Cinephiles rejoice! The 4K restoration of The Fall has dropped on Mubi’s streaming service (Criterion Collection definitely missed their shot), allowing film fans around the world to access the hard-to-find cult classic. The primarily self-funded opus by Tarsem Singh (Dear Jassi) stars Lee Pace as Roy Walker, an injured stuntman from the silent film era.
Roy is bed-bound in a Los Angeles hospital, depressed, and suicidal after losing both his girlfriend and the ability to use his legs. Catinca Untaru plays Alexandria, a cherubic 5-year-old with a broken arm who is also recovering in the same hospital. During her daily explorations of the building, Alexandria encounters the despondent Roy, who begins to tell her an epic tale of bandits, revenge, and battles, prompting the vivid imagination of the curious child.
This unusual and somewhat tragic setup allows The Fall to showcase the incredible vision of director Singh, who is credited mononymically here as just “Tarsem.” Having taken four years to shoot in over 20 countries before its 2006 release, the film’s story-within-a-story allows for staggeringly beautiful and captivating visuals that echo the brilliant and indelible visual grandeur of directors Akira Kurosawa and Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Most impressively, The Fall retains a sense of timelessness due to the director’s commitment to using real locations and not relying on special effects. Stunning locales include the Chand Baori stepwell, the infamous Taj Mahal, and the blue city of Jodhpur — and that’s just in India alone! This dedication to realism more than pays off in 4K as the breathtaking shots of cinematographer Colin Watkinson remain as fresh and modern today as they did nearly 20 years ago.
Awe-inspiring visuals aside, the actual hospital plot concerning sad-eyed Roy and rosy-cheeked Alexandria also maintains the high emotion of their meta fairy tale. Roy manipulates his engrossed listener to steal morphine pills but is repeatedly thwarted in his suicide attempts. Alexandria reveals a devastating truth about her Romanian orange-farming family. Other patients shuffle off the mortal coil in the background. These encounters with death make a subtle impression on Alexandria, the film’s true protagonist. She may not fully comprehend what is happening due to her young age, but nevertheless these events lodge in her psyche and impact the fantasy world that she and Roy build together.
Untaru’s affecting and unscripted performance is a result of Singh’s decision to preserve her naturalism, shielding her from the cameras and crew by hiding them behind curtains. Pace reportedly also kept up appearances by minimizing his time out of the hospital bed so that the young actress would believe that he was truly an invalid. These choices really pay off, as Untaru’s heartbreaking reactions add to the film’s emotional effectiveness. Her humourous interjections and interruptions also add unexpected whimsy to the story, as do Roy’s adjustments to her requests. Additionally, there’s a clever joke involving the word “Indian” — Roy means an Indigenous American man but Alexandria assumes he is talking about someone from India, so one of the bandits in her reverie appears as a green-clad turbaned man.
The Fall ends with a sobering reminder of the danger and sacrifice of early (and current-day) stunt performers. This is a different note than the prevailing theme of storytelling throughout the rest of the film, but not an unwelcome one. Ultimately, thematic inconsistencies can be swept under the rug, thanks to the authentically child-like wonder and beauty on display.
