Ripvanryan Digressions of a Listless Film School Drop Out
The Cell/The Fall: I Heart Tarsem 5:06pm, June 1, 2008
Growing up Mormon, I didn’t truly discover R-rated movies until late into my high school years, and I promptly developed the bad habit of dragging my younger brothers along on my secret expeditions to these R-rated wonders. Trouble was, I had only seen a handful of R-rated movies, and I figured they were all the same. I had no idea that the gamut of R-rated perversions ran from a whispered utterance of the “F” word all the way up to Ned Beatty taking it up the ass and squealing like a hog. Quite a wide spectrum, indeed.
Which is why I’d like to openly apologize to my brother Cameron who I took to see SILENCE OF THE LAMBS when he was 15 years old. At that point in his short, culturally benighted life, he had seen even fewer R-rated movies than I had, and I knew I had completely lost him when I saw his facial expression during the Jame-Gumb-dancing-with-his-junk-tucked-between-his-legs scene. During the entire drive home he stared out the front windshield in the sort of catatonia that can only result when your entire worldview has been destroyed. So, sorry, Cam.
"You wanna come in? I got lotion, I got a basket...."
Oh, hey, and while I’m at it, I’d like to also apologize to my other brother, Nick: dude, sorry I drug you to see LORD OF ILLUSIONS when you were 16 years old. I know that we bailed after the first 30 minutes or so, but still, you didn’t need to see all that sadomasochistic horseshit. Especially considering that you were still into Duck Tales at age 16. So, you, know, sorry ‘bout that.
But, Kyle, man, my youngest bro, you gotta admit, when I drug you along with me to see THE CELL back when you were 14 years old, that totally kicked ass. Sure, it was kinda disturbing when the serial killer embedded a bunch of hooks in his back skin, lifted himself up off the ground like a side of beef, and masturbated all over a girl’s dead body, but, hey, man, at some point in your life you have to learn how the real world works, and if my taking you to see THE CELL taught you that dead female bodies get ejaculated on by Vincent D’Onofrio types all the time, well, so be it. At least you learned something from the experience.
What I’m saying is, I thought THE CELL was a pretty damned good movie. Sure, I had my problems with the weak story, with the movie’s unfulfilled narrative potential, everybody did, but there is no way that any of that can outweigh director Tarsem Singh’s astounding visual creativity. No….fucking….way.
Tarsem’s back with a new feature film, THE FALL, out in limited release, and we finally got it here in the tribal village of Salt Lake City, Utah, this past weekend, so I sent a shout out to my friends and siblings for somebody to accompany me. Alas, no takers. We’re several months behind the rest of the country here in SLC, so unfortunately, nobody had heard of THE FALL, and frankly, my attempts to describe the plot were vague and unsatisfying, so I probably didn’t sell it as well as I could have.
So, I ended up going solo, which, you know, wasn’t that bad. If I go to a movie alone, I can immediately change seats if a hay-fever-riddled woman with a Wal-Mart bag full of cellophane wrapped treats chooses to take the seat in front of me, something that’s harder to do when you’re working within the diplomatic confines of a group.
And yeah, I really dug the movie. For the first half hour, I wasn’t entirely convinced that I'd like it, but it’s one of those films that grows on you as it progresses, as you invest more in the characters. It’s the 1920s, and Roy Walker is a Hollywood stuntman who has injured his back while jumping off a train bridge. While cooped up in the hospital, he has a chance encounter with Alexandria, a young girl who has broken her arm. Roy begins telling Alexandria a story, and she is immediately captivated, so they work out a deal: Roy will continue to tell the story, a little bit each day, as long as Alexandria will attempt to steal pain pills for him.
Tarsem’s adult fairy tale moves between 1920’s L.A. and the visual depictions of Roy’s stories, much like THE CELL moved between the present-day police investigation and the cruel interior thoughts of the serial killer. He uses similar creative techniques in this film, and while THE FALL isn’t as visceral as THE CELL, it’s richer and more emotionally satisfying. Tarsem somehow coaxed an amazing performance out of young Alexandria (9-year-old Cantica Untaru), easily the most genuine child acting I have ever seen in my life. The scenes between Alexandria and Roy were partially improvised, and their jesting and banter grows infectious. A film about the power of story-telling and imagination, THE FALL is mildly reminiscent of films like BIG FISH, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, THE NEVERENDING STORY, or even PAN’S LABYRINTH, although it manages to remain a truly original film through Tarsem’s singleness of vision. I’m glad I had a chance to see it in the theater (even a cruddy, independent theater), and I predict a cult following over the next few months. Anybody else seen it?
I was privileged to have seen it a few nights ago and I share a similarly high opinion of it. The acting was brilliant. I always have respect for directors who could bring a genuine performance out of their child actors. What I found most compelling was the dynamic between the fantasy world that Roy creates and its direct connection to his waking life in the hospital, how the characters were directly affected by Roy's physical and mental states. For some reason, having seen the trailer, I was expecting to leave the theatre depressed and wishing the world was a better place, but for me this film's focus is on the characters more so than on the world in which they live, a great choice on Tarsem's part. Oh, yeah, and not to mention that the film is visually grand and beautiful on all levels. I highly recommend it!
You're dead on, Joseph. By refusing to neglect the characters in his main narrative, he makes the fantasy scenes more relevant. I'm glad somebody else saw it and dug it as much as I did.
You have to be logged in to comment! If you don't have a Zombie Army account register now for free! Your account allows you to post comments, upload videos and images, access or our forums, write personal blogs, and maintain your zombie army profile.
