“A movie with cool imagery and J-Lo” is used to describe Tarsem’s The Cell when it comes up in casual conversation, not “the story of a psychotherapist who journey’s into the mind of a serial killer to save one last victim’s life.” Now eight years removed from The Cell, Tarsem’s 2006 return to feature film The Fall finally received a limited theatrical release after making film festival rounds and an upcoming home video release including Blu-ray Disc. Like its predecessor, The Fall will be remembered for stunning visuals first and story a distant second.
Tarsem spent four years working on The Fall in countless countries and financed much of the film himself. To call it a labor of love would be an injustice to his unbridled devotion of seeing the project through to an ultimate vision. The Fall is one man’s imagination run wild, The Fifth Element of Luc Besson’s eye minus all traces of CGI imagery and camera trickery. It is unlike anything you have ever seen before and likely will ever see again.
Looking beyond The Fall’s colorful façade reveals a serviceable story about a young stuntman, Roy (played brilliantly by Lee Pace), working during the early years of Hollywood silent films who is injured during a reckless and ill advised stunt. Paralyzed from the waist down, he’s left to ponder his existence and loss of his girlfriend to a movie star when Alexandria (newcomer Catinca Untaru), a young girl also injured in a fall, becomes his bedside confidant.
The Fall plays between Roy and Alexandria’s bleak hospital sentence and a fantasy world Roy conjures via a make-believe tale to gain Alexandria’s trust before enlisting her for a less than honorable task. While Roy’s story begins innocently enough about five exiled men seeking revenge against Governor Odious, whom has hurt each of them in a unique way, elements from Roy and Alexandria’s troubled lives begin to seep in until life imitates art in a matter of life and death.
Approaching The Fall from the story’s perspective reveals a number of basic scriptwriting no-no’s. Characters integral to the narrative’s direction are underdeveloped, vital plot elements are not fleshed out and a payoff with Governor Odious fails to live up to its own billing. How hard could it be to cut out 10 minutes of slow camera pans past a temple or mountain for more productive scenes?
The story is realistically a guide for Tarsem’s visuals that put wonders of our world on display virgin to most eyes. Surely these gorgeous locations where M.C. Escher drawings seemingly come to life and colors make rainbows look gray in comparison aren’t real. But they are, and that is the beauty of what Tarsem has captured on film.
The Fall is clearly an amazing film to “see” which is why it is one of the best live-action candidates around for a 1080p Blu-ray Disc treatment. The AVC MPEG-4 1.85:1 transfer runs continuously around 30mpbs which faithfully brings Tarsem’s imagery to life in high definition. I could rave on and on about how the squeaky clean saturated colors and deep contrast jump off the screen during any scene from Roy’s story. Where The Fall strikes balance is in the hospital where the image maintains an “aged” appearance with grain and muted colors. These dramatic shifts in visuals make visiting Roy’s story all the more appealing to the eye. There’s no reason why The Fall shouldn’t fall into the reference video collection for any Blu-ray collector.
Sony continues their lossless audio support on The Fall with 5.1 Dolby TrueHD. The mix is a resounding success at punching out Beethoven’s 7th in the opening credits, ensuring gunshots are sharp when firing on top of silence and moving directional sounds like horses running around the room. It does falter somewhat in reproducing Alexandria’s voice which is hard enough to understand given her broken English and sometimes improvised childish muttering. Next to Lee Pace’s strong voice hers sounds like a whisper and is too easily drowned out by the slightest off-screen noise.
The Fall on Blu-ray Disc includes the same supplemental features found on the day-and-date DVD presented in standard definition with the lone exception being a high definition photo gallery.
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Tarsem – The filmmaker is candid about his work in discussing the difficulty of executing many of the shots. He is not the easiest person to understand but has much to say about creating his film worth listening taking the time to listen to.
Audio Commentary with Lee Pace, Writer/Producer Nico Soultanakis and Writer Dan Gilroy – Pace commands a considerable amount of microphone time from the two writers and is able to offer the on-set perspective. The writers, in contrast, point out directions abandoned in earlier script drafts and cut filmed scenes not appearing on this release.
Wanderlust Featurette (28:13) – Raw behind-the-scenes look at Tarsem directing his cast, setting up shots and making sure his crew has fun making the fun. He does not care if the finished film “is a piece of shit” as long as everyone involved has a good time and never feels uncomfortable.
Nostalgia Featurette (30:01) – The material presented in Nostalgia is not dissimilar to Wanderlust. Lots of raw handheld footage shot in-between and during takes, during setup, during breaks and every other conceivable moment on a set. A couple fast beat montages are tossed in to mix up the pace.
Deleted Scenes (1:39) – A pair of short deleted scenes offer extended scenery and an obvious early red flag stapled onto a specific character’s brow. They are almost painful to watch in a duller and less detailed 480p after soaking in the beautiful 1080p feature.
Enhanced Photo Gallery (Blu-ray Exclusive, HD) – Finally, an extra feature presented in high definition. The photos in this gallery are a compilation of shots from the film and staged shots on the set. Only roughly two-thirds of the frame is filled, a shame considering the visuals’ strength.
Tarsem’s The Fall is a self-indulgent mission to put the most beautifully natural imagery on film. As a film alone it will be torn to shreds, which is precisely how my wife attacked its inadequacies. Nothing remotely unique or captivating about Tarsem’s visual style registered in her brain.
As a work of art, The Fall will appeal to those who can appreciate its beauty without getting caught up in the framework underneath. This is one Blu-ray Disc 1080p experience you owe it to yourself to at least rent and give a fighting chance. Who knows? Maybe The Fall will become the “cool looking movie with the guy from Pushing Daisies” in your next casual film recommendation conversation.
– Dan Bradley
The Fall will be available September 9 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Click here to secure a copy of the Blu-ray version for a discounted rate from Amazon.com.
