Naman Shrestha
Co-written and directed by Justine Triet, ‘Anatomy of a Fall‘ is a thriller drama movie that details the complexities of the marriage between Sandra and Samuel. The couple has been living at a secluded chalet in the French Alps along with their eleven-year-old son Daniel who is blind, for the past year or so. One day, when Samuel is found dead right below their chalet, the question surrounding the cause of his death arises — was he killed or did he die by suicide?
When the authorities presume foul play, all the suspicious fingers point at the victim’s wife, Sandra. The intense investigation that follows reveals the couple’s tumultuous relationship and the secrets hidden between them in the court of law, uncovering the circumstances that led to the death of Samuel. While the powerful performances from Sandra Hüller and the rest of the cast, including Swann Arlaud, Samuel Theis, Milo Machado, and Antoine Reinartz, keep the viewers engaged, the picturesque French Alps in the backdrop captivate them and make them wonder where exactly the filming of ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ took place.
Anatomy of a Fall Was Filmed Across France
‘Anatomy of a Fall’ was filmed in its entirety in France, specifically in Savoie, Isère, Charente-Maritime, and Paris. Commencing in late February 2022, the principal photography for the suspenseful drama was wrapped up in about 45 shooting days, around mid-May of the same year.
Savoie, France
A significant portion of ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ was lensed in the French department of Savoie, which is situated in the French Alps in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Sandra and Samuel live in a mountain house, where most of the drama unfolds, including the fall of the latter from the attic while he plays music. Most of the scenes, both exteriors and interiors, set in and around the couple’s property were lensed in Fjällstuga chalet in the hamlet of Les Crevasses in the commune of Villarembert. Maurienne is a province in Savoie that served as yet another filming site for the thriller drama film.
Isère, France
Some important scenes for ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ were also taped in the landlocked department of Isère, which borders Savoie to the east. The scene where the lawyers are seen at a café terrace was reportedly recorded on location, in one of the cafés in the largest city of the Isère department — Grenoble. Furthermore, the cast and crew members took over a few locales of the commune of Montbonnot-Saint-Martin, where they shot a few portions.
Charente-Maritime, France
The epic courtroom scenes in the second half of ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ were all filmed on location in and around the Courthouse of Saintes at Square du Maréchal Foch in Saintes, Charente-Maritime. The exteriors as well as interiors of the courthouse were utilized to shoot various pivotal sequences. During a conversation with AFCinema, the cinematographer, Simon Beaufils, opened up about what it was like to film at the courthouse. He explained, “For ‘Anatomy,’ we shot in Saintes, in the Charentes Maritimes. We were given eight days. Of course, that was a very short time to film the 1 hour 40 minutes we’d planned in the script!”
Simon added, “We had to shoot with two cameras at all times, with a fairly substantial lighting installation to make sure we had the correct match while adapting the lighting and moods to the different parts of the trial. The windows in the courtroom were very high, and we couldn’t use cranes outside (the courtroom being nested around other buildings that weren’t as high). So the crew had to build an artificial floor over the glass roofs to be able to install the sources on stands.”
Paris, France
For the purpose of shooting, the production team of ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ also traveled to the capital of France — Paris. The iconic Eiffel Tower and several other local landmarks, such as Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame de Paris, the Basilica of Sacré Coeur de Montmartre, and the Palais Garnier, are likely to feature in the backdrop of some sequences. The Parisian locales have also been utilized for the filming of various movies and TV shows other than the Sandra Hüller starrer. Some of them include ‘The Killer,’ ‘Blue Is the Warmest Colour,’ ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,’ ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire,’ and ‘The Diplomat.’
Read More: Loved Anatomy of a Fall? Here Are 8 Similar Courtroom Movies to Watch
