The Fall (2006)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Tarsem Singh

Writers (WGA):

Dan Gilroy (screenplay) and
Nico Soultanakis (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 May 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

A Little Blessing In Disguise.

Plot:

In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastical story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.

Plot Keywords:

Child | Suicide | Trestle | Stuntman | Hospital

Awards:

2 wins

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Catinca Untaru	...	Alexandria
Justine Waddell	...	Nurse Evelyn / Sister Evelyn
Lee Pace	...	Roy Walker / Blue Bandit
Kim Uylenbroek	...	Doctor / Alexander the Great
Aiden Lithgow	...	Alexander's Messenger
Sean Gilder	...	Walt Purdy
Ronald France	...	Otto
Andrew Roussouw	...	Mr. Sabatini
Michael Huff	...	Dr. Whitaker
Grant Swanby	...	Father Augustine
Emil Hostina	...	Alexandria's Father / Bandit
Robin Smith	...	Luigi / One Legged Actor
Jeetu Verma	...	Indian / Orange Picker
Leo Bill	...	Darwin / Orderly
Marcus Wesley	...	Otta Benga / Ice Delivery Man

MPAA:

Rated R for some violent images.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

India | UK | USA

Language:

English | Romanian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | USA:R | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario/Saskatchewan) | Canada:G (Quebec) | UK:15 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

Company:

Absolute Entertainment (II)

Trivia:

Darwin's monkey "Wallace" is a reference to the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace who independently developed the idea of natural selection. Darwin and Wallace presented the theory together, but due to the publication of "On the Origin of Species" Darwin usually gets sole credit for the theory.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Luigi: Kaboom.

Movie Connections:

Features Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, II. Allegretto

Beautiful, moving and surprisingly accessible

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.