The Fall

By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 8/25/2008

SONY
Street: Sept. 9
Prebook: now
> Slow-moving period fantasy that more than delivers with its visual sumptuousness.

Filled with colors, images and compositions that are reminiscent of the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Terry Gilliam, Michelangelo Antonioni, David Lean and Guillermo del Toro (whose Pan’s Labyrinth appears to have been an inspiration), The Fall is indeed a breathtakingly beautiful movie. Telling the story of an injured Hollywood stuntman (Pushing Daisies’ Lee Pace) recovering at a Los Angeles hospital and the dream-like adventure tale he weaves for a 5-year-old patient (Catinca Untaru), The Fall never quite fulfills the near-hypnotic appeal of its mis-en-scene, but it goes down like a silky, sweet piece of candy. Music video director-turned-filmmaker Tarsem Singh (R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” video, The Cell with Jennifer Lopez) shot this film over a period of four years in 18 different countries (ranging from England to India), and it shows. We just wish the film would “tell” a little more.

Shelf Talk: The Fall is “presented by” David Fincher (Se7en) and Spike Jonez (Adaptation), two filmmakers who got their start making music videos and who are identified for their visual stylization. They’re more well-known than Singh and are sure to garner some interest for Fall, as fans will likely check out a film that they recommend. The striking cover art, a trippy desert tableau that apes surrealist Rene Magritte’s famous painting “Carte Blanche,” also is a strong selling point. Blu-ray buffs will surely groove to the added luster that comes with the high-def edition.

Fantasy, color, R (mature themes, violence), 117 min., DVD $24.96, BD $38.98
Extras: commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes
Director: Tarsem Singh
First Run: L, May 2008, $2.2 mil.