The Fall

This has three things to recommend it. Any two would be remarkable. All three make it a must see. The most striking aspect of course is how lush the thing is. We may never see another film like this, one that uses real locations and practical effects but which has all of the other benefits of technology. Just the scope in impress of the thing makes it a thrill. Not only do we skip from one profound space to another, but Singhhas selected what seems to be the very best location for the eye. Often these are Tarkovsky-like so that we can see some action in the foreground and with a pan other action in the background. I doubt his DP made these decisions, so the choices are more remarkable. "The Cell" had some powerful images, but they were incoherent, as if they were designed by competing art departments. No such problem here. Not only do the imaginary sequences have the same color palette (as it changes) even though the locations are a bewildering variety, but all the other artistic values do as well. We could well have different continents mixed in the same few minutes without a situational shift. That alone is a rare and worthy experience. A second striking aspect is the narrative folding. At first glance it is simple and ordinary: a nested story with blended elements. But overlain n this is a parallel nesting about stories and movies, being a movie about movie-making. And falls, deliberate and staged, with some deep ambiguity about which is which. And which are physical and which emotional. It isn't great art, but its head and shoulders above most. And finally we have the little girl. Now, I usually revolt when these are used to elicit the standard response. I gagged at "Miss Sunshine," because it was a weak project supported by cuteness. But this is a wholly different thing. This girl is fantastic. There are parts of the script that are embarrassing, and the end is a travesty of a story setup. But she pulls it off and we hardly notice. This has one of the most impressive title sequences I have ever seen. It alone deserves praise. I would trade ten "Pan's Labyrinth"s for one of these. Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I saw this movie at the Toronto film festival, the Elgin Theater. First off, it was nice to see a film where the director had complete creative control to execute his vision. This film does not suffer the fate of marketers or no talent Hollywood producers who think they are artist or visionaries. If you liked Cinema Paradiso and the Princess Bride then you will also love this film. Tarsem's lavish imagery and fantastic locations create the atmosphere for an epic adventure, while the acting of Lee Pace, Justine Waddell and especially, Cantinca Untaru provide the drama and laughter. First, Cantinca Untaru as Alexandria is superb. I normally avoid films with children as they are usually cheesy or groan worthy. Cantinca, however, is much like the little boy in Cinema Paradiso, a natural child. When Alexandria says things we believe her, when she does things it is her child like nature we are watching come out. There is nothing stiff or unnatural about this young actress and it is a great credit to Tarsem as a director that he was able to pull this level of acting from a child. While watching the movie, I was amazed at how Tarsem and Cantinca were able to move the audience from laughter to tears and back to laughter so fluidly. Lee Pace puts in an excellent show and does a great job as a suicidal patient in the hospital, but Cantinca is definitely the star of this show. Tarsem has a great eye for location and he exhibits it well in this movie. It truly was shot all over the world. Along with all the great locations are the beautifully colorful costumes of fashion designer Eiko Ishioka. The costumes are larger than life and beautiful in their symbolism. So having said all that, I would highly recommend this movie. This is one of those rare films that actually does have a bit of something for everyone yet keeps its integrity.

"The Fall" opens with a disembodied symphony of black and white images done to the tune of Beethoven's 7th where the beauty is in not fully understanding what you are watching. There's a train, a bridge, a man in the water, a rope, and the hoisting up of a horse from the river. And there's one quick shot of actress Karen Haacke, looking shocked and dreadfully beautiful as she (and not yet the audience) realizes what has happened that made my jaw drop. Some movies, like the "Indiana Jones" films, are designed to evoke fond feelings from other movies. Then there are films like Tarsem "Don't Say My Last Name" Singh's "The Fall," which exists to tell a tried and true story with new images we have never seen before. When we last met Tarsem, he gave us the trippy crime flick "The Cell" in which we were made to feel sympathy for a serial killer who literally became trapped inside Jennifer Lopez's head--talk about HELL! With "The Fall", Tarsem, wanton and reckless, creates a tenuous relationship with the audience as he weaves the tale of broken-hearted silent film era stuntman (Lee Pace) who suffers a severe injury after a foolish stunt (seen in the opening) and forms an unlikely friendship with a migrant farm girl (Catinca Untaru) who broke her arm falling from a tree while picking oranges. "The Fall" shares some thematic similarities with Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and the Polish Brothers' "Northfork" as Pace's character begins to construct an elaborate fantasy world for the little girl to pass the time. The images Tarsem creates are breathtaking, strange, and confounding and like nothing seen in modern cinematic myth-making. The vibrant director uses visual and textural transitions from scene to scene (witness a butterfly turn into an island, or spilled coffee turn into blood) like it's nobody's business. "The Fall" is a true independent film, shot over the course of four years in twenty-eight different countries and funded primarily by Tarsem himself (with some last minute help from contemporaries David Fincher and Spike Jonze). With no CGI alterations, part of the fun is trying to figure out how some of the scenes were shot. Sometimes distracting is trying to determine where they were shot--as I believe one of the scenes was done (is it even possible?) outside India's Taj Mahal. There's sometimes an undercurrent of malevolence in the imagery, and often it is so over-the-top in its pageantry as to become incomprehensible inside the grander scheme of the simple fairy tale. Paradoxically it also reaches the level of silliness as one scene involving the overly dramatic death of a monkey named Wallace had me laughing so hard I almost cried. Meanwhile, the acting verges on amateurish. Justine Waddell in her dual roles as a nurse and princess is stunningly gorgeous but vapid. In the lead role, Pace, ranges from wooden to overly emotional, while the pint-size Untaru is so uncommonly naturalistic one wonders if she even realizes she was playing make-believe. These follies can be forgiven, though, as the movie celebrates the power of imagination and the lore of films. Where else are you going to find a man shot to death with dozens of arrows only to fall on his back and be held suspended by the very instruments of his death? Believe me, the scene is amazing. "The Fall" succeeds as a movie for true film buffs. Critics like Roger Ebert, who sincerely love movies and their power to entertain, have raved about it, while others more cynical have dismissed it as a moving coffee-table book of empty modern art. Viewing it as a midweek matinée, I witnessed the only other patrons walk out, while some ushers looking to pass the time, sat in on the last ten minutes, which featured a montage of silent film era stunts that gloriously celebrated the old images that astounded their audiences just as much as Tarsem's new images attempt to astound us. The ushers seemed to get a mad kick out of it, and so did I.

Somewhere on the Internet, someone wrote a column, "The Ten Most Visually-Stunning Movies Of The Last Decade" (or something like that.). The only movie I hadn't never heard of on this list was this one - The Fall - so I anxiously checked it out. Well, it certainly lived up to expectations, especially on Blu-Ray which was the recommended way to view the DVD. Yes, it was one of the most amazing visual films I've ever seen. The story was a strange one and which gave me mixed feelings about it, was it was but okay. If read the other reviews here, you'll find everyone agrees "The Fall" is amazing "eye candy" but opinions really vary on the story, from loving it to hating it. In addition to the stunning visuals, the other thing that amazed me was how good an actress young Catinca Intaru ("Alexandria") turned out to be. I can see why she beat out 400 other competitors for this role, and received top billing. A Romanian girl who could speak decent English, she and the lines she delivered made for a very believable character. Overall, this is a film you might like and might not, perhaps depending on your appreciation for photography. To me, that and realism of the child actress, made it a disc worth keeping.

Using "The Wizard of Oz" as inspiration is pretty commendable, throwing in a dash of Gilliam's imagination, and bringing in top talent to take our breath away with its glorious and impressive camera work, art direction, and the magical costumes, "The Fall" is an amazing treat for people who love cinema. "The Fall" tells the story of a broken heart, and how people cope with tragic moments, how wonders and imagination can flourish in the worst situation, and how children's perspectives can still be colored with hope and a sense of wonder that can overcome almost any type of negative experiences. Their sense of resilience can heal their spirit and, at times, other people's. "The Fall" takes us on a journey of a child's imagination, as she transforms the tricky storytelling of a hospital patient into a colorful, magical, and quite impressive universe where things are always beautiful, humorous, bigger than life, and as far away from everyday life as they can be. "The Fall" takes the audience into several locations in this planet that can easily qualify as paradise. From its sensation underwater scenes to the marvelous desert battle scenes. This movie will entertain you, will delight you, will impress you, and most importantly, will make you revisit your own appreciation of the human spirit. It is quite an experience to behold.

Yes yes, cutesy little girl, great actress, endearing, with majestic visuals but... it never really goes anywhere. And after awhile the novelty wears off and by the midpoint in the movie I found myself waiting for a "point". By the last quarter, I was waiting and hoping for an "end" and slipping into terminal boredom. Obviously most people liked the movie a lot better than me, and I have no problem with that. There is no reason to give this movie a one or a two but I wish it had been over at the midpoint, giving me the experience without the listless last half. Here's your tenth line. Like the rest of the movie, it doesn't contribute much.

This has three things to recommend it. Any two would be remarkable. All three make it a must see. The most striking aspect of course is how lush the thing is. We may never see another film like this, one that uses real locations and practical effects but which has all of the other benefits of technology. Just the scope in impress of the thing makes it a thrill. Not only do we skip from one profound space to another, but Singhhas selected what seems to be the very best location for the eye. Often these are Tarkovsky-like so that we can see some action in the foreground and with a pan other action in the background. I doubt his DP made these decisions, so the choices are more remarkable. "The Cell" had some powerful images, but they were incoherent, as if they were designed by competing art departments. No such problem here. Not only do the imaginary sequences have the same color palette (as it changes) even though the locations are a bewildering variety, but all the other artistic values do as well. We could well have different continents mixed in the same few minutes without a situational shift. That alone is a rare and worthy experience. A second striking aspect is the narrative folding. At first glance it is simple and ordinary: a nested story with blended elements. But overlain n this is a parallel nesting about stories and movies, being a movie about movie-making. And falls, deliberate and staged, with some deep ambiguity about which is which. And which are physical and which emotional. It isn't great art, but its head and shoulders above most. And finally we have the little girl. Now, I usually revolt when these are used to elicit the standard response. I gagged at "Miss Sunshine," because it was a weak project supported by cuteness. But this is a wholly different thing. This girl is fantastic. There are parts of the script that are embarrassing, and the end is a travesty of a story setup. But she pulls it off and we hardly notice. This has one of the most impressive title sequences I have ever seen. It alone deserves praise. I would trade ten "Pan's Labyrinth"s for one of these. Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Let's make it as short as IMDb allows it: it's the most visually stunning movie for kids one can find. It surely will go down well with adults. It's like watching Miyazaki's animation - different things for both audiences. The settings & the characters are beyond astonishing. The story itself is quite ordinary fairytale, made more intriguing by adding mixture of reality. Despite well known Tarsem's abilities to stun aesthetically, here we can credit him for outstanding direction of an adorable girl, who visits wounded soldier in pursuit of mystique tales about five heroes. Seen it last year at Berlin festival - worth the applause. Good to know it will get wide release finally.

In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, in the pediatric wing of a hospital in Los Angeles, the talkative five year-old girl Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) is recovering from a broken arm. Alexandria works with her family of immigrants in the harvest of oranges and she has just lost her father. When she meets the injured stuntman Roy Walker (Lee Pace) recovering from a fall and also brokenhearted with the loss of his girlfriend to the lead actor, he begins to tell a fantastic tale about six heroes and their common enemy, the hideous Governor Odious. Black Bandit that lost his brother Blue Bandit that was killed by Odious' men; the expert in explosives Luigi that was outcast in his town by Odious; the Indian that lost his gorgeous wife that was abducted by Odious; the former slave Otta Benga that lost his twin brother in the fields of Odious; Charles Darwin that receives a rare "Mistica Americana" butterfly killed by Odious; and Mystic that hated Odious that destroyed the fauna and flora of his lands, join forces to defeat the evil Odious. While Alexandria fantasizes the story projecting the images of her acquaintances in the characters, the heartsick Roy uses her innocence to ask the girl to still morphine and medicines from the dispensary for him to commit suicide. "The Fall" is one of the most original films that I have recently watched. This adventure has a stunning opening sequence in black and white and slow motion with the Allegretto from Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770-1827) Symphony # 7 in A mayor, Opus 92 in the soundtrack. The story entwines reality and fiction, burring the situations in a certain moment, and may be understood in many layers; therefore this dramatic feature can also been seen by children and is a great family entertainment. The cinematography sets and locations are very beautiful and bright with intense use of colors. This is the type of movie that deserves to be watched more than once to have the full understanding of all situations. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "Dublê de Anjo" ("Stunt of Angel")

I have just seen this film in Berlin and I felt it my duty to comment on reading some comments made here about the film. One person wrote: "To paraphrase, Hudsucker Proxy, "The Fall" fails because there are 2 stories,one based in reality and the other fantasy. And they are equally important. One take you away visually without connection to any of the characters or emotions. The reality takes hold to your emotion but it can not hold on for long as the fantasy part resumes. That was the problem for me." I disagree completely, the fantasy scenes have a very significant connection to the characters and emotions, the inconsistencies in the story told by the crippled stuntman Roy, played by Lee Pace, reflect his unstable mental state and the dark ending portrays his disintegrating sense of morality. The story is told by Roy: we see how his character develops through the plot of the story he tells, for example, in the closing scenes when he is manically depressed,he starts killing off the beloved characters, conveying his extremely pessimistic attitude towards life in general as a result of everything that has happened to him. I found the two stories equally gripping, and was engaged emotionally throughout. I found that every time it switched from fantasy to reality i desperately wanted to know and see more, and vice versa. The acting was superb, from both Lee Pace and also Catinca Untaru. The interaction between them was not, as it usually is with child actors, wooden, but completely believable and natural. I wonder how Tarsem coaxed such a genuine performance from someone so young. I have never seen a movie like this, and I doubt there has every been one made quite like it. The visuals are literally breathtaking, i was not aware such beauty exists and it is criminal that it has not been filmed before. At the same time, this film is actually quite funny, i laughed out loud on a few occasions. I dismiss claims that this is an art-house film; yes, the visuals are stunning but the film has to be recognised as not only a collection of beautiful images but a heart-warming, epic, wonderful film. This film has something for everyone; I hope it does well. A truly excellent film, I recommend it to anyone.