Did She Do It?
Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at 10:00AM 
Between Messi charming his way through the Nominees Luncheon and last Sunday's BAFTA victory in Best Original Screenplay, Anatomy of a Fall is entering the Oscar voting period with an upswing of exposure and widespread love. Justine Triet's Palme d'Or champion has proven a beguiling mystery, sustained by a performance that leaves the viewer drowning in ambiguity. According to Sandra Hüller, she was directed to play a writer accused of murdering her husband as if she were innocent, but the film never discloses whether Sandra did it or not.
Indeed, when perusing reviews, online reactions, or just conversations between cinephiles, nobody seems to agree. Some find it evident that she's guilty, while others believe there's no way her husband's death was murder…
In some fundamental ways, the truth is beside the point. Anatomy of a Fall isn't a mystery asking its audience whodunnit. Instead, it explores the creation of truth itself, using the devices of literary autofiction and a court of law as tools for dissection. It's also an exploration of marriage, written by a couple of artists whose potential similarities with the husband and wife characters are a delicious perversity. So, to ask if she did it can be seen as a misreading of the film. It certainly should not be seen as a serious act of engagement with its tricky questions. Better to ask what drives someone to decide if something is true or not.
How much of it is deduction from fact, and how much is faith? Can a lie be true? Can truth be nothing but a construction of lies one tells oneself throughout our shared existences? How do societal views on gender play into this?
Then again, having fun with cinema, being silly, and ignoring its deeper intellectual conceits is perfectly fine. Anatomy of a Fall isn't a humorless exercise, and at times, it seems to push the audience to rejoice in the judicial absurdity rather than investigate what lies beneath. Let's take that lead and ponder the question that titles this post. I'll even share my snarky take: she did it, and it was justifiable homicide. Imagine living with someone who recorded you all the time, possibly started arguments to get material and, worst of all, kept playing "P.I.M.P. (Instrumental)" at all hours of the day, volume turned up to eleven. I would have done it, too! To quote six merry murderesses of the Cook County Jail "it was a murder, but not a crime."
But what do you think, dear reader? Here are some polls:
If you answered NO, then how did he die? Here are some options.
One last question. If you could guarantee ONE win for Anatomy of the Fall at the Oscars, what prize would it be?
Reader Comments (11)
I voted "no" because I think that's how Triet, Huller, and company approached the story. IMO the objective reality under the "mystery" is that he did it himself. They don't confirm it explicitly but it's certainly what the storytelling wants you to decide.
However, a glaring and frustrating (to me) problem with this: Who would do it by jumping out of a THIRD-story window? Surrounded by very tall mountains and cliffs? I certainly wouldn't *expect* to die if I jumped from that height. The script does absolutely nothing with this detail.
I voted No,he fell,a simple accident with lots of circumstances surrounding it that may indicate murder.
I'll be sad to see Huller lose to Stone.
Murderess!
She's too smart to think she would've gotten away with it, so I definitely think he killed himself. Seems too complicated to be an accidental fall, either.
On another note, does anyone, anywhere think Huller has even the slimmest chance of pulling an upset? I hope she does! Emma has already won, and Lily is pretty good in a smallish part with not a lot of shading, but Sandra blew me away. I can't believe she's not in more of the conversation.
If I could guarantee a win, it would be Original Screenplay. That screenplay is airtight and exactly what it needs to be for this story.
She looks guilty because she's German, but she didn't do it. By the way, that's why she's not winning the Oscar.
I think the whole point of the movie is that you'll never know other people's relationships so who knows. I think it was written with an underlying assumption that she's innocent. I think it works a bit better if she did it - but that we can't be sure
Well, while I like it a lot it's definitely not my pick for Picture, Director, or Screenplay (I wish Celine Song would win that one) so that leaves Actress and Editing. I never have gotten around to Nyad or Maestro so ... Editing? It's put together very well and think that would be well-deserved.
It's looking good for an Original Screenplay win (after its Golden Globes and BAFTA wins, I would say it's currently the frontrunner in that race... and, given that Barbie took the Critics Choice and it's in Adapted at the Oscars, we're not sure what the runner-up would be).
As for Sandra Hüller, the only precedent I can come up with is if she wins the César, she'll be in the same position Adrien Brody was the year he won for The Pianist.
As for whether she did it of not, well, I did hear Hüller was asked to play it as if she was innocent, but given that we never get an objective account of what happened in the time between her interview and her husband's fall, then we don't have enough evidence to get at the objective truth (which is the point of the film in the end).
This is why I don’t think the movie is as clever as it (and many viewers) think it is.
The way it deals with omniscience and perspective is totally selective. Sure, the viewer is “on a walk with the boy and the dog” when the death occurs—but we’d just been in the living room with Sandra and the student, intimately involved in their conversation. Then we’re right back in Sandra’s personal space after the death. Why? Who knows! I guess Triet doesn’t mind us witnessing Sandra’s most private moments so long as we don’t see what actually happened.
It’s not even arbitrary, it’s just manipulative. It’s really easy to create “ambiguity” when you play lazy games with the audience.
Going to the point: I think she didn't.
she didn't. she looked surprised and shocked when she sees the body, and she was alone. no need to fake a reaction