Anatomy of a Fall's Arthur Harari wins Best Screenplay Oscar with partner Justine Triet

Triet, the film's director and co-writer, reflects on 'crazy year'

Arthur Harari and Justine Triet hold up Oscars for Best Original Screenplay for Anatomy of a Fall. EPA / Allison Dinner

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The Oscar will help Justine Triet “through my midlife crisis, I think”. The French director and her partner and co-writer, Arthur Harari, won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for their work on Anatomy of a Fall.

The courtroom drama, which tells the story of a woman accused of killing her husband and their partially sighted son called as a witness, faced stiff competition from The Holdovers, Maestro, May December and Past Lives.

“This is a crazy year,” Triet said in her acceptance speech. “This glamour tonight contrasts slightly with [how the film started]. It was the lockdown … and there was no line between work and diapers.

Octavia Spencer, centre, presents the award to Arthur Harari, from left, and Justine Triet. AP / Chris Pizzello

“And then along came two other people, a woman and a man, the producers Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion,” said Harari.

The Egyptian-French director, scriptwriter and actor added: “That’s when things got a little crazy. But there was nothing between us or above us. Only total independence and freedom, and that’s the only way we could make that film. Thanks for that.”

Besides his efforts as a scriptwriter, Harari is also known for his work as director of Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle, which was selected as the opening film in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Concluding their acceptance speech, Triet went on to thank the cast, saying they “killed the script on set. That’s the best for writers, for directors”.

Anatomy of a Fall has received much critical acclaim for its layered plot and cast performances. The film stars German actress Sandra Huller as a writer who is suspected of her husband's murder when he is found dead in the snow below their chalet in the French Alps.

As she is trying to prove her innocence during the investigation, media frenzy and subsequent trial, her young blind son, the only witness during their stay at the chalet, has his own moral dilemma that he needs to face.

The film was nominated for four other Oscars, including Best Picture and Film Editing. Triet also received a nomination for Directing, while Huller was in the running for the award for Actress in a Leading Role.

Anatomy of a Fall has had a successful run in this year’s awards season. It has raked in a whopping 99 awards, including the prizes for screenplay and best motion picture prize for a non-English language film at the 81st annual Golden Globes. It also won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.