Sunday, January 3, 2010

The Fall


I have had time this break to catch up on some movies I have been wanting to see and re-watch some of my favorites that I keep at home. The Fall is by far one of my favorite movies. While the initial reviews were almost entirely split, negative and positive, the only fundamental criticism people had with it was the lacking story line. I would have to argue that the film has a clearly definitive story line and while it might not be the most complex narrative in the history of film, it isn't nearly enough of a detriment to the overall movie to call it a flaw. One of the reasons I love the film so much is because each scene, and each frame it seems, could make an incredible still which is something that I absolutely love to see in a movie. I know that doesn't make a film worth watching but I tend to be drawn to movies in which beautiful cinematography plays an important part in the overall film. One of my friends says that the cinematography for this film inspired her to study filmmaking and cinematography specifically in college.

The film centers around an ex-stunt man, Roy (played by actor Lee Pace), and a young girl, Alexandria, in a hospital in 1920's California. As Roy establishes a friendship with Alexandria, he begins to tell her stories, and the film switches back between Roy and Alexandria in the hospital and Roy's stories as imagined by Alexandria. She cleverly imagines people she encounters in her life within the hospital as the characters in Roy's story. Alexandria is played by Catinca Untaru, whose performance in the film is so convincingly real it makes the realization you are watching a film fade away, and instead we enter fully into Roy's world and Alexandria's imagination.

The characters, the stunning locations (the incredible number of locations), the cinematography, the colors, the clothes, and the performances complement each other to make the film the contemporary epic that it is. While its release in 2006 wasn't very widespread, the film was championed by filmmakers David Fincher (Fight Club) and Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are) which helped both its marketability and to further spread the word. Check out some amazing sites about the film.


THE TRAILER:


The original film website that has an incredible gallery of stills to check out and a better synopsis.


During the time of the release of the film, the filmmakers spread the fact that they filmed on location during the course of 4 years in over 18 different countries. The sheer amount of locations is mind blowing and for anyone interested in where the beautiful locations actually are, this blogger has used screen captures to describe where a majority of the locations are.


Original Poster:


The love interest:


The Indian:

Charles Darwin:




The ex-slave:

Roy & Alexandria inside the "story":




Roy & Alexandria in "real time":





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