
The Fall is about a man who becomes broken - mentally, physically, and in his heart. In this state, he tries to tell a story to a child, creating a wildly eccentric tale full of goofiness, beauty, death, and every emotion you can imagine. The viewer experiences two worlds: the hospital lives of a little girl and a young film stuntman who have both experienced recent tragedies, and the fantasy world that they create together.
Out of all the independent films I have seen this one really stands out and easily outshines most hollywood cinematography and imagination. Tarsem Signh's direction is so admirable, from the acting to the visual creations. The young girl's (Catinca Untaru) performance is close to the best child acting there is. She is Romanian, playing an immigrant with broken english. Her realism makes it difficult to fathom that she is actually in character.
It is difficult to really describe how visually stunning this film is. The fantasy scenes are so colorful and lavish, shot in gorgeous landscapes from all over the world (France, India, Italy, Egypt, Brazil, South Africa, Fiji...etc.). The costume designs are over-the-top, in fact, everything about the fantasy world is over-the-top. There are so many captivating scenes: an underwater elephant, butterflies shooting from a hero's mouth, a chanting mystic tree cult. And the symbolism between the two worlds is emotionally captivating.
Even Robert Ebert gave a good review!