Jennifer Allen
By Jennifer Allen
At some point in your life, you will be in a position to tell a story.
And along with you as the teller, there needs to be a listener. Perhaps you’ve told other stories before. You’ve told them enough to insert the best jokes, pushed for the most precise story beats, and edited the worst (or best) bits to find the perfect flow. The story wants something, just like you want something. It wants to live, to be responded to, to compel certain feelings for both you and your audience.
Or perhaps instead this is your first opportunity to tackle a narrative. The characters are fleshed out as the story progresses… one clumsy sentence at a time. Their circumstances are woven together from tattered bits of ideas dancing around in your mind. You tell a story about this made-up protagonist and the journey you want them to have… and maybe, just maybe it will still entertain your listener despite your novice choices.
But then… sometimes you have a truly singular experience where these two come together and a truly unique tale unfolds between them; and this story will come to define the both of you.
Tarsem Singh’s The Fall is a story about stories. It’s a film made by a visionary director, that tells a story about how no story is the product of just one teller. It’s a story that makes no logical sense, and yet its message is extremely clear. When two or more tellers are given reign to contribute to the same fable, one can never be absolutely sure how the other will respond. You can only control so much, as the overarching themes never belong only to you.
The Fall is a breathtaking cacophony of vivid storytelling thanks in no small part to an amazing crew. It couldn’t have happened without those who perform the story and those who made it look and sound the way it does (especially cinematographer & longtime collaborator Colin Watkinson). The end result is something truly unique and satisfyingly complex.
This is a movie full of contrasts, with amazing wide shots of people against stunning, overwhelming landscapes to close shots showing off every single immaculate fabric and stitch in a character’s wardrobe or set piece. Each splash of color is calculated to blend or diversify itself from all others in a specific frame.
The director has a keen sense of showing his listener what specifically they need to see. He wants you to notice something you normally wouldn’t and ponder why you did it. One of Singh’s particular trademarks is his use of long, cascading fabric (usually silk) either pulled or blowing freely as either a costume accessory or set piece (sometimes both) which takes precedence within the shot.
But at the film’s core is its narrative. In once-upon-a-time Los Angeles (circa the 1920’s silent film era) an injured novice stuntman, Roy Walker (Lee Pace), meets and gradually bonds with a little girl in braids, Alexandria (Catinca Untaru), at a local hospital. He fell jumping off a bridge. She fell picking oranges.
Neither should have been in their respective situations: he was still very green in the stunt industry and she too young to be working in the fields.
To pass the time as they both heal, Roy begins to tell Alexandria a story. As time goes by, she starts adding elements to his tale… and soon teller and listener become one in the same for each. His imagination melds with her own and creates something new as the story goes along.
Walker’s story starts off as a mess, but with a little girl’s imagination it truly takes on a form by which Tarsem Singh’s visual prominence takes hold. It’s no coincidence that Alexandria’s hair at the beginning of the film resembles Judy Garland’s memorable pigtails from The Wizard of Oz as their shared story incorporates a cast pulled from both Roy’s and Alexandria’s lives (most appear in both the hospital and fantasy scenes). The players and the settings change, but parts of the story stay the same.
We also come to learn that Walker is a damaged man who by this point is not sure he wants to live. His heart has been broken in the past and feels that he’ll never find love again. Yet… there are different ways to love; maybe his past lover was untrue, but this special child is not.
Maybe a daughter isn’t just something you have by blood. And The Fall ultimately shows us the teller must allow the story to be changed, just as the listener has to be changed by that story.
Behind the scenes, the filmmaking process is an intriguing tale of its own. Singh had the idea for the film decades before its release. (It’s loosely—very loosely—based on a Bulgarian film, Yo Ho Ho, which he purchased the rights to.) Sadly, no one would finance the film due to it initially not having a finished script and calling for location shooting all over the world.
He eventually chose to use most of the funds from his commercial and music video work to films bits and pieces of scenes over a four-year period.
But what we see and hear are only part of the movie’s signature charm. Much praise must also be given to its two leads. Lee Pace’s vulnerability is palpable as he confesses his grief to a tiny, crying Catinca Untaru, who believed during filming that her co-star could not walk.
Singh asked for Untaru’s own insight to help shape the stories, and the result is obvious as some of the fantastical sequences appear to be driven by a young child’s endearing disregard for logic.
But in the end, this is a story focused on one man’s struggle with mental health; a concept still very taboo to explore for a 2006 audience. This was also a project directed by a South Asian with a plethora of South Asian imagery yet was not specifically made for the South Asian market. Westerners weren’t quite sure what to make of it at the time, and this led to very divisive reviews and a failed box office release.
I had already seen Singh’s debut film, The Cell on DVD in 2001. At that time he was mostly known for directing R.E.M’s “Losing my Religion” music video and a small amount of TV commercials. When I heard about The Fall’s theater release, I was lucky enough to catch it before it was quietly shelved.
After that, it also suffered a very limited DVD release schedule and seemingly disappeared from public consciousness.
Singh would continue to work on other films such as 2011’s The Immortals with Henry Cavill, 2012’s Mirror Mirror with Julia Roberts, 2015’s Self/Less with Ryan Reynolds, 2016’s TV miniseries Emerald City, and most recently in 2023 his first ever Punjabi language release, Dear Jassi.
And yet now… in 2024 it seems the world has finally caught up to the director’s vision… as a newly restored 4K release of The Fall is now available on the Arthouse streaming platform, Mubi in the US, Canada, Latin America, the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, Turkey and India. It is also scheduled to be re-released on Blue Ray in early 2025.
For some of us, stories about stories are what we need to fully express who we are. It’s in these stories that we understand the world as both the teller and the listener. Honestly no one but Tarsem Singh could’ve made this film, and I am personally grateful that more people now have access to see this absolutely gorgeous masterpiece.
Perhaps… it will even inspire you to seek out someone who will help you rewrite your own story?
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, help is available. Call / text 988 or chat on 988lifeline.org.
Jennifer Allen works at Saathee and is also a Podcaster, Blogger, Photographer, Graphic Artist, Gamer, Martial Arts Practitioner, and an all around Pop Culture Geek. You can reach her at saathee@saathee.com.
