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Friday, 13 October 2006 |
By Timothy Chow
 Tarsem Singh's The Fall begins with a bold black and white slow-motion scene that resembles something between the aesthetic of a spaghetti western and a contemporary uber-stylish car commercial. Considering his background in advertising and music videos, it is of no surprise then that this turns out well, surprisingly well really, stunning the viewer with the still-image-like quality of each frame, and transporting that into a film medium. The story begins in a hospital in California during the 1920s, where a little girl (played wonderfully by first-timer Romanian Catinca Untaru) is recovering from a broken arm. By chance, she meets Roy (Lee Pace) who is also recovering, but from an attempted suicide instead, and is clearly an unhappy man. Bored at first, he decides to tell Alexandria a fantastic tale of Alexander the Great, but she shoots him down when the story ends badly. To make amends, he begins another story. What follows is one of epic proportions, a fairy tale filmed across 23 countries, and camera work so dazzling and a colour palette so rich, that it's hard not to sit there and squirm at the beauty of it all.
Singh's previous work for The Cell was similarly visually mesmerizing, but the less than excellent plot drowned out the critical acclaim that he received for the aesthetic. No longer is this the case. Directed, written and produced by him in collaboration with others, The Fall's plot fascinates as the fable starts and stops, mixing the narrative of the fairy tale with the events and the state of minds occurring in real life. As it progresses, it becomes more and more interesting at how the two intertwine, and how Roy's suicidal mental state abuses the trust and respect that Alexandria has for him, playing out on both planes of reality. Especially troubling is the way that Roy's self-doubt and bitterness infects the story, taking it over despite little Alexandria's attempts at salvaging it. The marked contrast between the plainness of reality and the visual dazzlement of the fantasy land becomes muddled, and the effect of this melding is heartbreaking. A real treat.
4 out of 5 stars |
