The running time seems excessive, but this courtroom drama holds your attention from the very first frame. The set up reminded me of the start of a Michael Haneke film, particularly in the use of the music. The setting in a French town in the alps is picturesque to be sure, and is at odds with the tragedy at the center of the plot.
The title has to do with the demise of a husband who has been estranged by his wife, a German who immigrated to London, and then traveled to France at her husband's insistence. Was the fall an accident, or intentional? In the middle of the story is the 11-year old son, whose eyesight was damaged in an accident several years before that laid the seeds for the initial repressed hostility of the husband to the wife.
The fate of the wife/mother is based on the final testimony of the child. As far as courtrooms go, this one reminded me of the climax of another film, Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter (its snowy outdoor scenes are another element the two films share).
Sandra Hüller won an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the wife/mother. It's another believable performance of a woman who ends up being a manipulator much in the way Cate Blanchett was in Tar (Hüller even resembles Blanchett, and also Tilda Swinton, in a few scenes). This is a chilly, atmospheric film containing fascinating elements about the French legal system. Definitely thought-provoking and well worth the time.
The title has to do with the demise of a husband who has been estranged by his wife, a German who immigrated to London, and then traveled to France at her husband's insistence. Was the fall an accident, or intentional? In the middle of the story is the 11-year old son, whose eyesight was damaged in an accident several years before that laid the seeds for the initial repressed hostility of the husband to the wife.
The fate of the wife/mother is based on the final testimony of the child. As far as courtrooms go, this one reminded me of the climax of another film, Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter (its snowy outdoor scenes are another element the two films share).
Sandra Hüller won an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the wife/mother. It's another believable performance of a woman who ends up being a manipulator much in the way Cate Blanchett was in Tar (Hüller even resembles Blanchett, and also Tilda Swinton, in a few scenes). This is a chilly, atmospheric film containing fascinating elements about the French legal system. Definitely thought-provoking and well worth the time.