Review of The Fall (2006) by James C — 31 Jul 2010

'The Fall' is a film that might not be epic in budget and stardom but it sure is by heart and sheer grandeur. From the visionary director of The Cell', this one is a bitter sweet tale of fantasy juxtaposed between frames of cold reality.

Lee Pace is okay as Roy Walker. The role is so strong, I might have preferred a known face for it. But the biggest charm of the film is five year old Alexandria played by Catinca Untaru. She almost carries the entire film on her little shoulders as Tarsem adds fuel to her wild and exotic bouts of imagination and Roy goes on and on with his depressing tale of love and revenge.

The film's striking visuals are product of visionary genius and not expensive CGI. Fantasy never looked so raw, so eccentric before. Tarsem's Hindu roots are obvious as there are numerous references to Hindu mythology including a scene where the 'Slave' after being hit by a pack of arrows falls to the ground in a fashion such that he is floating mid-air with the arrows, protruding from his back, supporting him against the ground; which is directly inspired by the infamous visual description of how Vishwa was held by arrows to the ground in a similar way in the Hindu epic, Mahabharata.

There are cowboys, Rajput warriors, strange mystics, Mexican bandits, evil soldiers dressed in Mongolian armour-all thrown into surreal, mindbending atmospheres inspired by a thousand and one cultures and art forms.

It's a 'beautifully weird' film. A perfect of example of how far the envelope can be pushed, how far 'cinema' can be explotied as a story-telling medium.