The Fall

Last week I watched a spectacular visual celebration, a movie called The Fall, directed by the one-named Tarsem. The movie was set in the 1920s in LA, in a hospital. While a young Romanian girl gets to know another patient--a paralyzed young stuntman--he tells her a fantastical story. The movie reminded me in some ways of Pan's Labyrinth and known my love for that movie, it should be realized that this is a high complement indeed.

The funny thing is that almost half the critics liked the movie and the other half did not. The main criticism was that the director put style before the development of the characters and story. It is true that the scenes in the movie were amazing, like a painting at times with expansive scenes and so much color. It reminded me of the movie Gabbeh. However I also very much liked the story. The amount of tears I shed at the end of the movie was a testimony to the emotional grab of the movie.