Watch it at Amazon
Tarsem's 'The Fall' is a bi-polar, surrealistic dream. Taking the reins from similarly structured films such as 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen', 'The Princess Bride', and 'Pan's Labyrinth', it thrusts us between two worlds; back and forth - at a pace that is still unlike anything that we've ever seen before. Our two stories intertwine in grand harmony - that of the little girl (Catinca Untaru) with a broken arm befriending a crippled Hollywood stuntman (Lee Pace) with an epic fable, and that of the fable itself; which involves a band of outcasts seeking revenge on the evil Governor Odeous. Our stuntman Roy manages to keep little Alexandria interested in his story by conforming it to her imagination. Everything is not as it seems with Roy, however, and we learn quickly that he has his own reasons for spinning this tale for his pint-sized audience member. Tarsem manages to pull wonderful performances from his two leads. Catinca, especially, is so adorable that one cannot help but fall in love with her.Shot over several years and in several countries, the landscapes and liquid paintings that Tarsem has created are among some of the most stunning visuals you will ever see. He pulled this off in his previous work, 'The Cell', but with a much darker tone. It's such a unique dream-like style that we as the audience cannot escape it. It mesmerizes you and bewilders you at the same time. Simply gorgeous.The storyline itself was classic fairytale. Its engaging and it pays off several steps of the way through. 'The Fall' is a much more visual trip though, as opposed to its much more emotional and darker cousin, 'Pan's Labyrinth'. Does that mean it's as light-hearted as 'Princess Bride'? No - it definitely has its dark moments, its gut-checks; but never really goes all the way over. I saw this film with Tarsem in Chicago and he said that he wanted to go much darker than the film did, but little Catinca would not let him. So you've got the character of Alexandria dictating the story to Roy in the film, and the actress Catinca dictating the story to Tarsem on the other side of the lens. I found this to be an interesting revelation.In closing, I found 'The Fall' to be visually arresting and quite an engaging story. Because this was such a unique experience, I feel I have to rate it in two different senses - the story itself and the visual art accompaniment. So, I'll say the story is a 7/10 and the visuals rank in on the Spinal Tap over-scale of 12/10.Don't miss it.-iii
You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.
