Anatomy of a Fall: What Really Happened (Isn't The Point) | Explained
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- Опубликовано: 22 май 2024
- Anatomy of a Fall, the hit legal drama by rising star Justine Triet, has garnered numerous accolades since it first premiered at Cannes - but in addition to all of the talk about how great the film is, there is one obvious question that rises to the top: so… did she really do it? But, in reality, that isn’t the truly important question, or what the film is really seeking to analyze. More than looking to uncover a culprit of one crime, the film instead attempts to take a much deeper look at the impossibility of truth itself, and the difficulties that arise when trying to find one single truth to explain a moment in time or an entire relationship. So let’s dive in and unpack all of these questions, plus take a closer look at the film’s key message about how the most important truth might just be the one we choose for ourselves.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:50 A mysterious death
02:01 So many possibilities... how can we know the truth?
03:44 More than one "fall"
05:28 When communication totally breaks down
06:38 Battle of perspectives: Samuel vs Sandra
08:17 Sandra isn't totally innocent...
11:04 The difficulty of fully explaining yourself
12:32 You have to decide what's 'real'
13:15 Daniel's tough choice
15:08 No so happily ever after
The Take was created by Debra Minoff & Susannah McCullough
This video was written/produced/edited/narrated by Jessica Babineaux 
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Thanks for watching! Up next, check out our video analyzing another recent indie hit, The Holdovers: ruclips.net/video/MqvdMXDLk-k/видео.html
I thought the kid playing Daniel did not get enough credit for his work on this film. That is a difficult role for an adult to play, let alone a minor!
I agree, I really feel like his performance was so compelling and overlooked. I hope he gets more work he's truly amazing.
Exactly, it was a difficult role, but he pulled it off with aplomb. I hope that he gets more steady work.
I agree. The dog was a good actor too.
he was incredible!! i hope he is proud of his performance, i never felt like i was watching an actor.
I agree! Why was he not nominated for anything? His role was arguably the most emotional and nuanced of all.
I appreciated that despite Vincent telling Sandra that he was in love with her, there was no real romantic subplot, and they kept things professional. Also, Sandra's bisexuality was normalised, which is nice to see a depiction of a bisexual parent.
they did not keep it professional
I agree but I can also see others seeing this as a sign of her manipulating him. Interestingly those people never seem to see the guy manipulating the woman. Imagine the pressure she must have felt when the only one who was on her side actually had ulterior motives. She shouldn't be in that position. Specially bc males don't tend to take a No well
The way you can see the way that Sandra pulls away from him after they talk about it is so subtle. Is it grief for her husband? Guilt? Both?
But either way you can see that both of them know that the opportunity has passed them by. Regardless of what feelings they had when they were younger.
@@niaselah3348 she could've just... hired a lawyer who wasnt in love with her?? lol
@@sandrasim46Maybe she was getting mates rates.
I admire how, unlike other court dramas, this movie refuses to give the audience a clear answer. We are left with our own biases and strict judgments because the movie refuses to separate the subjective from the objective. This leaves us with the same uncertainty as Sandra or Daniel.
Only Daniel , Sandra isn't uncertain , either she did it or not.
I use my second language, English, in the workplace, but sometimes my brain just... blocks. Watching this movie, I can't help but imagine using another language in a murder trial; it seems like pure hell.
My friend and I thought the same thing LOL
That was literally my first thought too.
Also the fact that English wasn't even her native language.
The real point of the movie is how cute the dog is
Agreed, Messi even had his own seat at the Oscars. ❤
Agreed one of the best performances of the whole movie
He was and great at the Oscar's.
no
Great dog acting, honestly 😂
Great point at the end about the dog being a good judge of character (which they totally are!) and showing Sandra's innocence.
The scene of the dog almost dying because of Daniel's "test" was incredible acting on the dog's part. When I first watched it, I wondered how to accomplished that shot and was amazed that it was CGI or effects.
This video perfectly encapsulates why I loved Anatomy of a Fall. It’s a captivating legal drama that is more than just a “did they do it?” murder mystery. It is a compelling exploration of how the legal trial system is designed to force easy answers on complicated and nuanced situations, as we humans are complex creatures, particularly a situation like the breakdown of a marriage. Whether or not she did it is not the point, in more ways than one. The film rightfully avoids easy answers and solutions to make its point.
Whether she did it or not still mattered. It also mattered how they arrived at the conclusion and in the absence of eyes (pun intended) that the truth is what people agree on and convince others it is so, not what actually happened.
I took it less that Daniel decided she was innocent and more that he decided he wanted his mom around going forward regardless of whether she did it. Was that just me?
Same. There’s too many clues that point towards his deciding to side with his mother esp after his experiment with the dog. He “decides” to move forward and side with his mother despite the underlying tension between them.
I took it more as him trying to make sense of a terrible situation. He chooses to believe his mom didn’t do it, because it’s not the kind of person he believes her to be. But from what he knows of his dad, he can make sense. He needs the world to make sense
yes sandra killed him. she even lied about her hand bruise to his lawyer.
I interpreted it as what he had said: "I can't imagine my mom killing him, but I can imagine him doing it."
The shock of hearing The instrumental of 50 cents PIMP was crazy
It's hilariously ironic that while this movie is a serious courtroom drama study about a woman who may have murdered her husband, but the fans make memes about the adorable pooch Messi, or how PIMP is the go to song for jumping out of a window.
the messi memes were fun for a minute, but now everyone is making it only about the damn dog….. be fucking for real
@@itsflowersideMessi was robbed of a Supporting Actor nomination
It's an interesting choice of song because their whole argument was about how he feels emasculated and forced into things, and how he never finishes any of his projects. So him jumping out the window (if that's what happened) was him finally taking control and finishing something he started months earlier by ending his life. In his last moments, maybe he did feel like a pimp finally.
And why not, there are lots of good thing about this film.
She didn’t do it because the ending, the dog is a great judge of character. Excellent cast and Messi, the dog, is a star.
Yes. Also that she is afraid of heights as we can see when she goes into the attic with the lawyer, she’s afraid to not touch the beam.
I don't know if anyone else noticed this but, Samuel says during the argument that Daniel called Sandra a "monster" which further was clarified that he did not exactly call her mother a monster but just said that she is "cold".
This can be correlated with the fact that Samuel blames himself for Daniels accident and hence is overly compassionate towards him, almost pitiful.
Sandra says during the trial "I want Daniel to be like other kids and not treat him like he's handicapped". This sets the notion for the difference in personalities on Sandra amd Samuel and how while Sandra encouraged independence in Daniel (thus coming off as cold), Samuel coddled him and eventually got tired of it himself.
The French legal system is insane lmao. The prosecutor made baseless claim after baseless claim and then was like "just speculating here hehe" I mean what the hell?!
The movie doesn't show the reality of such a trial in France. This has indeed been a critical point about the movie.
The movie doesn't show a realistic trial and has indeed been criticized for it.
@@florencepi6232 eesh I sure hope so. that guy was fabricating a LOT and while it was cinematic I was like judge jesus control this dude.
This dilemma hits close. It was one of the first traumas of my life. Nobody died like in the movie but I was 6 or 7 yo when I realized my parents had incompatible realities about everything. It was more than seeing something the other couldn't. They were irreconcilable, like them. My brain became obsessed to know who was telling the truth to know in whom I could trust. I observed the same patterns on both sides of the family between my parents and their parents. Being so young it was very traumatizing to me specially bc I had absolutely nobody safe to talk about it
I can somewhat empathize with witnessing your primary caregivers constantly at each other's throats, which can result in being unable to form a stable perception of reality. I hope you've processed that trauma to the best of your ability, ensuring that dysfunctional patterns don't continue to be passed down.
@@cthulhu7318 Tysm I deeply appreciate your understanding and caring. I'm a mediator and also a psychology student now. I hope I could be what I needed back then both for myself and my family and for others. Acknowledging and bringing awareness to these situations matters so much that's why I'm so grateful to the people who made this movie, so many will feel understood and supported
Lots of love to you bc there's a reason you understand and although I deeply appreciate it at the same time I wish you hadn't had the experiences that made you understand so well 🫂
exactly what i went thru. figuring out who was right or wrong, who was telling the truth or not, who i should've sided with anyway because the trust was broken, you don't know who to believe... its not smth a child should've gone thru tbh looking back it was a kinda cold childhood.
@@softsofthere I'm deeply sorry you were forced to experience it too. We deserved better. All children deserve better
The "accident " hypothesys is too easily dismissed by everybody. But even a bad step is very possible in that context.
Nor the murder nor the suicide are conclusive, but those are the only two options?
The movie even showed us how easily an accident could occurred. For example: the ball the dog is playing with, a construction enviroment is very insecure in general, etc.
That is why this movie is so great, not even the viewer knows what happened, so a lot of biases and imagination dictates the conclussions.
Glad I'm not the only one who has this thought as well. The more i thought about it, the more I felt that the 'accident' theory was thrown away too easily. For all the plausible arguments that were being presented for both theories of whether Sandra killed Samuel or Samuel did take his own life, there's also just as much plausibility that it could have been a genuine accident, but of course we'll never know.
Its possible that the writers dont even know what happend since it doeast really matter
I thought about this too, like the true crime case of the staircase but the reality is, unlike that case, that even if it was an accident, Samuel isolated himself too much from everyone, and it was his own ineptitude that led to his death. She says he was safe working upstairs, but there wasn’t even a floor or a proper rail and she was afraid to walk without holding a beam, and they have a blind child in the house. It wasn’t safe up there. He knew that. Anyone with eyes knew that, looking at the attic, but no one could step in to tell him how to do his projects let alone his wife, because he’d resent her for it. Daniel couldn’t even open the window safely. And his measure of safety was putting gaff tape for his kid, to navigate the house that’s a poor system. It was an inaccessible house. The son’s room being upstairs was weird to me, he could’ve put it downstairs but didn’t. His office is there instead. He was controlling, that is clear from his lack of consideration.
Is not dismissed is the fact that is not an option because they're trying to make a case for the court, it is stated at the beggining by the defense, an accident would be the more likely and obvious options however it is impossible to prove in court, so they will go with murder and the defense will go with suicide. Thing about that dialogue between the caretaker and the son, where he tells her how he's not really sure of which is the truth and she tells him that he has to convince himself of which side to be when presented with the facts, even if the facts are not 100% convincing one side or the other
"Anatomy of A Fall" is an incredible movie with Sandra Huller giving an unforgettable performance. The script is amazing, and the direction is perfection. I loved this film!
Let's not forget the incredible performance of the actor who plays her son. Wow.
This movie is the visual representation of the saying there are three sides to every argument - his side , her side and the truth .
One thing that's very disturbing in the movie is how Sandra, many times, doesn't really look like she's grieving her husband's death, and I found myself judging her for that, and considering her guilty, maybe not of killing him but for driving him to suicide, just based on my prejudice. Every rotten relationship wasn't always like that. Every loving relationship isn't always like that. It's great to have an arsenal of go-to movies to remind myself why I never want to marry again 😊
It's also really hard to mourn your husband while facing a murder trial that only ever focuses on the bad. In the end, the courts ruined his image as well.
She's German
She's a cold person and not showy about her feelings. Samuel recording their fight without her knowing is also sus.
It's interesting because I often saw grief in her performance. Sandra isn't very expressive and most of the time she's around her son, who she's trying to put up a front for.
There's that one scene where Daniel wants her to leave for the night and she just crumbles into tears in the car, and that was one of the scenes where I believed she might have been letting some of the grief out.
People grieve differently and parents can especially struggle to express that if they have children or someone who's dependent on them to have it together
@@hurricaneofcats Also, she said earlier that they had stopped sharing a bed, that whatever was between them was gone. It seemed like they were only staying together for their son's sake (always a bad idea). So the fact that they'd been unhappy together for quite a while probably added to her lack of outward grieving for her husband. As horrible as it is, it probably was a relief in some ways. And because of his earlier suicide attempt, maybe she had been preparing herself for it, in the same way Daniel later says his dad told him to prepare for the dog's death. (Even though that scene in the car may or may not have actually happened.)
Knowing words is just a very tiny aspect of language. It's so much more than that. It's about communication and connecting with others. German people express themselves very differently from French. I'm Uruguayan and Italian and I can see from a certain culture some of her reactions and lack of reactions could be seen as signs of deception but they are actually cultural differences and unconscious bias. Sadly some people don't question themselves and biases
Decía Borges que cada idioma es una manera de entender el mundo…
@@desireepetitdemurat8660 Cuanta razon
The screenplay is absolutely brilliant and Sandra Hüller was perfect for that role.
I felt like the point of the movie was that the son "decides" to make up that story to save his mother. All the other times we see the past the actors are speaking but when he recalls the time w his father its in his voice, showing us its a lie. Then he holds his mom when she gets home and kisses her on the head like hes the parent.
I really don't think this is true. I mean this is just an opinion if anything.
Daniel really seems shocked by it all but not enough to fabricate anything.
That's certainly one possibility. If that's what you believe, so be it. There's really no right answer with this film.
I agree with your analysis i was confused when i saw him kissing her forhead, we do that generally to bless people
There is a part where she is looking at either a photo or a video of him lecturing, no voice is heard then
This was such a knockout of a movie. I was absolutely blown away by how brilliant it ended up being
In alot of ways his life ended at both his hands and hers before his actual death. His marriage and joy died by his and her actions/words little by little over the course of time. It almost doesn't matter whether it was suicide or not because it was a death by a thousand cuts with both their influence over it.
You are very wise. Death by a thousand cuts indeed........ shame is.....
He didn't stop the bleeding, they would have been better apart. He might have benefitted from social support wasn’t it his choice to live in such an isolated place...
Ps I haven't seen the movie just read Alot of reviews and know the story line.
It is a pity that it takes a death or some other horrible event to make people see the importance of honest self reflection and forgiveness in marriage. This movie should have received more Academy Awards!
Listen, one thing no one mentions is that the husband was busy doing nothing and ran late to pick up his kid. Maybe Samuel really was a quitter. That s why he was a professor. He could t complete tasks effectively and after his kids accident it kept on being a handicap, finishing things. It was who he was. Sandra was right to resent him, wrong to cheat, but then again how can you respect and feel attracted to a man who neglects his life and procrastinates and had her kid blinder when he probably had one job. He really is not a victim of anyone else but himself. Sandra moved with him, tried to stay together for reasons i have yet figured out. Sandra is not a quitter. His husband was. She did not kill him by telling him the truth. The truth killed him.
Watched it today and was amazed by the performances Sandra did so well in her role! She was in the movie Requiem she was great in that as well. The child actor did a superb job.. I liked how it was open to interpretation. The dog is so cute
He messed up with the kid, and so the mom resented him, and the father hated himself. In the final argument, after years of this guilt, he needed forgiveness to be free, but she denied him that, so he killed himself.
I don't think she killed him. I believe their communication issues stemmed from their brains processing information in very different ways. There are some things she says, such as 'not believing in reciprocity in relationships,' or when he is trying to get her to participate in chores because he feels overwhelmed, but she's not willing to do more because she thinks she's already doing her part. She's not trying to figure out what to do as a couple, or the psychiatrist saying that it wasn't so much that Samuel felt guilty about their son's accident, but that he felt she left him alone, and that he felt he had to do all the emotional work in the relationship. Additionally, she mentiones how she never understood her family or friends signs or signals. I think she is undiagnosed autistic, that explains some of her confusion when the prosecutor suggests that it is obvious there were issues in the marriage and she doesn't see it. And yes, he was depressed. I think that the last conversation, before his death, when he was asking her about her day and she didn't ask him about his (as seemed to be the usual), because she 'assumed...' was his last straw. Probably he felt invisible in the relationship and couldn't take it any longer, so he decided to end his life. I feel for both of them... Very good movie.
I think she is undiagnosed autistic = Or maybe she is just being German.
An interesting take on their dynamic could be that when men take on whats traditionally a socially enforced role of a wife and mother - the ultimate result is suicide and despair. What an indictment of what mothers and wives have endured in silence and often overlooked. Once the roles are reversed…
I think there is also a reference to Camus' L'etranger. During the trial, after failure to provide proof of the murder, the witnesses, prosecutor, judge and even the defense, considered that the innocence of Sandra would be defined by her moral character instead of the actual facts. So it was a trial about her and not the murder
"I did not kill him, it's not true, it's bullshit! I did not kill him, I did not! Oh hi, Mark!"
The young man , who played Danielle - was amazing
It reminds me of the tv show, Defending Jacob… where the audience is never sure if Jacob is innocent or guilty (but his mom is 100% guilty).
I fully expected her to reveal the murder weapon at the end. Excellent movie.
The shock of hearing The instrumental of 50 cents PIMP was surprising
One of the things I noticed while watching is that all the arguments the prosecution makes about Sandra's motive to kill her husband would have made more sense if the roles were reversed.
I dont think sandra did it and the hints for that are sprinkled throughout the film..you just need to pay attention. But i do agree with the director's pov (and the one which matters the most since its her film) that maybe she pushed him to commit suicide. Also i think and its my theory that Samuel heard her wife chatting with a girl downstairs and started playing music loudly to keep his mind off of the possibility that maybe her wife is flirting with the girl but he was not able to and ultimately decides to switch off his brain by ending his life, obviously it was many other reasons piling up to this too but because of his argument just the day before, he wasn't in the right state of mind and he was shell shocked that how easy it was for sandra to forget about everything that happened and continue living her life and giving interviews etc etc. he was distraught and couldn't take it anymore. Director beautifully introduces us to how sandra operates as a person and she's quite practical in life not someone who will impulsively commit such a heinous crime which can implicate her very easily...if she had to she will choose a different method.
This is really thoughtful and well done. Great job!
One of the best movies I've ever watched.
This movie was excellent, the acting was superb from everyone, even the dog!
Looking closer at the drive to the vet, I find it hard to believe Samuel had enough compassion and foresight to prepare his son for the suicide but not enough to remove any suspicion by simply leaving a note. No one would risk botching it by jumping 25 feet.
the prosecutor needs to relax its like he really wanted her to be guilty and questions everyone very aggressively I hated him
The character was obviously written to be extremely annoying, but I thought the actor played the role a little too well 🥹
Bro that's literally his job
There's another French courtroom drama film that's very good : La fille au bracelet (The Girl with a Bracelet).
I really want to see this.great video
I found this movie to be insightful about the cultural differences of the French court system. Hearing the lawyers use storytelling and mostly preconceived notions about the relationship instead of factual arguments about the event was captivating. The lawyer from the prosecution side, testimonies from the cop and the therapist were mostly based on conjectures and extremely biased interpretations of the relationship instead of using precise elements of the case. This film was a comprehensive examination of a relationship and the immense frustration that can build up over time. And how, from the outside, friends, family members and anyone close to a family will only have a window perspective of what constitutes a their relationship. The full story won't be available to anyone who lives outside of x family dynamics. A viewing experience that can be complex and challenging at times. Anyone who has had intense fights with their significant other will find the dialogues to be very raw at time. Loved it!
You're the first person I've heard mention the final frame offering a solution which was my take too. I love that subtlety. I understand how much we don't and never know. But I needed to know whether I'd watched someone being wrongly accused or getting away with murder so in my mind at least, I got what I wanted.
For what it’s worth people don’t usually commit suicide by jumping off a two story building. She probably killed him but on accident.
What really happened is Justine didn't win Best Director
True... but she did win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay 👏🏽 😏
or Sandra for actress. the fact that she was never a SERIOUS contender is absolutely crazy.
@itsflowerside Actually, many people thought she was going to win the Bafta for Best Leading actress. When that didn't happen ( and being snubbed at SAG), Sandra was no longer the runner-up for the Oscar. Thankfully, she did receive a nomination.
And the dog didn't get nomination
@@itsflowerside the fact that neither she nor Lily won, and it went to Emma Stone being Emma Stone (weird and making weird faces)? ya... I'm annoyed.
Great take ;) on a great film!
you meant that Zoe was the student interviewer.Marge was assigned to accompany Daniel
Dog is cute tho
I really don't think she did it.
In the beginning i was obviously convinced that she obviously did too it.
However, as the movie goes on, and you are presented with more data, you end up realising that in reality she really did not have any motive to do it. As Daniel says, "we have to understand why it happened".
Once you focus on that, you'll realise that she is actually NOT a killer.
Exactly!! Where was quest for the “motive” - only THE biggest and most important question was never pursued. Wild.
@@miraclesushi OMG LITERALLY. The why was never answered.
Hey the @6:38 times stamp should be samuel vs sandra not vincent vs sandra. vincent is the lawyer
Just cuz the dog cuddles with Sandra in the end doesn't mean she had nothing to do with the death. Dogs love unconditionally..
Will this be on Spotify?
Yes it already is
Please provide subtitles
So did she do it lol? There are some theories that the dog did it.
I think it’s good to keep it open ended cause often times in trials there is always that reasonable doubt
Can't tell if this is a joke theory. He's a service dog, no reason for him to be in the attic away from daniel, nor would he surprise jump the dad because again service dog so well trained
@@old5333 Well that it was an accident that he and Snoop were playing fetch and Samuel accidentally fell that where the ball motif goes. I personally don’t believe that I am more towards the suicide theory. Cause Sandra might not be a good wife but I don’t think she this cold blooded killer or cost her kid his Dad
The only thing in this film that did not resonate with me was Daniel intentionally poisoning his dog - it was so incredibly reckless and lacking empathy, an opposing quality of Daniel's character, in my view. And God knows what the filmmakers did to the pup to obtain those close-ups of an unresponsive dog. I was traumatized by that! That treatment of animals in films is way too common and insidious: when attention is put upon an animal in a film it most often foreshadows some kind of harm the animal will experience, creating the subtext that animals are dispendable, secondary to humans - absolute rubbish! And this film did that same thing except, fortunately, the Snoop lives.
Holy shit same.. came out of nowhere and I was fully expecting some bs the kid did it twist. What did they do to that poor dog.
The dog is an “actor” and was trained to play dead. His wide open eyes and I believe the vomit as well was added digitally. There are tons of videos you can watch about the behind the scenes info that moment.
Why does Snoop's (the dog) behavior at the end suggest "not in favor of Sandra's innocence"???
Ok I might’ve fallen asleep for a bit at some point but why didn’t they get her an interpreter for court?? I’d be doomed if I had to rely on my college French.😂
Yeah you've missed it.. There was an interpreter in the courtroom. At some point, Sandra talked in English and interpreter translated
It's quite possible that the writer too doesn't know either of what happened that day.
Al final el perrito le da la confianza a ella para dormir a su lado, eso me dice a mí, que ella es inocente. Muy buena película, no estoy muy convencida que fuera como para ser nominada a un Oscar.
As a veterinarian, I cringed so hard at the whole situation with Snoop.
Why?
@@eloschk Firstly, you would never induce vomiting in an animal that seems to be passed out and thus possibly unable to swallow - they could choke on the vomit or aspirate it into the lungs. Secondly, I think Daniel noticed Snoop’s state the following morning after giving him the pills? This would have been several hours later, and the pills would have been absorbed into the bloodstream and done their thing already. No point in inducing vomiting then.
And lastly, I just really hate seeing animals being mistreated in service of the plot.
@@maritveeber9397can’t deny that snoop was an excellent actor. Props to him
@@icupnibba3533 Hehe, absolutely! I was glad to see him living his best life on the red carpet during awards season 😁
Sandra killed him. Samuel ruined potential scissor lady fun, and that’s unforgivable.
Samuel feels he must take care of their son cuz Sandra refuses to help. He has no other choice but to curtail his job. I understand his point. It wasn't his choice alone. She choose to not spend more time with son to work on her career. She's controlling in a passive aggressive way. She won't listen to him so he plays music loud just to be heard.
Never believed what she killed. Find it strange that people are asking about it))
I think she did it but there enough reasonable doubt to acquit. OJ did it.
Great acting by Sandra and Semuel is very handsome.
Such a well done movie!!!!
The dog did it OK? You didn't hear it from me. Bye
Snoop did it
Can you do a study of Elena Gilbert from vampire diaries
2:06
I think she did it and the kid knew it; he just decided to forgive his mother
The more i think about this movie the more i realize how unfair is to judge Samuel based on Sandra's words yelled at him in anger in that argument played at the courtroom.
That is only her view of Sandra towards Daniel, it doesn't necessarily reflects his true self.
It's obvious he was depressed and felt inferior to Sandra but the issue against her laid in the fact she stole his ideas that made her book successful because yes, she is seemingly a more skilful writer than him, but it also shows how she was gaslighting him in that argument and also shows how she is a manipulative person and persuades Samuel into thinking all their martial problems are his fault alone.
She always plays out her actions and disguise them as a minority when in reality she has caused many problems in the marriage too, becase she refuses to take accountability about her actions and choices thus making all consequences seem someone else's fault under the premise "i am who i am, take it or leave it".
Whereas Samuel has this 'martyr' complex Sandra has known how to exploit to her advantage.
She was definitely the dominant in the relationship. She took advantage of his sensitive ego and the blame he inflicted to himself because of their son's accident and she used that to catapult her career (she took advantage of her husband's dedication towards his son and all the free time that gave her to work on her books and affair).
Samuel is the only one to blame for his choices, but Sandra didn't do much to help him, instead she saw that as an opportunity to focus on her own desires and not as a family.
I don't think Sandra "stole" his idea, but that's cause I do believe she told him about it, and Samuel ended up resenting her for it. It is true that Sandra was way more individualistic, and I think she expected Samuel to be the same, while he expected her to be more empathetic and giving. Both were at fault on not recognizing their differences and make it work.
@@swanne.9 I do agree with what you said, that he was expecting her to be more "giving" (I wouldn't call it giving, because parenthood is about the two parents being equally responsible for the child. They both work. It wasn't like he was a stay at home dad and she was the breadwinner). And he failed to efficiently communicate that to her. As she was negligent to try to understand it. And Sandra's actions spoke by themself. And he just adjusted but secretly resenting her for it. For being unapologetically independent. (I mean. "it wasn't cheating because I told him" . How is a partner supposed to deal with such thing if that wasn't agreed on from the start?). My point is, she gaslights him. She probably manipulated him into letting her to take those ideas and making him think it was his idea/he consented willingly without being coerced.
Sandra is a narcissist of the highest order. Lol.
I like her role. Sandra Hüller did wonderfully playing that character. I like roles that are complex and Sandra is as good as it gets.
Brilliant writing indeed.
But she is not a good person. Sandra is not noble or selfless. They both were flawed but Sandra was manipulative, unlike Samuel. He had his huge insecurities which made him emotionally unstable and bitter. But Sandra here is the one who took the most advantage of the situation. (Sorry I wrote this much. Didn't intend to.)
@@grec. I feel like it's too much to call Sandra a narcissist since that implies she has this inherent selfishness that qualifies for a diagnosable mental disorder. Narcissists act selfish towards everyone in their lives, not just their partners, and the way Sandra treats Daniel, Vincent and all of the other characters does not track with narcissism. A true narcissist would have had an affair with Vincent without even considering her son, deceased husband or anyone else then found a way to justify their every action. A narcissist would not have agreed to respect Daniel's request for her to leave him before the trial and would have pitched a selfish fit about it.
I agree Sandra was selfish and toxic in her relationship with Samuel but she isn't a narcissist. She was not being a good partner to Samuel and their relationship was broken, in no small part thanks to her actions. But, I also don't think Sandra was always this way in her relationship with Samuel. The movie seems to imply this radical shift in both of them after Daniel's accident. They were probably both healthier people before it. A lot of Sandra's selfish actions, her cheating, the financial issues, the tension and blame in the marriage seem to have started around when Daniel lost his sight. It could have been true that pre-accident Samuel was okay with Sandra adapting his idea, but post-accident any small resentments turned from a spark into a fire. This doesn't excuse her actions but it explains them. In real life the death of a child, or a traumatic accident involving a child can very often cause loving marriages to collapse. The person you love and believe is your soulmate becomes a version of themself you can't stand. In Sandra and Samuel I see two people in a crumbling relationship who are both buckling under the strain their son's tragedy has pushed onto their marriage.
I feel like calling Sandra a narcissistic monster misses the nuance of this film, which is that human relationships are complicated, and should we judge people and relationships based on their worst and most shameful moments? We like to think good people like us could never act as horrible as Sandra did in that last fight, but for a lot of people that argument felt so true to life (minus the violence) to the worst disagreements of our lives. The manipulative, horrible things we say to the people we love in our most heated and selfish moments. It's simple to slot Sandra into 'good person' or 'bad person', but really she's neither because it's almost impossible to judge the truth of someone from a single court case or a single movie. We will never know what 90% of this marriage was like or who Sandra and Samuel were before this, we only know the worst and most tragic parts of it.
@@hurricaneofcats agree to disagree in the narcissist aspect. And I apologize if the use of that word onto Sandra made you upset.
However I'm not an expert in these subjects but I understand there are various types of narcissists. With that being said. Let's say Sandra is not a narcissist for the sake of argument.
Yes, she may not be a narcissist but she has done so many questionable things that we both have talked about.
To me the script is trying to show us how Sandra is manipulative and persuasive, all in her favor, of course.
I deeply agree with what you said "we good people think that we are not capable of treating others badly in our most selfish moments" (paraphrased). Yes and yes. And it is what I like about this script. That it makes us question our own humanity. How far can we get when we let our selfishness guide us in uncomfortable/hard situations.
And also I agree with what you said about the crumbling marriage. Anatomy of a fall is not only examining Samuel's fall under a forensic lens, but also his emotional fall and their fall as a marriage. And maybe try to teach us a lesson about how our actions impact the lives of the ones around us.
She was only passive in the sense that she allowed what isban obviously irresponsible and flaky person decide to relocate their family to the bumfck middle of nowhere and to a house that needed renovating.. then allow the child to be pulled out of regular school..
Like put your foot down _somewhere_ for fcks sake
Her German accent gives her a natural strangeness
Idk I really could not stand Samuel.. or believe Sandra still loved such a miserable whiney irresponsible person
Why would a loving father kill himself. He cared about his son. Doesn't make sense. She did it. She's controlling and manipulative.
Zoe leaves, not marge
Cant even show fake blood on RUclips now. Wtf
how is this trending nuber 8 on amazon what a pile of shit. 3 hours of my life i will never get back
This movie is very simply a biased story told trough the perspective of the female,it's very misleading at times and the fact is I would love to see this same movie but from Samuels perspective .
One of the most boring movies I have ever seen.
Snoop was the cause of the fall.
No.
You have to be kidding me.
Two hours I'll never get back.
Not used to movies without simple black/white answers, huh?