The Fall - Like photography in motion

Tuomas — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:22:38 +0000

Tarsem Singh is a movie director who can overstep the bounds of his medium with apparent ease. His first major picture was The Cell, starring none other than Jennifer Lopez, which was released in 2000. While the plot wasn’t original and the acting might have been even worse, the visuals of the film made me want to get it as the first DVD I ever bought.

Now, The Cell did fairly well and was even nominated for an Oscar for best makeup, but all things considered, it didn’t turn Singh into the big star I supposed it would. Time went by, and it seems people forgot about him, just like I did. Not all that surprising, considering it was another six years before his next film, The Fall.

The Fall made its debut at Toronto Film Festival in late 2006, and seems to have been touring the festival scene ever since. For some reason, it took about 18 months before widespread cinema distribution started in the States, and here in Finland the movie hit the theaters in December 2008. I like to pick things that have slipped high profile attention to be featured here on Felonious Monk, but when it comes to this flick I can’t really say if it’s is already on its way out or just coming in.

In any case, The Fall is sure to appeal to fantasy enthusiasts. And by fantasy, I’m not pointing to dragons and orcs, but to a world with a sense of mysticism to it. The story itself isn’t about surprise twists; rather, it seems to serve as a backdrop to the painterly style of directing Singh employs. If you’re a fan of Gregory Colbert’s photography, you might find a dash of the atmosphere of his pictures in the movie.

I’m not really a movie buff, and can’t say if this film qualifies as “an art movie”. What I can say is that it isn’t hard to approach or follow. One could describe The Fall as being like something out of a dream, but more than that, it’s like dreams I wish I had.

Well it’s been down so god damn long…

Tuomas — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:43:05 +0000

I have to confess I’ve started this blogging business over from scratch more times than I’ve written good posts on worthwhile subjects. Morbi quis orci ut dolor venenatis laoreet. Donec tempus, felis non sagittis ultricies, purus diam fermentum dolor, nec congue eros augue nec nisl. Ut nibh.

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