THE FALL
THE FALL
February 14 2009, DVD, home living room, from library
Oh my God, this movie is delicious. DEFINITELY one to purchase ASAP. I have to be able to jump into this sumptuously visual, fantastical, but very human and sad plane of existence. I mean, it's not utterly brilliant; the script is something silly or obvious. But it's pretty close. It's a massive far cry from the first film by former musicvid director Tarsem Singh, THE CELL, even though that movie is equally gorgeous. It just isn't as fun. And instead of the extremely yummy Lee Pace, it's got J.Lo (again, not that J.Lo isn't aesthetically pleasing, especially the scene where she's smoking a big ol' spliff and listening to Tricky).
Still THE CELL doesn't have the wonders of extraordinary child actor Catinca Untaru, who is one of the finest performers I've seen in a long time, and her character Alexandria, the bored, bossy Russian immigrant child for whom the fantasy stories that make up the bulk of the film are constructed. She's fantastic, and she and Lee Pace act off one another like old pros.
No matter what the caliber of the acting, though, the visuals rule here, and the beautiful message that storytelling can mask a dull, unpleasant life of pain, but grownups don't always know what they're talking about; they don't always mean well; and reality always returns in the end. Doesn't sound like a real "up" movie? Oh, it is, though. It is.
February 14 2009, DVD, home living room, from library
Oh my God, this movie is delicious. DEFINITELY one to purchase ASAP. I have to be able to jump into this sumptuously visual, fantastical, but very human and sad plane of existence. I mean, it's not utterly brilliant; the script is something silly or obvious. But it's pretty close. It's a massive far cry from the first film by former musicvid director Tarsem Singh, THE CELL, even though that movie is equally gorgeous. It just isn't as fun. And instead of the extremely yummy Lee Pace, it's got J.Lo (again, not that J.Lo isn't aesthetically pleasing, especially the scene where she's smoking a big ol' spliff and listening to Tricky).
Still THE CELL doesn't have the wonders of extraordinary child actor Catinca Untaru, who is one of the finest performers I've seen in a long time, and her character Alexandria, the bored, bossy Russian immigrant child for whom the fantasy stories that make up the bulk of the film are constructed. She's fantastic, and she and Lee Pace act off one another like old pros.
No matter what the caliber of the acting, though, the visuals rule here, and the beautiful message that storytelling can mask a dull, unpleasant life of pain, but grownups don't always know what they're talking about; they don't always mean well; and reality always returns in the end. Doesn't sound like a real "up" movie? Oh, it is, though. It is.