by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: Discs: 2; The Film: 4/5; The Extras: 4/5; Overall: 8/10
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell
Intro:
… the extras prove to be almost (and in some cases more) interesting than the film itself – and the film itself is pretty bloody interesting!
The Film:
Is there anything more fascinating than a director’s ambitious passion project? A film that the creative in question just had to make no matter the odds. Kevin Costner had his go horribly wrong with Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 back in 2024. Michael Cimino experienced the hell of Heaven’s Gate in 1980. And talented Indian director Tarsem Singh learned some harsh lessons with The Fall in 2006. One thing that should be noted about all three of these films: despite their lack of critical or commercial acclaim – they’re all pretty bloody good! After all, the audience rarely knows what the hell it’s doing (remember both The Thing and Blade Runner were box office bombs) and critics? You can’t trust those wankers!
The Fall takes place in the 1920s and tells the story of Roy Walker (Lee Pace), an injured stuntman who is bedridden and possibly paralyzed in a Los Angeles hospital. Suicidally depressed but effortlessly charming, Roy strikes up a friendship with a young Romanian girl, Alexandria (Catinca Untaru), for whom he begins spinning a tall tale so vivid that it becomes something of an obsession for them both. Although, when Roy starts enlisting Alexandria to assist him in his plans for ending his own life, things take a turn for the dark and surreal.
The thing that you need to know about The Fall is that it was roundly rejected by every studio on this planet when Tarsem was trying to score some dosh for the bloody thing. Eventually, the visual stylist said “bugger it” and funded it himself. Although you could argue that this makes it something of a boondoggle, it means that the film is exactly the one that Tarsem wanted to make, for good and ill. Sure, there’s not much of a narrative to latch onto (the “real world” part of the package is essentially a two hander between Pace and Untaru, heavily improvised) but the fantasy sections that visualise Roy’s story are some of the most unique and stunning images put to film. Shot in 24 countries over four years, The Fall is a passionate and delirious examination of the importance of stories and what they mean to our lives.
Honestly, you can see why the film wasn’t a big hit. It’s ponderous and quite dark at times, dealing with complex themes of depression and regret. Plus, there’s a kind of wilfully obtuse way that the film refuses to hold your hand, with dozens of clever touches that reveal themselves upon multiple watches (Alexandria’s perspective frequently misunderstands Roy’s story based on her own limited experience, so she views an “Indian” character as from the subcontinent, whereas Roy is referring to a Native American). This is less a yarn and more a tone poem, an epic morphine daydream that feels so textured and alive that it’s hard to believe it exists at all.
This 2025 release represents the first time since 2006 that you can watch this film in the way it’s intended: in gorgeous 4K on the biggest screen possible.
The Extras:
A hefty sack of extras here. There are two audio commentaries, one with director/producer Tarsem Singh and another with actor Lee Pace, co-writer/co-producer Nico Soultanakis and co-writer Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler). There are numerous new cast and crew interviews, two visual essays that deep dive into specific aspects of the film and its cultural impact, deleted scenes, multiple making-of featurettes and archival interviews.
Two of the most eye opening extras are the new one-one-ones with Tarsem and Lee. The former reveals just how seat-of-his-pants the production was, with stunning revelations in the casting of Untaru (who could barely speak a word of English!) and the latter reflecting on the fact Tarsem told the cast and crew that Pace (a relative unknown at the time) was paralyzed for real! After shooting the “real world” section of the film, the ruse was revealed and the reactions were… varied, with some experiencing relief and others getting quite shirty. Pace claims that Tarsem is absolutely insane but also is very proud of this utterly unique project, which sounds about right, really.
The Fall is one of those releases where the extras prove to be almost (and in some cases more) interesting than the film itself – and the film itself is pretty bloody interesting!
The fancy special edition features all manner of pretty physical extras like lobby cards, a poster and a 100-page book with informative yarns from the likes of William Bibbiani, Nadine Whitney and David Michael Brown.
The Verdict:
The Fall isn’t for everyone. Unlike Tarsem Singh’s previous film, The Cell (2000), this is a movie that is blissfully unconcerned with wooing a mainstream audience. It’s strange and slow and prickly and beautiful and striking and gets right under your skin. It’s nostalgic for a time in history that is rarely explored and full of fascination for storytelling and the imaginative misunderstandings of childhood.
Put simply, The Fall is a singular film. You might like it, you might not, but you’re unlikely to ever forget it. And in a time when modern movies seem to compete to be the most generic and forgettable, that’s quite impressive.
