Amid cheers and applause, director Justine Triet stepped out onto the stage at Peking University Centennial Memorial Hall in Beijing on March 24. After an 11-hour flight, this was her first time to China. She was curious about how Chinese moviegoers would understand her film, "Anatomy of a Fall," following its premiere in the hall that day. The film is set to be released nationwide on March 29.

Director Justine Triet poses for a photo with the audience at the Peking University Centennial Memorial Hall in Beijing, March 24, 2024. [Photo courtesy of Road Pictures]

"Many French viewers believe that the female protagonist is innocent, but in the United States many people think she is guilty. I am now very curious about how you perceive this character and this film," she said to the audience.

However, the film does not intend to provide a concrete answer. Instead, the narrative aims to get closer to the truth with the task of the film being to approach the complexity of life, Triet explained. 

"Anatomy of a Fall," directed by Justine Triet from a screenplay she co-wrote with Arthur Harari, stars Sandra Hüller as Sandra Voyter, a writer who is trying to prove her innocence in her husband's death. This French legal drama premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, where it won the Palme d'Or. It later received more than 280 awards and nominations worldwide, including best original screenplay at the 96th Academy Awards.

"Sandra is not a perfect woman; I wanted to create a more relatable and complex character. She embodies a dual image: on one hand, she is a capable, strong woman, but on the other, she is the vulnerable individual, subjected to scrutiny and attack in court. What's most important is not what the truth is, but rather how society views the incident," the director shared. 

Triet mentioned that the film explores the protagonist's worldview, a perspective that may be challenging for male creators to accurately portray. The film delves into complex themes such as motherhood, life choices and gender equality within a family. These nuanced issues extend beyond simple binary decisions, highlighting the scarcity of feminist narratives in the current film industry.

The director noted that women have been muses for many films and pieces of art throughout history. Thus, having female directors is very important for the film industry, because it allows for the portrayal of women in film to be legitimate representations of their true selves, true desires and true preferences, and not only as objects of desire or as a fantasized source of creativity.

A poster for "Anatomy of a Fall." [Photo courtesy of China Film Group]

During her China tour, Triet engaged in enlightening dialogue with Chinese filmmakers and scholars such as Peking University professors Dai Jinhua and Dong Qiang, actress Qi Xi and filmmaker Yang Lina. 

"This is the kind of feminist film that resonates with me, one that I eagerly anticipate and identify with. Moreover, this film affirms that the communal aspect of cinema still exists, and realism is still possible," said Dai, a renowned cultural critic and professor of Chinese literature and culture at Peking University.

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