After watching Tarsem Singh’s Immortals, which had some stunning looking imagery, I was interested to see more of his work. I had bought The Fall a couple of months ago and hadn’t seen it yet so with my appetite wet I looked forward to jumping into another beautifully shot world. Did it offer more beauty and if so, is that enough?
The movie is set in a hospital where a girl with a broken arm walks around and is intrigued by a stuntman who tells her a story about 6 men who want revenge on a common enemy. While the girl loses herself in the story and adds her own little changes, the stuntman has his own motives to have her help him with something.
There are tons of movies where a story is told within a story (the first movies that come to mind at the moment are The Neverending Story and The Princess Bride) and they often are strongly linked together, which also is true here. Slowly the lines between the two start to blur more and more. Thing is though that I thought the stories were not strong enough to keep me focussed.
Which leaves us with the visuals, which are simply stunning. Tarsem Singh brings images to the screen that are out of this world. A lot of shots look like surreal paintings, with colors that are bright and pop off the screen. The locations (of which there are many) are beautiful and it’s the reason I kept watching.
Although The Fall is not a movie I’d watch again as I think it isn’t particularly good, I do think it’s one you should have seen at least once just to experience how beautiful moving images can be. It is a work of art and as you know opinions about art can vary greatly without anyone being wrong about it.
Score: 5
I watched this in the theatre because I am a fan of Lee Pace and caught the trailer on iTunes. Your review is spot-on.
If you want to take a look at another visually stunning film look for “Hero” with Jet Li from 2002. Story wise, it didn’t impress me at first, but it does allow for repeated viewings.
Yeah, Hero is beautiful for it’s use of color. I think I even have it in my DVD collection.
Sounds like “Immortals” in many ways. I thought it was visual style over substance. You can’t deny his skill with the camera. Nice review!
Yeah, he really knows how to use it. I’m looking forward to seeing Mirror Mirror, just to see what he has managed to do with that.
Yeah it’s a shame Singh can’t find some substance to match his style. This film was ok but mostly for the beauty of every frame.
I wish it would have had more substance!
I know the plot could be a lot more finessed but I was quite taken by the relationship of the stuntman and the little girl. You’re right though, despite the flaws, this is a movie worth seeing just for the stunning visuals!
Me too! The little girl was just so brilliant!
Yeah, I did like the way she acted..she perfectly brought her innocence and complete trust of the stuntman to the screen.
I wish I could say that the film spoke to me, but it didn’t. The visuals, which are stunning, overpowered the plot and made the whole proceedings feel hollow. In any event, the film is a visual treat and should be given a chance on that notion alone.
It seems a lot of people have that sentiment.
I have a massive soft spot for this film. I recognise its flaws and accept them. It is a gorgeous film. Looks stunning. I’m a fan of Lee Pace, from his work on Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls, and thought he was excellent here. Him and the little girl had such great chemistry. I just got all caught up in it.
I think that with a bit of better pacing and more to the story the stuntman tells it could have been better.
I’ve never seen this movie thoiugh I heard people say it’s one of the most beautifully looking films they saw. I’m gonna have to check out Mirror Mirror or Immortals first, who knows maybe for once visuals will be enough to seduce me.
Start here, this film was fully funded by the director – the other two have huge studio influence, which changes his style a fair bit.
Yeah, I think it is best to start with this one as well.
Did you know that Tarsem went so far as to even have a font designed specifically for the credits? Sure, the story is a little iffy, but its visuals and its artistry more than makes up for it. A wonderful, wonderful film.
Wow, wasn’t aware of that, but I’m not surprised by it, this really is a unique movie unlike any other.
I think this is Tarsem at his best. Self-funded, in full control of the production… I’ve seen this about 5 times now and it grows on me every time. Both leads were superb and I think it takes a couple of viewings to appreciate the duality of the stories (Hospital / Epic & Olde Movie)
For me it was the visuals that won me over. All those beautiful locations and almost NO CGI… it’s unbelievable. As you say, it’s like walking throuhg a gallery of amazing paintings.
It is amazing to see and interesting to read he funded it himself completely. With Immortals he has shown that with CGI he also can paint beautiful imagery.
Although I did not think much of Immortals, The Fall is truly stunning to watch. It has a somewhat spiritual slow feel to it and I agree that although it doesn’t evoke a second viewing, the first one is good enough to leave an impact visually.
That it does indeed!
Glad that I read your review about this film because I’ve been thinking about watching it in the near future. Now I think I’m going to wait it out and give other films priority.
As for stunning visuals my definite favorite is and will probably remain House of Flying Daggers by the master of visuals Zhang Yimou. His entire oeuvre is an amazing visual experience even if his films lack depth and originality when it comes to the content.
Well, I do think it is a movie you should have seen at least ones, there’s nothing that you can compare it with. House of Flying Daggers looks amazing too, but this movie is on another level.
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