Review of The Fall (2006) by Johnnylee T — 29 Dec 2015

Tarsem Singh crafts another tale of wonder and imagination with his visual treat, The Fall. After no doubt gaining equal amounts of negative and positive feedback from him mixed bag that was The Cell, Singh appears to have taken his strongest attributes and completely ran with them.

It's a bold move but one that ultimately works. The Fall is set in the 1920's, when a small, inquisitive girl befriends an injured male patient in her hospital, he manages to craft a huge tale of adventure, which keeps the little girl coming back for more.

It is extremely light on concept, allowing the smallest of plot threads and cliched moments to steer the entire piece, however taking a back seat and just allowing The Fall to take you in, you will no doubt feel a connection to the girl and the story itself, which boasts jaw dropping imagery, camera work and according to reports, absolutely no CGI, what so ever.

The Fall is nothing short of gorgeous, from start to finish and Singh's visuals do nothing but astound all the way through, his roots in music video are clearly stated from the word go and his ability to turn the most intriguing of images into something so profound should not go without credit.

There is a lot to like here, especially for fans of psychadelica, as you will be whisked off to another land almost instantly and find yourself locked throughout. Yet again, much like The Cell, Singh's weakness lies strongly in his ability to direct actors, and although his cast of largely unknowns do just about get the job done, its continually evident that Singh is only interested in the bigger picture, with the likes of character and acting allowed to go, just about, as ludicrous as the performers can, meaning that by the time the final act roles around, the hammy performances have reached fever pitch and the characters have no way to go but loud.

It's a shame because nestled away in here is a fun and heartfelt piece, there are many emotional notes scattered throughout, its not that Singh wishes to ignore them, its his inability to connect on a human level with them, leaving The Fall constantly in fantasy land and rooted less so in logic.

Regardless the overall piece is a vast playground of imagination, everything from colour to camera technique is stylishly executed with each set piece bigger than the next. There are moments of emotional genius buried deeply and at times they do struggle through, I only wish the director could trust in his ability to do what he is good at while concentrate more or his weakness, like character and acting.

The Fall is at its best when taken as a visual delight, inebriation may be required, but if you relax and let yourself go, there is a huge amount of charm and flair on offer.