Cinema review
Directed by Tarsem
Starring Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell, Kim Uylenbroek
Release date 3 October 2008 (UK)

“Once upon a time” in an LA hospital, injured stuntman Roy (Pace) tells a little girl with a broken arm (Untaru) the story of five men who set out to kill an evil governor in a far off land…

Tarsem’s first feature, the J-Lo vehicle The Cell, earned itself some pretty hostile reviews for its silly, jumbled plot, but few could deny the breathtaking beauty of the sequences in which Lopez’s character enters the mind of a serial killer. For his ambitious follow-up (six years in the making), Tarsem unleashes the full extent of his visual powers, resulting in some of the most stunning images ever committed to celluloid. Once again, though, these skills aren’t quite matched in the storytelling stakes.

The movie begins almost like a less lighthearted version of The Princess Bride, cutting between the slow-paced austerity of the hospital and the widescreen vistas of the story-within-a-story. These fantastical scenes are a joy to behold, with the five men travelling through a world of vast desert landscapes, Islamic architecture, burning trees and elephant-filled oceans.

Remarkably, for the most part this is achieved without the aid of CGI. Instead, the beauty comes from the strange and spectacular locations (including the Taj Mahal and ‘the blue city’ of Jodhphur) and the vibrant costumes and set design. It’s a film that often recalls the imposing beauty of a Kubrick picture, yet Tarsem’s vision is also incredibly original. It demands to be seen on the largest screen possible.

Yet frustratingly, it becomes increasingly clear that Tarsem doesn’t know where to take all of this; indeed, at times it almost feels as if, like Roy, he’s making the narrative up as he goes along. In the final act the thin story breaks down completely, leaving us with an ending that is both baffling and deeply disappointing.

Despite this, you’re kept glued to the screen by both the imagery and the intriguing dynamic between Lee Pace’s injured stuntman Roy and the young Alexandria (Roy manipulates the young girl to swipe morphine for him in order to commit suicide). Pace, who also plays the masked bandit in the story, is both gently charming and traumatised, but the young Romanian actress Catinca Untaru (who was taught English from scratch for the shoot) is the real find here. She gives a terrific naturalistic performance that acts as an honest account of childhood innocence and wonder, something rarely glimpsed in Hollywood productions. The relationship between these two characters lends the movie a heart as well as an outside beauty.

The Fall is a deeply flawed movie. But in terms of visual storytelling it’s on a par with the very best in silent-era cinema, and it is quite unlike any other movie made in recent years. It also suggests that, with a little more narrative discipline, Tarsem has the capability of creating a genuine masterpiece. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 8/10
The story loses its way, but this is a one-of-a-kind visual spectacle.