Since no one is writing this up, and since I think someone should, and since I’ll write about anything and since I think that you should see this movie, I’m going to do my part to bring it to your attention.
Go and see Tarsem Singh’s The Fall.
When I first saw the trailer I was torn and didn’t really want to see it (though they used Beethoven in the trailer I wasn’t sure if they would in the film, kind of like how they used the Last of the Mohicans score, and Gladiator score, and the Last Dragon score to fill in trailers while the composer finishes the actual one).
I mean dude tells a story and convinces someone to help him O.D. on morphine.
Anyone?
Anyone?
I’ll give you one of the drinks Eddie owes me for the first response.
There are problems with this movie, for sure.
My two are as follows: the script could be tighter, and Lee Pace can’t act. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing that would make you want to leave and you may not notice at all. I happened to, however.
The other parts of the movie FAR more than make up for this.
For one, it opens with the Allegretto from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. It’s worth it for that.
Then we have the Romanian 5 year old Catinca Untau. She will blow your mind. Her delivery and interactions with Pace are something that can’t be explained - it’s not actiing, I mean she’s five years old, but it’s something, and it’s worth your $9. Also, I learned after the movie, and this is no spoiler, she was under the impression Pace was a real quadriplegic, and so that ruse was kept up during filming for the entire crew.
The costuming, the sets, the cinematography, and all the other technical shit that goes along with filming a movie are above par. They’re just fucking amazing.
The film is stunningly gorgeous.
And there’s no CGI.
Everything in the movie is real. The locations are real and Tarsem travelled to 24 countries to film a world that is vanishing - even the blue city is a real city, in India.
And the movie has been criticized, but I don’t think they’re getting the point, Tarsem’s point, which was to build a movie around some of the most achingly beautiful locations in the world, locations that haven’t been filmed because they are simply too difficult to get to, or have no facilities to host modern film crews.
In his words: “This is a very polarizing movie. … I just wanted to make a film which used these incredible locations to tell a story of a man who wants to manipulate a child by telling her a story, a story he changes to suit what his audience is telling him she likes or does not like.
“But you know, the people who get this, who really want to see something they haven’t seen before, they are going to love what they see. The girl is amazing. The visuals, all stunning and all real. I hope I’ve made a movie that really takes people out of themselves and out into the world, because the magic is still out there. It’s just that no one had taken a film crew to film it, until now.””
http://www.thefallthemovie.com/ (check out the gallery)
EVERYONE should see this
June 16, 2008 at 2:47 pmAgreed. It’s worth noting that the Romanian girl didn’t speak English, and learned her lines one syllable at a time. I think this was done deliberately so her delivery would be more spontaneous.
Also, I want to know how they did the flaming tree thing.
June 16, 2008 at 2:55 pmaz - ask Moses.
June 16, 2008 at 2:58 pmBlue City: That looks like Jodhpur, in Rajastan. In addition to blue houses occupied by Brahmins, it’s also a great place to buy pants.
/ba dum/
June 16, 2008 at 3:39 pmIf he’s going to make movies like this, then choke down the pride and go IMAX. You don’t see “Beasts of the Serengeti” bottoming out the RT meter.
June 16, 2008 at 3:45 pmEven though I have a thing for Lee Pace, I can objectively state his acting was superb. He played off little Catinca marvelously. Go for the surrealistic imagery. Stay for the unconventional bond between the main characters.
June 16, 2008 at 4:41 pmEvery time I saw Lee Pace with that child my uterus tilted an extra few degrees and I became a little more ready to bear (his, adorable, accented) children.
So God help me.
Unrelatedly, the visuals (Tarsem also directed “The Cell” some seriously seminal music videos like “Losing my Religion”) are as amazing as Barakka.
See this.
And in a few months when it is out on DVD…Own this.
I am willing to concede that it may not have been his acting, but his delivery and reading voice that didn’t do it for me. I shall view it again and revisit my verdict.
June 16, 2008 at 5:06 pmThis is back to back weeks where Svetlana has expressed an interest in getting preggers - hmmmm. Granted, they were all with dashing gents with funny accents and washboard abs but still.
June 16, 2008 at 6:55 pmwhen was the previous time?
(I will though freely admit that I have threatened more than once to make Lee Pace the thumbnail for every single post on BYT for a day-because I can.)
June 16, 2008 at 6:58 pm
you had me at Beethoven’s 7th
June 16, 2008 at 2:37 pm