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French courtroom drama Anatomy Of A Fall centers on a woman accused of murder of her husband. Sandra Hüller gives a gripping performance in the movie; although a decision is rendered, the ending is not clear. Legal drama from French director Justine Triet, with Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Samuel Theis, Milo Machado Graner, and more, the 2023 film With lots of awards success and a Palace d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Anatomy of a Fall won Best Original Screenplay and picked five Oscars 2024 nominations.
Sandra is cleared at the end of Anatomy Of A Fall, even though the case's facts remain not totally clear and the actual cause of Samuel's death is unknown. Sandra takes front stage as the main suspect following her husband Samuel's unexplained death. Claiming Samuel died by suicide is Sandra's best defense; initially, even she finds it improbable. She even tells Vincent, her attorney, this. Her blind son Daniel is the only one able to support her account of events. Daniel seems to have questions about her innocence when an audio recording turned up in court shows she was also hiding evidence of domestic strife; yet, he finally provides testimony that results in her innocence being declared.
Sandra says she feels strange at dinner with Vincent after she is cleared since normally winning results in a reward. If she is innocent, she is now left to deal with Samuel's suicide for the first time, even while avoiding a conviction is undoubtedly a form of reward. Sandra first disagreed with the theory that Samuel committed suicide and even with Vincent's portrayal of "Samuel's final year" as shown in court.
If Sandra did kill Samuel, on the other hand, she now has to live a lie—including one to Daniel—for the rest of her life. Furthermore, Daniel might have been lying to support her if she was lying about Samuel's suicide to hide her involvement; thus, she knows Daniel is aware of her dishonesty. She might thus never be able to really escape her guilt since Daniel will be a continual reminder and her fear of his knowledge of her guilt will eat away at her permanently as well.
Daniel is the only one who can support Sandra's account of things. Sandra's acquittal rests mostly on his testimony. Daniel first claimed to have heard Sandra and Samuel chatting casually as he passed the shed walking the dog, Snoop. Because of the texture of the tape Samuel placed there to mark the spot, he was positive he was standing next to the shed.
Given Daniel's own conflict of interest, his testimony is likewise erratic. He seeks advice from Marge (Jehnny Beth), who sadly cannot comment on the matter to him; he knows his testimony could be the strongest element influencing his mother's decision but he does not know if he can completely trust her. His several shifting testimony are easy to explain since memory is prone to change; but, it seems as though he is altering his account to defend Sandra only in response to evidence that looks unfavorable for her.
Though she tried to hide the fact that they fought at all, Samuel's audio recording of his fight with Sandra is among the most damning pieces of evidence against her. Its very existence begs other issues, though. As Sandra notes, Samuel could have started the fight to obtain a recording. If true, the tape might have been meant for use as literary inspiration; but, if he would have already been considering suicide—as his claimed past suicide attempt would suggest—then the tape might have been meant to implicate Sandra in his death.
If he was truly jealous and resentful of Sandra's success, especially after she included one of his original ideas into her own work, the claims made in the recording damage her professionally in addition to the hit her reputation would suffer from being indicted in the first place. Though he was aware of the recording and Sandra wasn't, his accusations against her could also be performative, knowing the recording would be found and played in court following his death. This would also help to explain his legitimate frustrations.
Anatomy of a Fall ends with their dog, Snoop, not Sandra beside her son. Apart from demonstrating the pure love of a dog, this scene emphasizes Sandra's solitude. Her son might or might not have lied to keep her safe, but their distance remains rather great since her husband is dead. Having Snoop in there reminds Sandra that she still loves her, even as she muses over her loss and grief.
Perhaps a hopeful message for Sandra's future, the dog also could be seen to symbolize Daniel. Snoop was Daniel's devoted friend all through the film; hence, her still acceptance also indicates that Daniel will also be accepting. She might only be able to curl up with the dog for now, but it's evidence her son is still with her even if it will take some time to sort things out.
The writer-director deliberately made things vague since Justine Triet wants to avoid overanalyzing the ending of Anatomy of a Fall. She has her own ideas and emotions about what the truth might really be, though, much as viewers would. She said in an interview with The Wrap that the secret to the ending was discovering the "doubt," but when asked whether Sandra was guilty or not, she responded, "Well, what can I say? That's the same as in life. Who among us knows the actual truth? From what I know, Sandra might be responsible for driving him to kill but not guilty of murder. maybe? What each of us is accountable for in our daily life? The movie is opening quite many other doors. And in a sense, she misled two times during the film. Thus, perhaps we can discredit her and ask, "Hmm, is it possible she did it?" I would want to avoid stating that, though."
The real goal of the film is the examination of this marriage, even if the Anatomy of a Fall ending leaves plenty of opportunities of Sandra being guilty. Sandra's annoyance stems from having to defend elements of her marriage from those who would not be able to possibly know the truth as she does. From the prosecutors to Samuel's therapist to the onlookers peering inside her personal world, they are determining her marriage's course based on very scant knowledge. Seeing the movie's ending as if Sandra is innocent offers maybe the most interesting arc. Her marriage to Samuel was not ideal, but there were no problems that would motivate her to kill him. Yet Anatomy of a Fall's courtroom scenes pick apart every aspect of their relationship, magnifying hard moments and blowing them out of proportion.
Sandra finds it irritating that the presumptions derived from this "evidence" almost cannot be challenged. She cannot persuade people that an argument between a couple differs from a conflict resulting in death. Daniel is the only one who can thus save her. Though he could lie in his testimony, Daniel decides to believe his mother in the Anatomy of a Fall ending since none else can see what she sees.