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MOVIE FEATURE

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Good Boy, Mes

The biggest breakout performance of the year goes to Messi, the French border collie dog, whose role as Snoop in Anatomy of a Fall has been touted as the greatest animal performance in cinema history. Director Justine Triet considers Messi to be a legitimate member of the cast, and Messi was even given a seat at this year’s Oscars ceremony. Messi lives in Paris with his owner Laura Martin Contini, and was named after Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi.

If non-English speaking audiences weren’t familiar with actress Sandra Hüller before last month, they were surely introduced via the Oscars, when two of the films that she stars in - Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interes t - took home gold statues. Words Gill Pringle

she offers, “I don't do so much. I just sit with them; when I decide to be with a project, it’s more a question of deciding if I want to spend time with the character. “But I don't have a sort of routine to get closer to the character. It's like they enter my life, the moment that I decide to spend time with them. And then they're kind of everywhere, like my whole perception of reality changes in a way, and I think about them constantly. A bit like falling in love with someone, or when you're upset with someone and kind of fantasising about them.” Certainly, the actress enjoyed teasing with the notions of guilt or innocence. “It was very important that we wanted to say something about how women in general are treated, and what we fantasise about them when we don't have all the information, and how our perception of them changes. With every little bit of information that we get, there’s some things we like about her, and some we

A nd Messi the dog didn’t hurt the Anatomy of a Fall awards campaign either, appearing both at the annual pre-Oscar Governor’s Ball in Hollywood, and later taking a seat at the ceremony itself, earning more close-ups than many of his illustrious co-stars (and even paw-plauding Robert Downey Jr.). Directed and co-written by French filmmaker Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall ’s gripping courtroom drama and painful dissection of a marriage took home the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes last May - often an indicator of further worldwide acclaim. Indeed, the film earned five Oscar nods with Triet and her partner and co-writer Arthur Harari winning for 'Best Original Screenplay'. In the film, Hüller portrays a novelist and mother of a visually impaired 11-year-old boy, who finds herself accused of murdering her husband after he falls from the window of their chalet in the French Alps. Even after Hüller first agreed to star in the film, Triet refused to reveal to the cast whether or not Hüller’s Sandra is actually guilty of killing her husband.

Swann Arlaud and Sandra Hüller

don't. And when we don't like something, then we think: ‘Oh, maybe she's guilty.’ “We wanted to create a sort of movement of the audience, where they would feel different things at different places and, in the end, they still would not be sure about

“The film is not really about whether she did it or not,” argues the East German actress, 45, who first received international buzz for her role in 2016 comedy Toni Erdmann . “It’s about trying to find your own truth, and if you want freedom, do you automatically take that away from someone

• Anatomy of a Fall is out April 3

else? And about the judgement of a woman who dares to take what she needs and wants.” Asked how she approached the role,

her and would have to reflect on themselves and why they think a certain way.”

30 APRIL 2024

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