The Fall (**** out of ****) Revisited

The Fall is a a visceral orgy of surreal and flamboyant images. An epic of emotional tragedy. One that will warm the soul and draw you in. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. One that will haunt me in my dreams. One that will cause my waking mind to wander from time to time in fond memories. One that I finally think at the end of the day as unforgettable.

The film is of two stories. Roy (a marvelous Lee Pace) has suffered a horrible stunt accident. It's the 1920's and film is on the rise. Roy is a stuntman that has fallen in love with the film's female lead. In a daring stunt he is left with a broken back. Roy now lays in hospital bed believing he is no longer a real man (for more than one reason mind you). A little Romanian girl Alexandria ( a heartbreaking Catinca Untaru) visits him one day and their friendship begins to bloom. He tells her a grand story involving mystics, bandits, slaves, explosives, revenge, romance, adventure and myriad of other elements. In order to hear more she has to him certain favors which will eventually lead her stealing him some morphine.

Roger Ebert likes to quote Werner Herzog from time to time. Herzog said something along the lines that as a people we are starved of new and original ideas and images. That we needs them as substance to live. The Fall is film to fall under that category. It's strikingly mesmerizing in idea and visuals. It has a few flaws but the overall purpose is to strong to ignore. What's amazing is that there is no CGI in the film. The things director Tarsem did with no computers has blown my mind. By the end I was in tears over what I saw on screen. You won't see one like this again.

**** out of ****
Note: This film was released in 2006 after four years of production. It's "Revisited" due to my new rules.