In the wake of the Academy Awards, I feel a little more motivated to watch the nominees. This was the only one playing at a nearby theater this week, apart from Oppenheimer. The showing included closed captioning, which suited me fine given the accents.
Novelist Sandra (Sandra Hüller) and her preteen son, Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner), find her husband, Samuel (Samuel Theis), dead of a head injury outside their French alpine lodge, evidently having fallen from a higher floor. No eyewitnesses to the event come forward. Investigators discover enough fishy details to cast doubt on the idea of an accident. Sandra's lawyer friend, Vincent (Swann Arlaud), advises a focus on the possibility of a suicide, while the prosecutor (Antoine Reinartz) at her trial leans heavily on the likelihood that she killed Samuel. Daniel testifies in her favor, but his word carries only so much weight. (Funny how almost all the characters have first names spelled the same in English.)
Like Anatomy of a Murder, the movie never definitely answers the question of whether the verdict is correct. I'm inclined to believe in Sandra's innocence of the charge, tho I admit that her protagonist status may have unduly biased my perception. At the very least, if I were a juror, I would vote no because of a lack of proof. From the looks of it, French courts aren't quite as kind as U.S. courts to defendants.
Since Sandra is German-born and lived in London a while, about half the dialog is in the ironic "lingua franca" of English. Vincent wants her to speak French in court, presumably for sympathy among unfair jurors, but she can keep that up for only so long before lapsing. We get no sign of mistranslation thereafter.
It becomes clear that there was plenty of drama in the family's life before Samuel died. Daniel had gone nearly blind from an incident that Samuel blamed on himself. Sandra and Samuel disagreed on who was making more self-sacrifices for the other, and a neutral third party could hardly judge either way. Samuel was an aspiring writer in his own right but got prone to frustration. Sandra became bisexually unfaithful, prompting passive-aggressive responses. Daniel would often leave when he heard them argue. Small wonder he gets so depressed.
Only as the movie ended did I realize there's no music except when a character plays it. Sometimes this means Daniel fumbling a classic at the piano. Sometimes it's Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band's instrumental version of 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P.," played loud and on a loop. Nothing I'd call enjoyable, but that's the point.
Between that quality and the legal conflict, I thought of A Separation. In both stories, there are no clear heroes or villains. Characters often leave key facts out of their testimonies, for reasons other than malice. The gestalt is highly credible as well as harrowing. I'm glad it won Best Original Screenplay.
If I have one complaint, it's the length, at 152 minutes. I did check my phone clock a few times. Starting at 8:45 p.m. didn't help. That said, I'm not sure what parts to trim. There's no particular bad scene, and I'd hate to reduce the effectiveness.
Anyone up for a foreign drama should check out AoaF. Just maybe take caution about when and how you watch.
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