Director Tarsem Singh’s second feature film The Fall has had a huge impact on me and it is one of my personal favourites. Originally released in 2006, this fantasy-adventure is based on the 1981 Bulgarian film ‘Yo Ho Ho’ and tells the story of a hospitalized stuntman Roy Walker (played by Lee Pace) who, while bedridden and seemingly paralyzed waist down, meets a young and naive Romanian-born girl named Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) who has broken her arm. To pass time while stuck in a hospital in Los Angeles circa 1920, Roy begins to tell an epic tale about five bandits and ‘love and revenge’ to Alexandria, who uses her vivid imagination to bring the characters to life by casting people around her as the characters.
However, the thing what makes the story Roy tells more interesting is that its characters and events are based on Roy’s personal experiences: mostly on his latest – and maybe the last – role in a film that led to him getting badly injured. The ‘love and revenge’ are closely linked to these events as well. And because of feeling angry, betrayed and hopeless, he has his own motive behind telling the story to Alexandria.
The Fall is a visually astounding masterpiece blessed with beautiful cinematography and costume design and also brilliant use of colours. They shot parts of the film in over 20 countries in during the time of over four years, thus providing glimpses of breathtaking landscapes and beautiful famous places of the earth throughout the film (Taj Mahal and The Great Wall of China being maybe the most easily recognizable ones). The years of hard work and travelling around the world were really worth it if you ask me – The Fall is a unique piece of cinema, full of bright colours, symbolism and intriguing storytelling.
One of the things I liked the most in The Fall is that the film has several recurring themes and motifs. The most notable one being different objects and people falling down throughout the film, what is definitely intentional considering the film’s title. They also play a huge role in the movie’s plot. Other more concrete examples like horses and butterflies are easy to point out because they get absorbed into the tale after Alexandria has seen or faced them in real life.
I think it’s incredible how much thought on detail has been put into this film. Director Singh even went to some extremes to elicit the best possible performances from the main leads: as shown in the film’s behind-the-scenes material, he had the actor Lee Pace appear to be really paralyzed to his fellow cast members and hide the fact he did was, in fact, able to walk. Poor little Catinca Untaru was a little overwhelmed with the revelation afterwards, but all I can say as a viewer is that she performed amazingly – was it due to this trick or not. I really adore Lee Pace and I can only say good things about his performance as Roy, whose character I cannot help but to hold very dear. Both main leads played really well together and I really loved the relationship between their characters.
About the movie’s soundtrack I can’t say much. However, I can say that every time I finish The Fall I find myself listening to Ludwig van Beethoven’s memorable ‘Symphony no. 7, 2nd Movement – Allegretto’ that played during its opening and ending credits. It’s a very beautiful piece full of ‘ups and downs’ – perfect for the film.
The Fall is not your average cup of tea and it may not be for everyone. It may even be criticized for its slow pace from time to time, and even I, somehow ironically, find myself a little more eager to follow the storyline in the real world than the visualized tale. The Fall is visually very artistic but maybe even too polished. But it’s the kind of a film you don’t stumble across every day and it’s really worth watching. And even though The Fall has not been blessed by global renown, it’s surely impressive. It’s an ode to film-making, in more ways than one.
To conclude my review I want to say what I love the most about the movie: it’s how it puts the viewer into the body of a five-year-old girl and shows what the world looks like from her point of view. It shows that naivety is not always a bad thing and that adults should have as positive look on life as children have – and that they should definitely dream just as big.