[#679] Movie: "The Fall" + SQUEE.
So last night I finally watched the movie "The Fall". I wanted to write about it just then but it was 2 am and sleep took priority. Anyway, that movie is absolutely amazing. I don't even know where to start the explanation of why. The thing that stands out the most at first is perhaps how visually stunning it is (you owe it to yourself to at least look through the gallery on the movie's website). But after watching it, I think it is only fair to say that despite how great the the story (-would you believe I thought about essays you could write on the symbolism, and the psychoanalysis you could get into thanks to the double story with the same set of characters?), the visuals and Lee Pace are, the movie absolutely belongs to the little girl playing Alexandria. She's six years old, people. Six. Kids do make the best actors, but this is just incredible. And my god, she made me cry. Even though it's pretty easy to get me emotional, I try really hard to not cry when I'm watching a movie with someone else- even my parents. But when you see a little girl crying because her heart is breaking, there's just no way to stop the flow of tears ;_; I cried at least twice. But the emotional release also feels so good, and the ending was satisfying.
(By the way, I watched some of the behind-the-scenes footage on the DVD and do you know what they did? For the scenes in the hospital they had Lee Pace in character at all times- meaning he pretended to not be able to walk like Roy and got around in a wheelchair (and people would carry him from the bed to the wheelchair and such) to help the little girl (and the other kids) act. She believed parts of everything were real until they told her on the last day of shooting and Lee got up from the wheelchair. I felt really bad though because they also showed how in scenes where Roy shouts at her and such she would get genuinely upset and scared.) But yea, as long as we're talking about acting, I have to say that even though this was the first time I saw Lee Pace playing anyone other than Ned, literally less than a minute into it I totally forgot about the existence of the piemaker. A+.
[eta: OH MY GOD, NEVER MIND. They fooled everybody. Nobody but the director ( long interview with him where I just found out) knew that Lee wasn't actually a handicapped actor.]
Anyway, have an excerpt from Ebert's review:
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. Tarsem, for two decades a leading director of music videos and TV commercials, spent millions of his own money to finance "The Fall," filmed it for four years in 28 countries and has made a movie that you might want to see for no other reason than because it exists. There will never be another like it.
It tells a simple story with vast romantic images so stunning I had to check twice, three times, to be sure the film actually claims to have absolutely no computer-generated imagery..
I put that emphasis there because watching the movie I did wonder about the budget. There is absolutely no doubt as you watch it that it took many millions to make, but I couldn't fathom how the budget would get approved- the movie is superb, but it's not a blockbuster. The director financing it himself explains everything, and makes me love the movie all the more.
Augh, enough of my rambling. Go watch the movie! :P Or start with the trailer.
p.s. SPEAKING OF TRAILERS. ALJD;ZMG!!! HBP INTERNATIONAL TRAILER IS MADE OF THE AWESOMEST AWESOME THAT EVER AWESOMED.
(By the way, I watched some of the behind-the-scenes footage on the DVD and do you know what they did? For the scenes in the hospital they had Lee Pace in character at all times- meaning he pretended to not be able to walk like Roy and got around in a wheelchair (and people would carry him from the bed to the wheelchair and such) to help the little girl (and the other kids) act. She believed parts of everything were real until they told her on the last day of shooting and Lee got up from the wheelchair. I felt really bad though because they also showed how in scenes where Roy shouts at her and such she would get genuinely upset and scared.) But yea, as long as we're talking about acting, I have to say that even though this was the first time I saw Lee Pace playing anyone other than Ned, literally less than a minute into it I totally forgot about the existence of the piemaker. A+.
[eta: OH MY GOD, NEVER MIND. They fooled everybody. Nobody but the director ( long interview with him where I just found out) knew that Lee wasn't actually a handicapped actor.]
Anyway, have an excerpt from Ebert's review:
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. Tarsem, for two decades a leading director of music videos and TV commercials, spent millions of his own money to finance "The Fall," filmed it for four years in 28 countries and has made a movie that you might want to see for no other reason than because it exists. There will never be another like it.
It tells a simple story with vast romantic images so stunning I had to check twice, three times, to be sure the film actually claims to have absolutely no computer-generated imagery..
I put that emphasis there because watching the movie I did wonder about the budget. There is absolutely no doubt as you watch it that it took many millions to make, but I couldn't fathom how the budget would get approved- the movie is superb, but it's not a blockbuster. The director financing it himself explains everything, and makes me love the movie all the more.
Augh, enough of my rambling. Go watch the movie! :P Or start with the trailer.
p.s. SPEAKING OF TRAILERS. ALJD;ZMG!!! HBP INTERNATIONAL TRAILER IS MADE OF THE AWESOMEST AWESOME THAT EVER AWESOMED.