Apologies for some of the late coverage of some EIFF material, sadly I was taken out of action with illness for the better part of the last week, however I'm back so lets get caught up - Stuart
Tarsem Singh’s Hollywood debut was the visually stunning but narratively messy The Cell back in 2000. The movie was pretty much lambasted across the board and with that Tarsem disappeared back in to the ether from which he had emerged, or so it seemed. In fact, Tarsem has spent most of his time since (and most of his money by all accounts) creating The Fall, quite possibly the most beautiful looking 2 hours of cinema you will see for a long time to come. He has also succeeded where M. Night Shyalaman failed so miserably with Lady in the Water, in bringing the idea of bedtime fairytales to life.
In 1920s Los Angeles a small immigrant girl, Alexandria, is confined to hospital while waiting for her broken arm to heal. While looking for ways to pass the time, she stumbles across Ray, a movie stuntman who has suffered a serious on-set injury. The curious girl strikes up a bond with the ailing stuntman who starts entertaining her with an outlandish tale of five brave adventurers travelling vast lands to battle an evil enemy. What starts as an innocent rambling fairytale of derring-do and adventure starts to take a darker turn as Ray’s true motives behind the storytelling emerge and his spiralling depression starts to influence the tale itself.
Reportedly shot in 24 countries over 4 years, the fantasy sequences are an orgy of color and design against huge sweeping landscapes. What some directors couldn’t achieve with $200 million and a crack CGI team, Tarsem brings to life through clever use of the camera and an amazing costume and production design team. There has literally been nothing so bizarre, so over the top and so breathtakingly real to look at in cinema in several years.
Second only to the amazing fantasy-scene imagery is Catinca Untaru’s performance as Alexandria in what could be the first genuine performance by a child actor seen in a long, long time. Tarsem’s skilful choreographing of the scenes between Ray and the girl mean her performance is much more believable and realistic than the disturbingly over-literate and precocious child actors produced by the Hollywood machine.
The Fall is the kind of movie that could only have succeeded because of the bum hand it was dealt. That every studio passed on it meant Tarsem had complete creative control over it freeing him from the deathknell of test screenings and interference. That even in it’s completed form the major studios passed on distributing it in favour of the likes of another brainless Will Ferrell movie just shows how short sighted the industry has become. If you can, go see The Fall as soon as possible. Originality on this level doesn’t happen very often and should be embraced instead of buried by the focus-grouped cynicism of studio politics.
