Film Forum: "The Fall"

This is collection of reviews of The Fall that found interesting.

Morehead:

Throughout the film, I felt like Tarsem was trying to get my attention, to get me to notice this really alluring costume, or the angle at which he shot this stunning castle wall, or how he was able to seamlessly transition from the shot of a pinned butterfly to a deserted butterfly-shaped island. Simply put, The Fall ends up drowning in its own excesses, constantly trying way too hard to wow the viewer and sweep them off into an imaginative, whimsical tale of heroes, bandits, and princesses in such an obvious manner that it ends up feeling rather ingratiating.

McCracken:

… as cinematic a film as you will ever see. And this is fitting, because The Fall is essentially a love letter to the form‚Äîan outpouring of expressive sound, image, space, movement, and color, strewn together in delicately messy bursts and flourishes of filmic passion. … A descendent of films like The Wizard of Oz, Big Fish, and even Pan’s Labyrinth, The Fall reminds us of the power of the moving image to provide both an escape from the harsh realities of life but also a means whereby humans can better understand themselves, and each other.

Ulich:

Each and every of Tarsem’s visuals scratch onerously at the mind, heart, and cornea. The overall effect is close to synaptic overload and, indeed, the film eventually keels over and dies from the mere effort to constantly top itself.

Dollar:

For all his epic pretense, rock-video veteran Singh (Losing My Religion) devotes far more energy to settings and costumes than his putative subject (storytelling). It’s a draggy pastiche of Alejandro Jodoworsky’s Holy Mountain and One Thousand and One Nights.

Fibbs:

The Fall is wholly beguiling, an utterly transportive piece of filmmaking as dazzling in its visual audacity as it is in its spartan simplicity. … And it’s the best thing I’ve seen all year.