Despite the somewhat familiarity of the story in Anatomy of a Fall, the French movie is not based on a true story. But while the characters are fictional, Triet expressed in a 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter that she drew inspiration from true crime stories.
In a Vulture interview, Jacqueline Hodgson, a law professor in England, broke down many aspects of the depicted courtroom drama. Anatomy of a Fall may not be based on a real story, but it excels in its authenticity, with very few inaccuracies.
Sandra is absolved and Anatomy of a Fall ends, and yet the main question still doesn't seem to have a clear answer. Not even actress Sandra Hüller knows for sure, although that wasn't an obstacle for her Oscar-nominated performance.
Is the boy in Anatomy of a Fall blind in real life?
In real life, the actor who plays Sandra is Germany's Sandra Hüller; the actor who plays Samuel is Frenchman Samuel Theis; and the child actor who plays Daniel is teenager Milo Machado Graner, who is not blind. Snoop, the dog, is played by Messi, who belongs to Hüller offscreen; he is this year's Palm Dog.
Do we find out the truth in the Anatomy of a Fall?
At the end of Anatomy of a Fall, there's still a lot of ambiguity around how Samuel died and how truthful Sandra and Daniel are being. The ambiguity shows just how complicated perspective can make things, making the fact that the only "eyewitness" testimony available comes from Sandra's blind son.
Why does Daniel poison the dog in Anatomy of a Fall?
In the film, Sandra Hüller's novelist Sandra is accused of murdering her husband by pushing him off a balcony. Their son Daniel (Milo Macado-Graner) engages in an experiment that might help exonerate his mother — but it means purposely poisoning Snoop.
Are there any recent films of this 2nd type? Otherwise it's just a cinematic genre of the algorithm that periodically churns out products for such audience profile. It's a well-acted but drawn-out drama that failed to keep me interested in what was going on. The criminal elements also felt very out of place.
But if you were to ask this writer, I'd say it's fairly obvious that Sandra did not murder her husband, and that Daniel – seeing that things were not looking great for his mother – lied in his testimony to help her suicide theory.
In the film, Sandra is accused of pushing her husband to his death. The film never overtly tells the audience if she is guilty or not. While one would assume the actor herself would have a firm answer on Sandra's innocence, Huller says she preferred to leave it ambiguous.
The 2000 ft B67 TV Tower that Becky and Hunter climb is a real television tower. According to the director, the film was based on the KXTV/KOVR radio tower that is also known as the Sacramento Joint Venture Tower. It is a guyed communication tower in Walnut Grove, California.
While there isn't a specific Fall true story, the tower Becky and Hunter climb is real. When searching for the right location for their film, Fall's team came across the KXTV Tower in Walnut Grove, California.
And in England and Wales, guilty pleas make up the majority; very few go to trial. And similarly in France, a judicial investigation like we saw in the film happens in only around one to two percent of cases. What we see in Anatomy of a Fall is very much that rarefied ideal of criminal justice.
To me, the dog snuggling up to her at the end represents forgiveness, whether she did it or not, dogs are unconditionally loyal regardless of life circumstances. Proving a point to the man who died, whether by murder or suicide or a slip and fall, that he was wrong in his worldview...
A few years back, Anatomy of a Fall wouldn't even be eligible for a French submission. With that in mind, it's reasonable to conclude that France acknowledges the relevance of Anatomy of a Fall as a work of fiction, but is far from being the right movie to represent their country.
Was Vincent in love with Sandra in Anatomy of a Fall?
Similarly, she told Arlaud that Vincent was previously in love with Sandra, which forced the actor to balance his character's past feelings with his role as her lawyer. Triet said this was helpful because actors want to “defend their part.”
The beauty of Anatomy of a Fall is that by the end we, the audience, don't know conclusively whether Sandra (Sandra Hüller – who is nominated for the Best Actress Oscar) killed Samuel (Samuel Theis) or not. Triet wouldn't tell Huller on set whether she thought Sandra was guilty or innocent either.
Despite the somewhat familiarity of the story in Anatomy of a Fall, the French movie is not based on a true story. But while the characters are fictional, Triet expressed in a 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter that she drew inspiration from true crime stories.
Led by actress Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall is a masterpiece of perceptions and realities. Her on-screen plight as a wife accused of murder is riveting as she fights within a performative French justice system and fails to follow an attorney desperate to defend her.
How did the son become blind in Anatomy of a Fall?
Sandra Hüller plays a successful writer married to an unsuccessful writer. They have a son who lost his vision after an accident (the husband was at fault).
Samuel falls to his death from the upper floor with devastating consequences where after initial investigation wife Sandra is made the primary suspect and a courtroom drama ensues including a tape recording of the couple's fiery relationship. Add to the mix that the main witness is the visually impaired son.
How did they make Snoop look sick in Anatomy of a Fall?
For Snoop's most dramatic scene, Messi had to act sick — and a lot of hard work and training went into it. He had to learn how to lay down and let his tongue hang out as if he were ill, which wasn't easy.
Messi, the dog who plays Snoop in Anatomy of a Fall, and his trainer Laura Martin joined The Hollywood Reporter to reveal how they brought Snoop's near-death scene to life in the Oscar-nominated film.
While the court case the film follows does reach a legal verdict as to whether protagonist Sandra (Sandra Hüller) murdered her husband Samuel, the film itself never lands on a definitive truth.
