April recs: what to watch, read, and read
Anatomy of a Fall is on Hulu
Anatomy of a Fall. Have you watched it?
It reminded me of another arty French movie called La Moustache from about 20 years ago. A bit like Sliding Doors, too, in that these films spend their time at an uncomfortable, maybe even taboo intersection between two previously parallel universes.
But, AOAF was much better than these other two movies because [SPOILERS AHEAD] …
rather than teetering between two worlds, in the universe of Anatomy of a Fall, the characters inhabit two realities simultaneously. In one reality, the main character Sandra has thrown her husband off a balcony. In the other, he has committed suicide by jumping out of the window. Two realities are folded into one.
That makes Sandra both a husband-murderer and the widow of a suicide victim at the same time. Sort of. This is one of those movies in which it really doesn’t matter what “actually” happened. I know a lot of people hate those kinds of movies.
I like them, though, and here’s why: if it doesn’t matter what “actually” happened, then we viewers are left to sit with the uncomfortable reality that two contradictory things can nonetheless be true. It’s good practice for a life spent regularly “holding” contradictory truths.
I love her, and I can’t let her near me. I am grieving and I feel deep joy today. See also: This is my country and this is stolen land. I am powerless to stop the genocide in Palestine and I am complicit.
We need art that compels us to sit in discomfort just as much as we need art that allows us to escape. That’s my 2 cents.
Even if this film doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, another reason to watch is for the portrayal of a wife and mother who is over it. She’s over the rules and expectations of wifehood and motherhood, and yet of course she is constricted by those rules anyway. I liked how willing the film was to traipse into a portrayal of her as a bad mom and a bad wife, and how, in the end, being bad doesn’t kill her.
Just her husband. Muhahahahaha.
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I also recently revisited the short story “Cat Person” from 2017. I happened to read it right before watching the movie, and it influenced the way I consumed the movie. Though the themes and the content are pretty different, both “Cat Person” and Anatomy of a Fall share a similar unwillingness to conform to a single interpretation. Here’s something the author of “Cat Person” wrote after the story went viral:
Here’s the catch: when you read a story I’ve written, you’re not thinking about me—you’re thinking as me. I’ve wormed my way inside your head (hi!) and briefly taken over your mind. … When the story is over—or if you put it down midway—you’re free to think whatever you want. You can think, Dumb, or Boring, or Great, or, She looks like a bitch in her author photo, or, What the fuck did I just read? But I don’t need to be there to absorb your reaction. In fact, I shouldn’t be. My role in the process is over.
Maybe it’s like this: I like films when they are like safety deposit boxes. The filmmaker brings one key, the viewer brings another key, and you need both keys to open the box.
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I would love to hear your thoughts about Anatomy of a Fall (or “Cat Person”) in the comments. What did you think?
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Last tidbit for you: April is National Poetry Month. Below is a poem from the book Grown-Up Elementary, by D’Mani Thomas. I love this book, but this poem in particular has stayed with me for weeks. I even copied it down into my notebook.
Ice Cream Truck Observations by D’Mani Thomas
You predatory machines
zoo of bubblegum eyes
you smell childhood than vulture
you thoughtful
outside the school before my parents
You roll round in uh trench coat and ask what we need
one pocket sugar—the others cheese dust and spice
omnipresent liquor store
if I had a dollar for every dollar
you convinced me to let go of
I’d have a small college scholarship, a pair of Jordans,
a ticket to New York, one night out with no hesitations,
money for Christmas gifts, a grill, an acne routine—
I’d have nothing to make my walk home
sweet