The Fall

I first discovered Tarsem Singh's The Fall in 2008 when I briefly became fixated with Pushing Daisies and, more specifically, leading man Lee Pace. Lee was last seen appearing in Marmaduke and later in the year, we'll see him in the next installment of the Twilight series: Breaking Dawn.

That being said, he's still a great actor, as evidenced by this film. The Fall is a story, set in a 1920s LA hospital, about Roy, a stuntman, confined to his bed after an injury suffered on set and the relationship he begins to form with a young girl, Alexandria, also living in the hospital after breaking her arm. Roy begins to tell Alexandria a story about a group of adventurers in another world and Alexandria becomes more and more absorbed by the story, returning daily to hear the new developments.

After a while it becomes clear that Roy has suffered more than his physical injuries and as his mind begins to slip, the story drifts in and out of reality. As Roy starts to twist the story into dangerous territory, it is up to Alexandria to keep Roy alive and save the group of adventurers in Roy's imagination.

The story Roy tells sees five men: an Indian warrior, a former slave, an Italian explosives expert, Charles Darwin and his pet monkey and a masked bandit who are united in a revenge mission against the evil Governor Odious, who has wronged each of the men in their lives. Each man has sworn that Odious will die by their hand.

The Fall was shot in over 20 countries around the world, over a period of four years, financed largely out of Tarsem Singh's own funds. The result is an absolutely beautiful film, one that will have you questioning the fact that there are NO computer-generated effects on show here, each of the locations you see are genuine and some really are breathtaking.

The efforts involved in producing the most colourful, vibrant settings possible have paid off as the environment of our imaginations are suitably recreated in The Fall. Places that look like they could only possibly be real in dreams such as floating temples and huge, beautiful gardens are on show here and with each step the adventurers take, with every frame, is a new, luxurious feast for the eyes.

As is often the case in a visually-focussed, art-conscious film such as this, story and character can be forgotten about. That is not the case in The Fall. Watching Roy toil in his bed as he recounts the story is affecting and it becomes even more so as Alexandria starts to worry for him. The story under the surface of the world-conquering adventurers is incredibly simple and this fact is used to provide uncompromising visuals, uninhibited by plot details, again the stuff of dreams.

In the end, it is a beautiful film, both emotionally and visually. Roger Ebert stated in his review that it should be seen as "there may never be another like it." Considering the film must have cost a huge amount to make and made a return of $3million he is probably right. So give it a look, because it really is lovely. Also, on a sidenote, it features a small role for Shameless's Sean Gilder (aka Paddy Maguire) so if that alone doesn't make you want to see it then you are a lost cause.

9/10