Tarsem Singh is best known for his directorial debut The Cell starring Jennifer Lopez. Though the movie was at its core, a suspense thriller, it was remembered for its twisted visuals which represented the mind of a serial killer. I was intrigued to hear that Tarsem’s next film The Fall would be released in 2008.

It seemed that nobody knew about this movie and it was incredibly difficult to find, but I knew I had to see it after reading Roger Ebert’s review where he stated:

“Tarsem’s The Fall is a mad folly, an extravagant visual orgy, a free-fall from reality into uncharted realms. Surely it is one of the wildest indulgences a director has ever granted himself.”

and called it:

“…a movie that you might want to see for no other reason than because it exists. There will never be another like it.”

Strictly speaking, there is a plot but its purpose is to facilitate magnificent visuals. The movie opens with a a movie stuntman named Roy who wishes to kill himself and who enlists a young girl named Alexandria to help him do the job. He slowly gains her trust by telling her a story involving fantastical characters and exotic locations.

Now when I heard that no CG effects were used in the film, I was stunned. There is a scene where birds fly out of a man’s mouth as he is killed, and another where a man is shot with hundreds of arrows and dies lying atop them. In yet another, masked warriors swarm across a dizzying and complex stair structure.

If you’re an arthound like me, you’ll want to see this movie simply for this visual feast.

Tarsem’s personal story is also very interesting. He first came to LA to study film making against his father’s wishes and eventually became a top commercial and music video director. However, he had always wanted to create a visually impressive film and so he began working on what would eventually become The Fall. 28 countries and four years later, his work was finished, debuting in 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

It takes a lot of guts to self-finance such an offbeat fantasy movie. Thank God there are visionary directors like Tarsem who’ll take some potent shrooms, give two middle fingers to the man and follow their own artistic vision…

(images: the fall official site)

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