After creating the visually impressive film THE CELL in 2000, director Tarsem Singh dropped his last name to become simply Tarsem. His follow up, THE FALL, is just as beautiful as his previous work and features a stamp of approval from David Fincher and Spike Jonze. Like those celebrated directors, Tarsem got his start in the highly visual medium of music videos, and THE FALL is appropriately one of the most striking films to hit the screen in recent memory. Set in Los Angeles in 1915, the story revolves around a five-year-old girl (Catinca Untaru) named Alexandria, who wanders around a hospital after breaking her arm. There she meets bedridden Roy (Lee Pace of PUSHING DAISIES), a Hollywood stuntman who is paralyzed after an ill-fated attempt to impress a woman. Roy beguiles Alexandria with a tale that mirrors his own failed romance but his imagination takes it to new levels. People in the hospital appear in the story a la THE WIZARD OF OZ, but it's a surreal, fantastic epic that enchants Alexandria and convinces her to bring morphine pills to Roy so he can commit suicide.


Based on the Bulgarian film YO HO HO, THE FALL is an excellent example of a triumph of style over substance. The plot is interesting and the acting is solid--particularly the work from first-time Romanian actress Untaru--but it's hard to pay attention to any of that when Colin Watkinson's cinematography and Ged Clarke's production design are so stunning. Though Tarsem is working in a vein similar to Guillermo del Toro and Terry Gilliam, THE FALL is a uniquely gorgeous work that will impress anyone who values beauty in film.