“I see you very clearly, I just don’t see you as a victim.”

The beauty of rewatching a film is that you can have a completely different perception of it every single time, and indeed, now I see Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall in a whole new light.

One particular line in the film best sums up how I see it, and that is: “Sandra Voyter’s only crime was being successful where her husband failed.”

While at first glance Sandra is being accused of her husband’s murder, as the film goes on it is very clear that the she is being accused of more than that. 

Specifically, of daring to step out of a woman’s perceived place in society without consideration of her husband’s feelings.

I think we have all heard stories of women whose boyfriends or husbands resent due to their success, and how that resentment can grow into something more insidious over time. 

The truth is that many men still view women as lesser than, and that leads to unspoken expectations of how the dynamic of their relationship should work. 

Samuel could not stand the thought of being a caregiver. He could not bear to see his wife make a name for herself while he failed to do so by his own merit. In short, he blamed all of his shortcomings on her.

In one memorable scene, the defendant accuses Sandra of emasculating Samuel. Of ridding him of his god-given right as a man to feel needed, to feel important even when he isn’t. 

For this man, and for all the men who testify against Sandra, this is the worst kind of crime. Even worse than cold-blooded murder.

Women will always be held to a higher standard in all aspects of life, they will have their life publicly scrutinised by the masses and be seen as guilty of the most innocuous of crimes.

By the end of the film, we are left wondering if Sandra is actually being accused of her husband’s murder, or if she is just being accused of bruising his (and, by extension, other men’s) ego.

However, for anyone who is watching and who is in possession of a rational mind, the question of her innocence is easily answered by the time the credits roll.