MOVIE: The Fall

The Fall follows a wounded Hollywood stuntman (Lee Pace) in the 1920s as he helps narrate an imaginative tale with another patient, a young foreign girl (Catinca Untaru) with a broken arm. The two spin one of the most amazing yarns this side of the Canterbury Tales. And the resulting epic is a true work of art.

My brief summary doesn't do much justice to the movie. It is possibly the most strikingly beautiful movie I've seen in the 21st century. According to Tarsem Singh Dhandwar, he spent sixteen years thinking about it, four years to film it, and had to trek across 10 countries to get it done. Gorgeous, stunning, sublime, and exquisite are a few appropriate words. The visuals alone were worth the price of admission.

It is a well written story about story telling. The writing is superb. The dialog is enthralling. While some of the actors could have put forth more effort, the performance of Catinca Untaru is heart wrenching. And the sub-story about the masked man and his companions broke new ground and reset the bar for creativity.

I wish I had seen it on the big screen with Cindy. Potentially phenominal date flick for a couple that likes such creative films. Somewhat dramatic toward the end for the kids, but nothing that will scar the little ones. (Though they may catch a scare.) I very much endorse The Fall for a rental, as soon as possible.