Summary

Anatomy of a Fall is a unique blend of courtroom thriller and relationship drama, and there are plenty of great movies from these two genres that are worth checking out. The genius of Justine Triets direction of Anatomy of a Fall is that she avoided genre conventions at every turn. The mysterious death of Sandra Voyters husband sets up a procedural storyline, but rather than following the familiar beats of a procedural, Triet uses the legal proceedings as a springboard to examine the nuances of a complicated marriage.

There are no movies out there that are quite like Anatomy of a Fall. Thats a big reason why Triet and her writing partner (and life partner) Arthur Harari won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay; their script is fiercely original, building on recognizable genre tropes but taking the story off in its own direction. But there are other movies that combine a crime story with a love story, other movies that chronicle a captivating criminal trial, and other movies that take an in-depth look at the complexities of a marriage.

Adapted from Gillian Flynns bestselling novel of the same name (by Flynn herself), Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck as a clueless everyman who becomes public enemy number one when his wife, played by an Oscar-nominated Rosamund Pike, goes missing. Like Anatomy of a Fall, Gone Girl explores the publics obsession with true-crime narratives and the medias need to prematurely vilify someone who could very well be innocent. Just like Triets movie, Finchers movie uses a mystery storyline as a jumping-off point to explore the fractures in an imperfect marriage.

Gone Girl, much like Anatomy of a Fall, is anchored by a captivating lead performance that earned a nod for Best Actress. The two sides of its story the mystery side and the romance side are woven together with razor-sharp editing. They both examine marital strife in the context of a nail-biting thriller.

Not only does Otto Premingers Anatomy of a Murder have a similar title to Anatomy of a Fall; it similarly revolves around the trial of a crime that is intrinsically tied to a marriage. An army officer has murdered an innkeeper, but only because the innkeeper had allegedly beaten and sexually assaulted his wife. A pure legal drama built entirely around the trial, Anatomy of a Murder follows a small-town barristers attempts to defend the army officer.

Anatomy of a Murder has the same jaw-dropping sense of realism as Anatomy of a Fall, partly because it was based on a real trial. The novel that the film was based on is credited to Robert Traver, but thats just the pen name of Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker. Voelker wrote the book based on a real-life 1952 murder trial in which he was the defense attorney.

Above all, Anatomy of a Fall is a movie about a marriage falling apart. Noah Baumbach told a similar tale, minus the mysterious death, in his 2019 drama Marriage Story. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson both nominated for Oscars star as a married couple going through an ugly divorce. At first, they want to keep the proceedings amicable for the sake of their young son, but once they hire lawyers and get inside a courtroom, the claws come out.

The screaming matches between Marriage Storys Charlie and Nicole feel just as painfully authentic as the arguments between Anatomy of a Falls Sandra and Samuel. The bitterness gets so excruciating that its hard to imagine that they ever loved each other. But the genius of both movies is that the connection feels real and there are plenty of reminders of why they fell for each other in the first place.

The narrative of Akira Kurosawas High and Low doesnt have a lot in common with Anatomy of a Fall. Its about a wealthy Japanese businessman who has to choose between using his immense fortune to gain executive control of his company and giving the money to his employee to help him save his child from kidnappers. High and Low touches on different themes than Anatomy of a Fall its about the corrupting power of wealth but theyre both about the personal stakes of a legal battle.

Like Anatomy of a Fall, High and Low is a two-hander. Toshiro Mifune plays the wealthy businessman attempting a hostile takeover of his company and Tatsuya Nakadai plays the detective tasked with solving the kidnapping case. Kurosawa, much like Triet, lets his characters motivations drive the plot, not genre conventions.

Stylistically, Anatomy of a Fall owes a great debt to the long history of courtroom dramas. Billy Wilder helped to define the conventions of that genre with his darkly comedic Agatha Christie adaptationWitness for the Prosecution. Witness for the Prosecution revolves around a man who is accused of murdering a wealthy widow who had included him as the primary beneficiary in her will. The trial gets complicated when the mans own wife gives an unreliable testimony against him.

This blend of the politics of a courtroom with the politics of a marriage is very reminiscent of Anatomy of a Fall. Like Triets movie, its a character-focused legal thriller. Selected by the AFI as the sixth greatest courtroom drama ever filmed, Witness for the Prosecution is one of Wilders finest films (and thats saying a lot, because he made plenty of classics).

Like Anatomy of a Fall, Blue Valentine is a brutally frank and honest depiction of a dysfunctional marriage, and like Anatomy of a Fall, it takes place across two timelines. These dual timelines have nothing to do with a court case, but they serve the same dramatic purpose to highlight the downfall of this relationship. Blue Valentines timelines chart the happy, optimistic early days of the relationship and the bitter, mutually destructive final days of the relationship.

Director Derek Cianfrance has as much control over the nuances of his characters marriage in Blue Valentine as Triet does in Anatomy of a Fall. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, both at the top of their game, bring Dean and Cindy and their relationship to life in heartbreaking fashion. Blue Valentine is a grueling watch, but much like Anatomy of a Fall, its emotionally gripping.

Alice Diops Saint Omer tells the startling tale of a pregnant novelist named Rama attending the trial of Laurence Coly, a woman accused of murdering her 15-month-old daughter by leaving her on a beach to be swept away by the tide. Rama hopes to use the details of the case as material for a retelling of Medea, and it initially seems like an open-and-shut case. But the shocking revelations in Colys testimony end up shaking Rama to her core and challenging her deepest beliefs.

This was Diops first narrative feature after working as a documentarian for nearly two decades. Diop is known for her blunt portrayal of contemporary French society. The social critique and intense realism of her documentaries transferred over to her first narrative feature, especially because the story is rooted in reality. Its based on the French court case of Fabienne Kabou, who was convicted of the same crime, whose trial was attended by Diop in 2016.

Sidney Lumets 12 Angry Men is arguably the definitive courtroom drama. Like Anatomy of a Fall, 12 Angry Men uses minimal locations to keep the audience focused on the characters and the criminal case theyre wrapped up in. Whereas Anatomy of a Fall confines its action to the courtroom and the scene of the crime, 12 Angry Men takes place entirely in one room as a group of jurors debate the facts of a high-profile case on the basis of reasonable doubt.

Like Anatomy of a Fall, the success of 12 Angry Men rests on the casts performances. 12 Angry Men has a star-studded ensemble including such A-listers as Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb. Fonda in particular echoes Sandra Hllers righteous ferocity from Anatomy of a Fall as he argues with his fellow jurors over whats right.

The beauty of Anatomy of a Fall is that it sets up a murder mystery plot, then uses that plot to dive into an emotionally engaging love story. Park Chan-wook pulled off the same trick with his 2022 neo-noir Decision to Leave. Park Hae-il stars as a married detective investigating the death of a man whose body was found at the bottom of a mountain he frequently climbed. The investigation brings him closer to the mans widow, played by Tang Wei, who he quickly falls for.

As with Anatomy of a Fall, Decision to Leave uses the external conflict of a murder investigation merely as a vehicle to introduce the characters and force them into situations they dont want to be in. Once thats all been set up, it focuses squarely on the romantic elements. Decision to Leave is a deeply affecting thriller.

Much like Anatomy of a Fall, Ingmar Bergmans Scenes from a Marriage explores the disintegration of a married couples relationship. Whereas Anatomy of a Fall jumps all over the timeline of the relationship as different incidents come up in the courtroom, Scenes from a Marriage charts the gradual collapse of Marianne and Johans marriage over the course of 10 years. Marianne is a divorce lawyer and Johan is a psychologist, so they have a deep understanding of their own problems (not that that makes them any easier to deal with).

The intense realism and naturalism of Bergmans movie has gone on to inspire such American filmmakers as Woody Allen and Richard Linklater. Scenes from a Marriage deftly blends the intellectual with the emotional. Its not a particularly easy watch the increasingly bitter arguments, like in Anatomy of a Fall, are deeply uncomfortable but its incredibly powerful.

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10 Best Movies Like Anatomy Of A Fall - Screen Rant