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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a stunning visual treat...with a nicely paced moral core, 20 July 2009
After creating the visually stunning but emotionally un-engaging the Cell in 2000, it was hard to say exactly which way director Tarsem Singh was going to go with his whole style over substance approach. Thankfully, he has addressed some of these problems with his latest film, the visually stunning The Fall.
Set in a hospital on the outskirts of 1920's Los Angeles, the film tells the story of injured movie stuntman Roy (Lee Pace from Pushing Daisies), who befriends a little girl Alexandria (an amazingly assured performance from Catinca Untara). Both of them are recovering from falls, Roy from a stunt that went horribly wrong whilst trying to impress a woman, and Alexandria from a fall from a tree that left her with a broken arm. In an attempt to win the little girls trust, Roy begins to tell her fantastical story about five outlaws and their battle against the evil Governor Odious, a story that mirrors Roy's own life and his failed romance, but Alexandria's vivid imagination gives the story a life of its own, as people from around the hospital begin to appear in the story in much the same vein as the Wizard of Oz. However, Roy has his own hidden agenda for befriending the little girl, an agenda that soon becomes all to clear to the viewer, but unfortunately not to Alexandria.
The film is a breathtaking spectacle of lush, rich imagery combined with a surprisingly engaging story. Much has been made of the images contained within the film, and there is no denying the fact that they are stunning, with sequences set in some of the most exotic and beautiful locations in 25 countries around the world. With images that are akin to living paintings, the film is undeniably stunning to look at, with several scenes being almost unreal (a particular favourite is a sequence in the governor's castle featuring his heavily armoured guards and a courtyard full of steps...incredibly gorgeous to look at).
However, let's not overlook the simple yet very engaging story. Pace and Untara strike up a gentle chemistry that really works as the story flits back and forth between fantasy and reality, with some nice, gentle humour as reality and fantasy bleed into one another, but finally Roy's true motives are revealed and the story takes a darker turn as Alexandria begins to see the story and real life as one and the same thing. Whilst this film is undoubtedly more style than substance what substance there is goes a long way to making this a very enjoyable visual epic with a nice little morality tale at its heart.
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54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If only this film made it to cinemas...., 9 Aug 2008
Predominantly set in India , but featuring twenty-five other countries, this is a crisp, clean, visually stunning film. Just like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers redefined what cinema can achieve, Singh's sublime combination of rich colour, Dali-esque imagery and a vivid imagination - from him and Roy (Lee Pace), the injured man telling the story - pushes the boundaries of cinema's capabilities. It is difficult to forget images of an elephant swimming underwater, or spilled tea merging into a blood-stained sheet hiding a fallen hero's body in a hazy desert. The story is an epic fantasy taking advantage of towering sand dunes, the indigo buildings in Jodhpur and lush gardens of the Taj Mahal, but is as memorable as its locations, cleverly combining self-aware humour with a believable air of ethnocentrism (in the 1900s, is an Indian from India or America, for example?). I'm devastated that even though it did the film festival circuit it doesn't appear to be getting a cinematic release, as it is more than worthy of being seen on a big screen. It is undeniably refreshing to see, in this time of green screens and CGI, that a film can still take one's breath away.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps more visual art than film, 3 May 2010
I don't often watch films more than once, in fact this is the only film I have bought rather than rented. Don't expect much of a plot, as the story here only serves as an excuse to canter around the most beautiful and remarkable parts of the world. The tale begins in a hospital in California, in the early 20th century. An injured stuntman meets an injured little girl, and starts to tell her a story, to engage her interest and help. We then see the girl's vivid impression of the story she hears; a visual feast of fantastic landscape, architecture and costume. The director has a great eye for colour and effect. One of the early scenes is set in a desert landscape, with burning orange mountains, gleaming white sand, and a cobalt blue sky. Wow! Then the characters' quest takes them through an ancient Indian observatory, dramatic emerald-green crop terraces in the far East, and a lot more besides. The well-travelled viewer can enjoy spotting some popular world beauty spots. And there are some nice visual jokes: he refers to an Indian, meaning Native American; the girl imagines a Sikh. So don't worry about plot, or catching every word the little girl says. Just relax and let the glorious images ripple over your eyeballs.
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