Tarsem's The Fall captures your eye from the beginning. It's been a long time since I've seen a film like The Fall where every shot is constructed with such amazing beauty and excitement. From The Fall's opening scene, shot in slow motion black and white, to a surgery scene involving stop-motion animation, to scenes shot with incredible colour, sets and costumes, The Fall never stops exploring the power of the image.
The Fall follows a very 'Wizard of Oz' plot structure where there's the 'real' and the 'fantasy' and actors cross over these two stories. The 'real' is set in a California hospital where a young Indian girl and a Hollywood stunt actor encounter one another. The stuntman, Roy (Lee Pace) begins to tell the little girl, Alexandria (Catinca Untaru), an extraordinary tale about five men trying to gain revenge on a man who did them wrong, Governor Odious (Daniel Caltagirone). As Roy continues his story, he begins to ask Alexandria to do favors for him before he continues his tale. These tasks involve Alexandria to go and steal morphine for Roy who, we soon realize, wishes to commit suicide. As the story continues, it begins to mirror Roy's story of how he became suicidal and his motivation for befriending the little girl.
The 'real' story and its relation with the 'fantasy' grows impressively intricate. The entire 'fantasy' story is shown through the imagination of Alexandria and how she sees the story and images told to her by Roy. As the two stories progress, connecting the two's images and characters becomes a real delight. The celebrity at the California hospital who stole Roy's love interest is the same actor who plays Governor Odious and the suit worn by the x-ray operator at the hospital is the same suit of armor worn by Odious' army. The story impressively holds its weight when compared to the images. Though this is very much a visual spectacle, the story is what pulls one in. But it's not only the intricacies of the story that truly impressed me, but also the realism included when dealing with the insecurities of the storyteller when it comes to telling a story to a child. Several times in the film, the 'fantasy' plot is interrupted by Alexandria who asks broad and simple questions expected from a child, like "Why?" and so forth.
However, the images are by far the most impressive part of The Fall. The sets and settings are immense, the colours are vibrant and imaginative in their presentation, the costumes are ingenious and the few instances of choreography are absolutely jaw dropping. Several shots jump to my mind when discussing these characteristics. A scene involving a funeral in the middle of a mountainous dessert is shot beautifully in wide, immense shots showing the blood of the fallen climbing up wall of white fabric. This explanation gives it no justice. The picture provided above shows a scene involving the resurrection of the Mystic. This scene is probably the scene that stood out the most for me. The sweeping cameras over the incredibly choreographed native dance makes one feel as if you are amongst the spirits the witch doctor is trying to summon. Again, a scene completely indescribable.
The Fall is a film that one could watch over and over again and still be amazed by the epic scenery. Every shot is near perfection when considering both itself and its relation amongst the rest of the film. There isn't a single cinematic detail that I can think of where The Fall didn't execute it with precision and imagination. I can safely say that this was one of the most exciting films this year had to offer. The Fall presented a world and a story that causes one to regress into childhood and reminds us of the significance we used to put upon our simple imagination when younger.
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