The Fall

I was absolutely blown away. I absolutely had no idea really what this movie was about and I didn't do any research on it and met a friend to see this screening and I have to tell you THIS IS film MAKING!!! I loved every minute of it!!!! I don't know why it hasn't been released but this is one movie I have to have in my video library to watch and watch over again. Story telling at its ultimate highest. I was very impressed with Catinca Untaru "Alexandria", I would love to see more of her, very talented not to mention Lee Pace, you can tell they worked very well together. I can not wait to see this movie again. I felt the ending was closure. Dan Gilroy - you need to write more often-I just can't say enough about this film. The cinematography ....is just awesome. Please release this film, I wanna see it again.

I saw this film in the Toronto Film Festival and was somewhat surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and the extent to which I was engaged in the reality that it creates. Catinca Untaru's performance is heartwarming and completely captivating, a truly lovable child-star whose appeal is based upon her authenticity and talent as opposed to her ability to bat her eyelids or wrinkle her nose. Her relationship with Roy (Lee Pace) is touching to behold and more importantly, entirely believable. Of course, as expected with Tarsem Singh as a director the film is visually stunning, featuring Baraka-like eye candy, which in itself deserves rave reviews and as a subsidiary to the story creates something quite spectacular. The use of worldwide locations allowed Tarsem to share some truly beautiful images with the viewers, and teamed with Catinca's acting left the audience as putty in his hands, laughing and crying as he wished.

The Fall is a charming, fantastical story with a haunting undertone and features the most endearing child actress since Jacques Doillon's Ponette... what more could a film boast? Moreover, this film could be watched on mute and still make a lasting impression on the viewer through its striking imagery. The Fall is the story of Alexandria, an injured immigrant child wandering the hospital where she is being treated. The viewer is drawn, with Alexandria into a dark and extravagant world through the story of a maimed stuntman who she befriends. The skilled interaction between the finely divided reality and fantasy is reminiscent of David Cronenberg's eXistenZ. I can not recommend this film any more strongly.

This movie needs a 4k UHD Blu ray release. I can't think of a movie that would shine in 4k more. Great movie and stunning visually

This has three things to recommend it. Any two would be remarkable. All three make it a must see.

The most striking aspect of course is how lush the thing is. We may never see another film like this, one that uses real locations and practical effects but which has all of the other benefits of technology. Just the scope in impress of the thing makes it a thrill. Not only do we skip from one profound space to another, but Singhhas selected what seems to be the very best location for the eye. Often these are Tarkovsky-like so that we can see some action in the foreground and with a pan other action in the background. I doubt his DP made these decisions, so the choices are more remarkable.

"The Cell" had some powerful images, but they were incoherent, as if they were designed by competing art departments. No such problem here. Not only do the imaginary sequences have the same color palette (as it changes) even though the locations are a bewildering variety, but all the other artistic values do as well. We could well have different continents mixed in the same few minutes without a situational shift. That alone is a rare and worthy experience.

A second striking aspect is the narrative folding. At first glance it is simple and ordinary: a nested story with blended elements. But overlain n this is a parallel nesting about stories and movies, being a movie about movie-making. And falls, deliberate and staged, with some deep ambiguity about which is which. And which are physical and which emotional. It isn't great art, but its head and shoulders above most.

And finally we have the little girl. Now, I usually revolt when these are used to elicit the standard response. I gagged at "Miss Sunshine," because it was a weak project supported by cuteness. But this is a wholly different thing. This girl is fantastic. There are parts of the script that are embarrassing, and the end is a travesty of a story setup. But she pulls it off and we hardly notice.

This has one of the most impressive title sequences I have ever seen. It alone deserves praise.

I would trade ten "Pan's Labyrinth"s for one of these.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.