels like a one-woman play. This is despite a number of excellent supporting players, including both a child actor (Milo Machado-Graner, playing Sandra's son, Daniel) and a very well-trained dog (Snopp, played by a border collie named Messi).

Working on both an emotional and cerebral level, although the poise and calm, for the most part, of the main character, may have people thinking otherwise, Anatomy Of A Fall shows someone being judged by people who can't ever know every nuance and moment of the life being dissected. And, by extension, it reminds us of how little we know about everyone we may judge or view in certain ways without having anywhere close to a full picture of them. The more I think about it, the more I love it. Despite the 151-minute runtime, it's one that I know I could easily rewatch any time.

10/10

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Mubi Monday: Sibyl (2019)

Virginie Efira plays Sybil, a psychotherapist who decides that she wants to pursue her love of writing. She drops all of her patients, hoping to give her full time and attention to her craft, but is then called by Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos). Margot is a young actress who has had an affair with her latest co-star, Igor (Gaspard Ulliel), a man who happens to be the husband of the director, Mika (Sandra Hüller). Not only has she had that affair, Margot is also pregnant, which means she is contemplating an abortion when she first talks to Sybil. Drawn into this complex and dramatic situation, Sybil starts to incorporate elements of Margot's life into her writing, and she also allows herself the opportunity to creep into a very different world, one in which the line between reality and fiction is as blurred as her own view of the world around her.

A fascinating look at some very interesting ideas, Sybil marries a great script, co-written by director Justine Triet and Arthur Hararai, with a cast all very much capable of doing their best in the roles they have been given. What could have been filtered a number of different ways, the same material could have been a standard melodrama or even a glossy psycho-thriller, has been crafted into a near-flawless character study that has characters often so confused with their own choices and mindsets that viewers take an extra step or two to realise when things are sliding horribly, and inexorably, in the wrong direction for them.

Triet directs with an approach that brings viewers as close as possible to the two main leads (Efira and Exarchopoulos) and has us wanting to protect them from themselves, whether the pain comes from their own actions or the reactions of others. The moments of fantasy feel very easily identified during the earlier scenes, but it becomes harder and harder to figure out what is real and what isn't as we get closer to the very end of the film.

Efira is excellent, as authoritative and poised as she needs to be for many scenes before slowly and surely losing some control, and Exarchopoulos is equally good, portraying someone more naive and more used to delving in and out of scenarios that are complete fantasy. Ulliel does fine in his role, although his role ensures that he's the one main character who is easiest to dislike, or at least not care about, and Hüller excels as the angry director/hurt woman who is in some ways working opposite Sybil for the ability to ultimately control Margot for a short space of time. There are some other people around this selection of characters, and everyone does a good job in their roles, but it's this quartet that remains the focus throughout.

Never shying away from the many feelings that are brought to the surface by the strange circumstances, Sybil manages to be thought-provoking, tense, funny, and erotic, sometimes all at once, and it's a film that makes me want to further explore the careers of everyone involved. And anyone else feeling the same way could do a lot worse than a previous team-up of the director and star, In Bed With Victoria.

9/10

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