Five Oscar nominations for Anatomy of a fall, including one in best film and another in best direction – two particularly prestigious categories! Not bad for a film whose director, Justine Triet, said, when she was writing it during confinement with her partner Arthur Harrari, that no one would go see it. “It’s too long, the characters talk all the time, there’s no music, a couple breaks up, a dog vomits, that’s what…”, she listed on January 7, when receiving the Golden Globe for best original screenplay.
The last few months have made him lie. Since it won the Palme d’Or in May, this French auteur film, which lasts two and a half hours and tells the trial of a woman, played by the German Sandra Hüller, nominated for this role at the The Oscar for best actress, suspected of having killed her husband in a remote corner of the Alps, has met with success almost everywhere.
The most viewed French film in the United Kingdom in 2023
Released in France on August 30, a favorable period for the launch of author’s works, it recorded 1,372,110 admissions. A figure stopped on Sunday and expected to grow because Anatomy of a fall is still on display in tricolor theaters. In three weeks of release, it has established itself as the most seen French film across the Channel in 2023, with 142,000 tickets sold in the United Kingdom. It is also a success in Spain, Italy and Germany, with 207,000, 175,000 and 277,000 entries recorded respectively.
This enthusiasm is reflected in the nominations and prize lists of the various cinematographic award ceremonies on the continent. Anatomy of a fall thus raided the 2023 European Film Awards, with five trophies pocketed (film, direction, screenwriter, actress and editor). And it competes in seven categories (film, non-English film, original screenplay, direction, actress, editing and casting) for the next Bafta, the British Césars, which will be awarded on February 18.
And Anatomy of a fall will be released this year in a large number of Latin American countries, as well as in Australia or Japan, among others, it has already conquered North America. It is even the French feature film which had the most admissions in 2023 in the United States, with 4 million dollars (3.7 million euros) in revenue.
A collection of American trophies
And since the awards season opened across the Atlantic at the end of autumn, he has continued to see his collection of statuettes grow. Two awards at the Gotham Awards, dedicated to independent cinema: best screenplay and best international film. A trophy for best international film awarded by the New York Critics’ Circle and another, with the same name, by the National Board of Review. But also a Critic’s Choice Awards for best non-English-speaking film and two Golden Globes – awarded by Hollywood’s foreign journalists – for best non-English-speaking film and for best screenplay.
How to explain such a phenomenon ? First of all – sorry in advance for the obvious – this is a good film. If it were without quality, it would not be popular in so many different territories. The scenario is mastered, maintains the suspense and takes the audience out of its comfort zone in its unfolding which enjoys thwarting its expectations. The work opens up reflection on several subjects such as the diversity of points of view, the shifting contours of the truth, the fragility of convictions, doubt, and can give rise to discussions on sexist prejudices.
“The sexiest lawyer in the French Alps”
The Palme d’Or helped to shine the spotlight on this feature film, and allowed it to intensify its international influence. And, in a more anecdotal way (although), pop culture has taken hold of it. Swann Arlaud, who plays the heroine’s lawyer, was the subject of loving video montages, created by foreign moviegoers, widely relayed on social networks.
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“Thank you Swan for being the sexiest lawyer in the French Alps,” declared Justine Triet, receiving the Golden Globe for best non-English-speaking film. If the effect of these clips posted on , and thus open it to another segment of the public.
Obtaining at least one Oscar on March 10 would symbolically complete the international success ofAnatomy of a fall – the competition will be tough, he starts as an outsider – but the five nominations already represent, in themselves, a great satisfaction. Even more so for a film which, its own creator thought, would interest no one. Justine Triet also makes the history of the ceremony: she is only the ninth woman to have received a nomination for the Oscar for best director.