The Fall

Its been 5 days since i saw this film now, and I'm still thinking about it. It achieves an intense feeling of epic grandeur with its fantasy scenes, which are visually mesmerising. The casting was excellent, i thought the acting was very good, especially since all the actors/actresses are fairly unknown, especially the girl who plays Alexandria - an incredibly natural performance; this can probably be attributed to Tarsem's approach.

This film will make you laugh and cry simultaneously and has a profound effect on the viewer.

I actually found viewing it somewhat humbling, i just tried to appreciate it tot he best of my ability.

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.

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.

I saw this movie at the Toronto film festival, the Elgin Theater.

First off, it was nice to see a film where the director had complete creative control to execute his vision. This film does not suffer the fate of marketers or no talent Hollywood producers who think they are artist or visionaries.

If you liked Cinema Paradiso and the Princess Bride then you will also love this film. Tarsem's lavish imagery and fantastic locations create the atmosphere for an epic adventure, while the acting of Lee Pace, Justine Waddell and especially, Cantinca Untaru provide the drama and laughter.

First, Cantinca Untaru as Alexandria is superb. I normally avoid films with children as they are usually cheesy or groan worthy. Cantinca, however, is much like the little boy in Cinema Paradiso, a natural child. When Alexandria says things we believe her, when she does things it is her child like nature we are watching come out. There is nothing stiff or unnatural about this young actress and it is a great credit to Tarsem as a director that he was able to pull this level of acting from a child. While watching the movie, I was amazed at how Tarsem and Cantinca were able to move the audience from laughter to tears and back to laughter so fluidly. Lee Pace puts in an excellent show and does a great job as a suicidal patient in the hospital, but Cantinca is definitely the star of this show.

Tarsem has a great eye for location and he exhibits it well in this movie. It truly was shot all over the world. Along with all the great locations are the beautifully colorful costumes of fashion designer Eiko Ishioka. The costumes are larger than life and beautiful in their symbolism.

So having said all that, I would highly recommend this movie. This is one of those rare films that actually does have a bit of something for everyone yet keeps its integrity.

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.