Why ‘The Fall’ Stands Tall 16 Years Later

Tarsem’s “The Fall” (2008) was the last film I saw the year it came out, as I was rushing to finish watching every major release for my Best Of article to be published at year’s end.

I wasn’t expecting to find such a sleeper so late in the year (I had missed my chance to see it months earlier on the big screen, which I still regret). When my Year’s End list published, “The Fall” was third to Michel Gondry’s “Be Kind, Rewind” and Tomas Alfredson’s “Let the Right One In” as my favorite of ’08.

Unlike some films I fall madly in love with and then feel differently about upon revisiting years later, “The Fall” just gets better every time I see it.

I’ve had a similar experience with Terry Gilliam’s “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” (1989) in my youth. Here was a film that I knew was barely seen in theaters, met with extremely divisive reviews and was noted to be “weird.”

Gilliam’s magnum opus is in good company with Tarsem’s film, which, depending how you feel about him, either proved he was a visionary after the equally divisive (though more successful in theaters) “The Cell” (2000) or put you off from his flamboyant works entirely.

After being out of print for years, “The Fall” is now returning to theaters (starting late September) and on the arthouse streaming service Mubi for rediscovery.

It begins in Los Angeles of 1915, with a slow motion, black-and-white vision of a tremendous accident. We’re witnessing a movie stunt gone wrong, leading stuntman Rick (Lee Pace) to be hospitalized. Rick is stuck in bed, lovesick over the movie actress whose affection is fading from him (she’s in love with the leading man) and in great pain.

A surprising companion in the form of Alexandria (played by one-movie wonder Catinca Untaru, who was 5 years old when she made this) gives Roy a distraction. Alexandria initially tests his patience, but becomes his audience as Roy captivates her with extravagant tales of history and adventure; Roy promises Alexandria an “epic” story and delivers.

Tarsem presents Roy’s stories as grandiose fantasies, with a scale the size of David Lean and richly imaginative staging. Roy recaps the adventures of Alexander the Great or tells a thinly veiled parable about his life, in which Roy is the leader of a group of superhuman outlaws, in search of a villain named Odious.

As Roy’s tall tales enchant Alexandria and create a connection between them, both the “real” and imagined Roy struggle with finding the will to go on.

In the words of Roger Ebert, “there will never be another like it.”
Watch our new trailer for THE FALL, the stunning epic by Tarsem restored in 4K. Streaming exclusively from September 27. pic.twitter.com/wk7UMJm84g

— MUBI India (@mubiindia) September 5, 2024

Like “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” or “The Wizard of Oz” (1939), to name a few, we have actors in multiple roles, playing both the “real” and “fiction” versions of characters. The title has a double meaning, as it addresses the opening accident, but is also referring to a suicidal mindset, as Roy falls very far, then must find the will to keep going.

How to describe the film visually? Remember the fairy tales of our youth that had the most amazing illustrations? Every scene here is like that.

The cinematography by Colin Watkinson (who frequently films episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu) captures some of the most spellbinding visions I’ve ever seen on film. If the sight of Alexander the Great, surrounded by vast sand dunes, doesn’t grab you, then wait until you see an elephant swimming in a crystal-clear ocean.

Every shot has a remarkable precision and beauty.

FAST FACT: “The Fall” earned just $3 million worldwide during its limited 2008 release.

A quick moment where the close-up of a “stony-faced priest” dissolves into a barren landscape is another wow moment in a movie overloaded with them. There’s an intense sequence where stop-motion animation is presented to illustrate a child’s state of mind while under medical care (it also allows a form of animation to present a moment that would be unbearable in live action).

A scene where the silhouette of a horse is projected upside down on a wall is a reminder of how film “works” on a technical level, shining from the projector light and creating the sustained illusion of movement and audience engagement.

Set in the era where cinema was referred to as “flickers” and “moving pictures,” “The Fall” is earnestly and movingly about how films transport and, on an emotional level, transforms us. Because Roy is a movie stuntman, he’s already a creator of mythology.

A new, 4K restoration of Tarsem’s THE FALL premieres tonight at @FilmFestLocarno‘s Piazza Grande and streams exclusively and (almost) globally from September 27. Starring Lee Pace and Catinca Untaru. A MUBI Release. pic.twitter.com/vgCzNMcUFx

— MUBI (@mubi) August 8, 2024

“Presented” by Spike Jonze and David Fincher but otherwise devoid of any other star power, Tarsem leans into his two leads to keep the film grounded, an enormous gamble for untested actors (Pace had yet to star in “Pushing Daisies” at this point) but his faith in his performers pays off.

Untaru as Alexandria, who is in just about every single scene, is cute but gives an expressive, focused performance. The sibling-like bond between Roy and Alexandria comes across in the surprising chemistry between the actors.

At one point, Roy asks Alexandria, “Are you trying to save my soul?”- he’s being playful, but the question is loaded and genuine.

Thankfully, “The Fall” has a sense of humor and acknowledges knowingly ridiculous moments (the occasional commentary Alexandria adds to Roy’s story brings levity to the staggering visuals and sometimes deadly serious narrative).

Tarsem even comments on the big stories being created around the central plotline, as we briefly hear a doctor comment near Roy about another patient, “One bite, maybe, but a pit of snakes?!” Clearly, storytelling, both real and made up, is circulating in this hospital.

When it ended after my first view, all I could think of was, why can’t more movies be this good? Whether one balks at the wild extravagance of Tarsem’s visuals (which was the chief complaint among those who hate the film) or, like me, was taken by the story, characters and the unquestionable passion Tarsem puts into every frame, is up to the viewer.

I’m grateful for Tarsem’s oversized tribute to the power of storytelling and can attest that it gets better with multiple views.

Starring @leepace and newly restored in 4K, Tarsem’s cult classic THE FALL streams exclusively and (almost) globally from September 27. A MUBI Release. pic.twitter.com/tlZoPgqiv4

— MUBI (@mubi) July 15, 2024

Tarsem, who now goes by Tarsem Singh, made “The Fall” over the course of four years, with production taking place in 24 countries. Somehow, the budget was reported to be $30 million, but the end result seems to be at least four times more.

Tarsem’s subsequent films, including “Immortals” (2011), “Mirror, Mirror” (2012) and “Self/Less” (2015), all of which look great, are minor works. I wonder if Tarsem will ever make a risk-taking personal film of this magnitude again.

Or, like the stories Roy creates for Alexandria, perhaps “The Fall” was a once in a lifetime experience in the making and for us to savor.

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