Something to watch tonight: Wednesday 14 May

The Fall (Tarsem, 2006)

In Monday’s review of Forgive Us All, I mentioned that we had recently watched another film that was entirely self-funded by the filmmakers, Tarsem’s The Fall from 2006.

As it was only mentioned in passing, I thought I should give it the treatment here today (especially as it is one of the few films I have allotted five stars to on Letterboxd).

I’m hestitant, though, to go into too much detail here because the experience of watching the film for the first time is so mind-blowing. Also, that “mind-blowing” isn’t just idle hyperbole. You probably haven’t seen anything on this scale of production or imagination since the silent era – an appropriate comparison because that happens to be the world of the film.

Lee Pace plays Roy Walker, paralysed after a stunt goes wrong and deeply depressed over both the loss of the use of his legs and the loss of his girlfriend to the film’s star.

Also in the hospital is a five-year-old girl named Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) whose arm is in plaster following a fall while orange picking with her migrant family. Roy befriends Alexandria in the hope that she might be able to source some drugs that will end his pain and in order to do so he starts spinning tales of fantastic adventures and romance, eventually taking on the role – in Alexandria’s imagination – of the Masked Bandit himself.

The film comes and goes between the tragic figure of Roy and his heroic alter-ego, leading a colourful band of brigands on a quest for revenge on the evil Governor Odious (played by the same actor who plays Roy’s movie star nemesis – Daniel Caltagirone).

Writer-director Tarsem Singh was a top director of TV commercials and music videos in the days when there were fortunes to be made from them. When he was unable to get this film financed traditionally, he simply decided to throw all his savings at simply filming the “present day” sections, on location in South Africa standing in for Hollywood.

After that, as finances permitted (and often piggy-backing on locations and crews from his commercials), he would shoot the fantasy sequences, travelling the world to find the most extraordinary locations. Almost everything is practical. Of those places – Indian palaces, Himalayan deserts, Balinese beaches, Fijian reefs, there are over 20 countries listed on IMDb – many are physically, culturally or historically inaccessible but somehow Tarsem’s immense charm got him access. It took four years.

The backgrounds are one thing, but the design of what’s in front of them is another. Eiko Ishioka’s costume design – mostly arrived at before there was a script – is simply sumptuous and should be a reminder to designers everywhere that there is no rule that you must be boring.

Alexandria and Roy are the heart of the film, though. Catinca Untaru was discovered in Romania of all places and shooting of the South African sequences was delayed until she’d learned enough English to play the part. To maintain the illusion for her, Pace spent that entire section of the shoot pretending to be paralysed from the waist down.

Ah, Lee Pace. When the casting was announced for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit back in 2010, an actor friend of mine was only excited about one name coming to Wellington to shoot – Lee Pace. There’s something other-worldly about Pace, making him perfect for a Tolkien elf, a Twilight vampire or Asimov’s galactic Emperor. He’s perfect here as the depressed stuntman and the romantic hero and contributes hugely to how moving this enormous film manages to be.

I do recommend the disc version of The Fall because the extras – and the stories told therein – are jaw-dropping. Filmmaking should always aspire to being this ambitious.

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Where to watch The Fall

Worldwide Physical Media: 4K DolbyVision UHD disc from Umbrella Entertainment (collector’s edition or disc-only)