Tampa Theatre and "The Fall"
First, the setting: Brilliant Husband and I got to Tampa Theatre last night (yes, they use the British spelling) for the very first time.
The Tampa Theatre sits downtown; I've been past it but never in it before, and I've always wanted to go. The facade isn't terribly exciting, but the inside is something to see. I'm not sure what, but it's something. We bought our tickets and went in; I thought briefly of our much-loved old Mich, the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, but the Mich is very different (restrained, tasteful).
We figured that, as often happened at the Mich, the best seating would be in the balcony, so we went straight upstairs. That's apparently what everyone does; I looked over the rail right before the lights went down, and I saw one man down there, count him, one (1). There were many rows I couldn't see, of course, but how far back do you want to sit in such a theater? Honestly! I think most people were in the balcony, but there were at least fifty people there--but not a whole lot more, unless there were lots downstairs.
The sight that greeted us was spectacular. "Wow," BH said. "It's kinda Italian Renaissance post taste!" I think he hit the nail on the head, although The Tampa Theatre's site calls it "Florida Mediterranean (includes touches of Italian Renaissance, Byzantine, Spanish, Mediterranean, Greek Revival, Baroque, and English Tudor)." The front and front sides of the stage present a Mediterranean facade, complete with lots of busts (some of which have dark blue lighting behind them), coats of arms or crests, a few full-sized statues, at least one sculpted peacock, and some archways and windows; the screen itself is in a large architectural arch. If you use the link I gave above, hit "Photos" to see four photos that do give some impression. I said to BH, "This is better than the Haunted Mansion!" I was right, too.
The Wurlitzer came out of its pit at 7:15 with the organist already playing, and it was a full, old-fashioned theater organ, with all the great sound effects that entails (including the asthmatic pumps, which were a little disturbing until I identified them). He played for fifteen minutes, we got one preview, and we got on with the show.
The Tampa Theatre, by the way, doesn't just sell popcorn, candy, and pop (soda, for those of you not from the Midwest). It sells pizza, beer, wine, fruit, cookies, and probably a lot more. We'd just come from dinner, so we didn't get anything, but you can probably make a meal of it (though not necessarily a healthy one). Put it on the list of places to visit when you come to Tampa--if any of you ever come to Tampa....
The movie itself: The Fall
The premise is simple: a little girl, hospitalized with a broken arm, meets a man in the same hospital. I think Alexandria says at one point she's five, and she's the daughter of immigrants; her English isn't perfect, she's missing her two top front teeth, and she can be really hard to understand. Don't worry; it doesn't matter. I have lousy hearing, and I realized after some frustration that I was getting the important bits. Sometimes other characters ask her to repeat! The young man in the hospital bed is Roy, played by Lee Pace, whom I first knew from Wonderfalls as Jaye's brother Aaron (the atheistic perpetual religious-studies student who finally finds something he wants to believe!), best known now as Ned the Piemaker in Pushing Daisies (brilliant and cracked; if you're not watching, start this fall!).
Roy and Alexandria dominate the movie. Roy starts telling Alexandria stories: one short one, and one "epic tale of love and revenge." Most of the screen time is taken up by that Epic Tale, but the more compelling story revolves around those two "real" characters, both in their interactions in the real world (within the film) and the reflections of that real life within the made-up story.
Roy tells the story, but it becomes evident early that Alexandria's imagination supplies the images; a few startling disjunctions between the words and the visuals cue us in early.
And the visuals are gorgeous. Apparently Tarsem spent four years and millions of his own money to make this movie (info from Ebert's review , which is very positive, well-written, and doesn't give away much; you can read it before or, like me, after seeing the movie). The Fall was first released at festivals in 2006, was released at other festivals in 2007, and finally gets a slightly wider art-house release in 2008. I wouldn't know about it but for posts by or_mabinogi, who saw ads on the Comedy Channel (?! that can't be right, Mabi!) or (more likely!) BBC America. I have seen no ads; I'd surely have noticed. Note: I'm not referring you directly to a trailer, because I felt it gave away just a little much; I expected a few bits from near the end of the movie from just having seen the trailer once. If you want to see it, it's not hard to find.
I've digressed: the visuals are truly stunning. This movie was filmed in, among others: South Africa, India, Spain, China, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Bali, Fiji, and the UK. I've forgotten several countries here. The movie claims none of the effects are computer-generated, though Ebert points out that if they're not computer-enhanced, there's surely some kind of enhancement here. We get a fairytale landscape with fairytale architecture (kind of like the Tampa Theatre, sometimes with more sophisticated taste) and some huge surprises.
The characters in the epic arise from fairy tales too; they are types more than people, and most don't even get names. Having read and sometimes participated in discussions of race and gender in current SF tv, I was alert to the issue--and bewildered. In the outer world of the movie, children of different races are treated side-by-side, even as the hospital staff are all white. An African-American hauls ice in early twentieth-century California, but race doesn't seem to be an issue. Within Roy's story, we have stereotypical figures of different races--but the Italian is as stereotyped as the Indian, and the villain is ultimately made out to be Spanish. I'm still thinking about how and how well this all works. The treatment of gender is tricky, but I don't feel I can comment on that without spoilers, so I'll leave that to comments, if anyone wants (just warn if you're going to do spoilers so other readers can avoid!). I will say: it made me think, but I didn't find the treatment of race or women off-putting.
It's Roy and Alexandria who really move us, and boy, do they. Catinca Untaru has never appeared before; she was apparently eight or nine when this was released, but she looks and sounds even younger. She's totally convincing as Alexandria. I really liked Lee Pace before, but I hadn't yet seen the range he displays here; it's a tremendous performance.
The main plot is pretty straightforward; what interests me more are the questions about how our lives shape our narratives, how we make our own lives into narratives, and how we in turn can create narratives that shape our lives--or the lives of others. Apparently Variety dismisses this as a "vanity" film (got that from the IMDb listing), but it raises serious questions of ethical responsibility in narrative, something I don't much see outside of academic discourse. Every so often it surfaces when a best-seller is arguably pornographic or misogynistic or both, but The Fall has some more interesting questions to pose. I think it offers some answers, too, or I've come to some answers, but again, I only want to discuss that with those who have seen the movie.
Warnings: The movie has a lot of violence, more stylized than graphic. I am put off by violence, but here I thought it served thematic and narrative purposes well, and it disturbed me within what I consider acceptable limits. One can't forget that this violent story is being created between Roy and Alexandria (though if you doubt kids' blood lust and taste for violence and gore, you probably don't have any kids of your own). Don't, however, take children, despite the age of the one character! If violence, or the occasional flash of Escher-like architecture, makes you queasy, you might not want to go (and this architecture is in the film, not the Tampa Theatre, which, whatever else it may have, has no Escher).
Otherwise, if it's near you, it may not last long; please see it! I've rated it in IMDb and on Ebert's page, and we're going to try to request it on Netflix to encourage release of a DVD. The Fall should be enjoyed in theaters, if possible!
The Tampa Theatre sits downtown; I've been past it but never in it before, and I've always wanted to go. The facade isn't terribly exciting, but the inside is something to see. I'm not sure what, but it's something. We bought our tickets and went in; I thought briefly of our much-loved old Mich, the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, but the Mich is very different (restrained, tasteful).
We figured that, as often happened at the Mich, the best seating would be in the balcony, so we went straight upstairs. That's apparently what everyone does; I looked over the rail right before the lights went down, and I saw one man down there, count him, one (1). There were many rows I couldn't see, of course, but how far back do you want to sit in such a theater? Honestly! I think most people were in the balcony, but there were at least fifty people there--but not a whole lot more, unless there were lots downstairs.
The sight that greeted us was spectacular. "Wow," BH said. "It's kinda Italian Renaissance post taste!" I think he hit the nail on the head, although The Tampa Theatre's site calls it "Florida Mediterranean (includes touches of Italian Renaissance, Byzantine, Spanish, Mediterranean, Greek Revival, Baroque, and English Tudor)." The front and front sides of the stage present a Mediterranean facade, complete with lots of busts (some of which have dark blue lighting behind them), coats of arms or crests, a few full-sized statues, at least one sculpted peacock, and some archways and windows; the screen itself is in a large architectural arch. If you use the link I gave above, hit "Photos" to see four photos that do give some impression. I said to BH, "This is better than the Haunted Mansion!" I was right, too.
The Wurlitzer came out of its pit at 7:15 with the organist already playing, and it was a full, old-fashioned theater organ, with all the great sound effects that entails (including the asthmatic pumps, which were a little disturbing until I identified them). He played for fifteen minutes, we got one preview, and we got on with the show.
The Tampa Theatre, by the way, doesn't just sell popcorn, candy, and pop (soda, for those of you not from the Midwest). It sells pizza, beer, wine, fruit, cookies, and probably a lot more. We'd just come from dinner, so we didn't get anything, but you can probably make a meal of it (though not necessarily a healthy one). Put it on the list of places to visit when you come to Tampa--if any of you ever come to Tampa....
The movie itself: The Fall
The premise is simple: a little girl, hospitalized with a broken arm, meets a man in the same hospital. I think Alexandria says at one point she's five, and she's the daughter of immigrants; her English isn't perfect, she's missing her two top front teeth, and she can be really hard to understand. Don't worry; it doesn't matter. I have lousy hearing, and I realized after some frustration that I was getting the important bits. Sometimes other characters ask her to repeat! The young man in the hospital bed is Roy, played by Lee Pace, whom I first knew from Wonderfalls as Jaye's brother Aaron (the atheistic perpetual religious-studies student who finally finds something he wants to believe!), best known now as Ned the Piemaker in Pushing Daisies (brilliant and cracked; if you're not watching, start this fall!).
Roy and Alexandria dominate the movie. Roy starts telling Alexandria stories: one short one, and one "epic tale of love and revenge." Most of the screen time is taken up by that Epic Tale, but the more compelling story revolves around those two "real" characters, both in their interactions in the real world (within the film) and the reflections of that real life within the made-up story.
Roy tells the story, but it becomes evident early that Alexandria's imagination supplies the images; a few startling disjunctions between the words and the visuals cue us in early.
And the visuals are gorgeous. Apparently Tarsem spent four years and millions of his own money to make this movie (info from Ebert's review , which is very positive, well-written, and doesn't give away much; you can read it before or, like me, after seeing the movie). The Fall was first released at festivals in 2006, was released at other festivals in 2007, and finally gets a slightly wider art-house release in 2008. I wouldn't know about it but for posts by or_mabinogi, who saw ads on the Comedy Channel (?! that can't be right, Mabi!) or (more likely!) BBC America. I have seen no ads; I'd surely have noticed. Note: I'm not referring you directly to a trailer, because I felt it gave away just a little much; I expected a few bits from near the end of the movie from just having seen the trailer once. If you want to see it, it's not hard to find.
I've digressed: the visuals are truly stunning. This movie was filmed in, among others: South Africa, India, Spain, China, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Bali, Fiji, and the UK. I've forgotten several countries here. The movie claims none of the effects are computer-generated, though Ebert points out that if they're not computer-enhanced, there's surely some kind of enhancement here. We get a fairytale landscape with fairytale architecture (kind of like the Tampa Theatre, sometimes with more sophisticated taste) and some huge surprises.
The characters in the epic arise from fairy tales too; they are types more than people, and most don't even get names. Having read and sometimes participated in discussions of race and gender in current SF tv, I was alert to the issue--and bewildered. In the outer world of the movie, children of different races are treated side-by-side, even as the hospital staff are all white. An African-American hauls ice in early twentieth-century California, but race doesn't seem to be an issue. Within Roy's story, we have stereotypical figures of different races--but the Italian is as stereotyped as the Indian, and the villain is ultimately made out to be Spanish. I'm still thinking about how and how well this all works. The treatment of gender is tricky, but I don't feel I can comment on that without spoilers, so I'll leave that to comments, if anyone wants (just warn if you're going to do spoilers so other readers can avoid!). I will say: it made me think, but I didn't find the treatment of race or women off-putting.
It's Roy and Alexandria who really move us, and boy, do they. Catinca Untaru has never appeared before; she was apparently eight or nine when this was released, but she looks and sounds even younger. She's totally convincing as Alexandria. I really liked Lee Pace before, but I hadn't yet seen the range he displays here; it's a tremendous performance.
The main plot is pretty straightforward; what interests me more are the questions about how our lives shape our narratives, how we make our own lives into narratives, and how we in turn can create narratives that shape our lives--or the lives of others. Apparently Variety dismisses this as a "vanity" film (got that from the IMDb listing), but it raises serious questions of ethical responsibility in narrative, something I don't much see outside of academic discourse. Every so often it surfaces when a best-seller is arguably pornographic or misogynistic or both, but The Fall has some more interesting questions to pose. I think it offers some answers, too, or I've come to some answers, but again, I only want to discuss that with those who have seen the movie.
Warnings: The movie has a lot of violence, more stylized than graphic. I am put off by violence, but here I thought it served thematic and narrative purposes well, and it disturbed me within what I consider acceptable limits. One can't forget that this violent story is being created between Roy and Alexandria (though if you doubt kids' blood lust and taste for violence and gore, you probably don't have any kids of your own). Don't, however, take children, despite the age of the one character! If violence, or the occasional flash of Escher-like architecture, makes you queasy, you might not want to go (and this architecture is in the film, not the Tampa Theatre, which, whatever else it may have, has no Escher).
Otherwise, if it's near you, it may not last long; please see it! I've rated it in IMDb and on Ebert's page, and we're going to try to request it on Netflix to encourage release of a DVD. The Fall should be enjoyed in theaters, if possible!