Two films – one marriage. André Cayatte’s ambitious two-part cycle Anatomy of a Marriage
invites viewers to witness the drama of love and daily life from two perspectives: the wife’s and
the husband’s. The unique structure originated with François Truffaut’s proposal that Cayatte
attempt an experimental narrative: to tell the same couple’s story twice, from both sides,
revealing how deeply personal perception can diverge even when sharing the same life. The idea
immediately recalls Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon – a film that famously questioned the
existence of objective truth – only here the mystery is not a crime, but the emotional
miscommunication, silences, and unspoken expectations within a marriage.
Françoise is a sensitive, idealistic woman striving to preserve her identity and her love within the
family. Jean-Marc, meanwhile, is a man trying to meet the expectations of society and his
household, suppressing his emotions and acting according to what is demanded of him. He is
weighed down by the burden of conformity: duties, norms, and social roles that often override
personal desires. These parallel narratives form a subtle document of postwar France, revealing
shifting notions of family, gender roles, and intimacy.
André Cayatte was a distinctive figure in French cinema, moving between social critique and
psychological drama. He became known for boldly confronting moral and legal issues in films
such as We Are All Murderers (1952) and Justice Is Done (1950), which won the Golden Lion in
Venice. With the Anatomy of a Marriage cycle, his work took a new turn – an intimate,
psychologically layered story that leaves the courtroom behind to explore the “inner tribunal” of
marriage, where daily choices, guilt, and unfulfilled expectations are put on trial.
This two-part work reveals how much lies between spoken words and unspoken feelings,
reminding us that every love story carries at least two truths. With subtle precision, Cayatte
shows how the same events can be lived in radically different ways – not because one side lies,
but because each sees only what they are ready to see. This humanist perspective remains
powerfully relevant today, in both cinema and life. The diptych continues the conversation
launched in Richard Linklater’s New Wave, part of Scanorama’s “Crossing Europe” program,
about the French New Wave’s mission to transform cinema – a legacy that still resonates. One of
the movement’s great inspirations was François Truffaut, whose proposal was realized by André
Cayatte, a less flamboyant but no less important fellow traveler of that era.
Two films – one marriage. André Cayatte’s ambitious two-part cycle Anatomy of a Marriage
invites viewers to witness the drama of love and daily life from two perspectives: the wife’s and
the husband’s. The unique structure originated with François Truffaut’s proposal that Cayatte
attempt an experimental narrative: to tell the same couple’s story twice, from both sides,
revealing how deeply personal perception can diverge even when sharing the same life. The idea
immediately recalls Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon – a film that famously questioned the
existence of objective truth – only here the mystery is not a crime, but the emotional
miscommunication, silences, and unspoken expectations within a marriage.
Françoise is a sensitive, idealistic woman striving to preserve her identity and her love within the
family. Jean-Marc, meanwhile, is a man trying to meet the expectations of society and his
household, suppressing his emotions and acting according to what is demanded of him. He is
weighed down by the burden of conformity: duties, norms, and social roles that often override
personal desires. These parallel narratives form a subtle document of postwar France, revealing
shifting notions of family, gender roles, and intimacy.
André Cayatte was a distinctive figure in French cinema, moving between social critique and
psychological drama. He became known for boldly confronting moral and legal issues in films
such as We Are All Murderers (1952) and Justice Is Done (1950), which won the Golden Lion in
Venice. With the Anatomy of a Marriage cycle, his work took a new turn – an intimate,
psychologically layered story that leaves the courtroom behind to explore the “inner tribunal” of
marriage, where daily choices, guilt, and unfulfilled expectations are put on trial.
This two-part work reveals how much lies between spoken words and unspoken feelings,
reminding us that every love story carries at least two truths. With subtle precision, Cayatte
shows how the same events can be lived in radically different ways – not because one side lies,
but because each sees only what they are ready to see. This humanist perspective remains
powerfully relevant today, in both cinema and life. The diptych continues the conversation
launched in Richard Linklater’s New Wave, part of Scanorama’s “Crossing Europe” program,
about the French New Wave’s mission to transform cinema – a legacy that still resonates. One of
the movement’s great inspirations was François Truffaut, whose proposal was realized by André
Cayatte, a less flamboyant but no less important fellow traveler of that era.
invites viewers to witness the drama of love and daily life from two perspectives: the wife’s and
the husband’s. The unique structure originated with François Truffaut’s proposal that Cayatte
attempt an experimental narrative: to tell the same couple’s story twice, from both sides,
revealing how deeply personal perception can diverge even when sharing the same life. The idea
immediately recalls Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon – a film that famously questioned the
existence of objective truth – only here the mystery is not a crime, but the emotional
miscommunication, silences, and unspoken expectations within a marriage.
Françoise is a sensitive, idealistic woman striving to preserve her identity and her love within the
family. Jean-Marc, meanwhile, is a man trying to meet the expectations of society and his
household, suppressing his emotions and acting according to what is demanded of him. He is
weighed down by the burden of conformity: duties, norms, and social roles that often override
personal desires. These parallel narratives form a subtle document of postwar France, revealing
shifting notions of family, gender roles, and intimacy.
André Cayatte was a distinctive figure in French cinema, moving between social critique and
psychological drama. He became known for boldly confronting moral and legal issues in films
such as We Are All Murderers (1952) and Justice Is Done (1950), which won the Golden Lion in
Venice. With the Anatomy of a Marriage cycle, his work took a new turn – an intimate,
psychologically layered story that leaves the courtroom behind to explore the “inner tribunal” of
marriage, where daily choices, guilt, and unfulfilled expectations are put on trial.
This two-part work reveals how much lies between spoken words and unspoken feelings,
reminding us that every love story carries at least two truths. With subtle precision, Cayatte
shows how the same events can be lived in radically different ways – not because one side lies,
but because each sees only what they are ready to see. This humanist perspective remains
powerfully relevant today, in both cinema and life. The diptych continues the conversation
launched in Richard Linklater’s New Wave, part of Scanorama’s “Crossing Europe” program,
about the French New Wave’s mission to transform cinema – a legacy that still resonates. One of
the movement’s great inspirations was François Truffaut, whose proposal was realized by André
Cayatte, a less flamboyant but no less important fellow traveler of that era.