Undoubtedly cinematography is the excess of this film. The pictures presented in the movie by director Tarsem Singh is truly unique, beautifully stunning, spoiling the eye of the beholder. The scenery and color blend in this film is fascinating. In some scenes even glance reminiscent of the surrealist paintings of Salvador Dali, the famous painter 'father of surrealism' from Spain.
Not only that. In terms of stories, this film is also a fascinating mixture of fantasy action-action, unique comedy-bitir. Costume design of the players is also amazing. And what's even more amazing is the quality of Alexandria's acting played by the innocent naïve little girl of Romanian origin, Catinca Untaru, with her cute, adorable English dialect. Even his acting could be said to be one of the best children ever played in the movie.
Without intending to exaggerate, this is an extraordinary, brilliant, almost perfect film, an art masterpiece that shows the power of imagination. This is a movie that can fascinate anyone who watches it. The reality is that almost all who have watched make positive comments. Good and great movie is already widely circulated, but as the saying goes: above the sky there is still the sky.
From the beginning of the beginning of this film has been displaying a unique image that makes the eyes fascinated. That is an accident due to the action of a dangerous scene in the filming of a bridge over the river. This scene takes place in dramatic slow motion with black and white.
That incident is the beginning of the story of this film. Roy Walker (Lee Pace), a stuntman in the making of the film had an accident to be treated at a hospital in Los Angeles. It was where he met a little girl named Alexandria, who also had to be treated for a broken hand when he fell while picking fruit.
I'll tell you an epic tale of love and revenge ..
It was from that meeting that Lee Pace told the little girl that it was a fantasy story of love and revenge. So from the hospital room that surreal story-this fantasy begins. This is the movie that keeps the story behind the story.
Once upon a small and remote foreign island are 5 people who have one common purpose in life that is to avenge them by killing a Spanish governor named Odious. The five people who call themselves Bandit groups each have a reason to kill the Governor.
Otta Benga, a big black man, was a governor's slave. He intended to take revenge for the death of his brother who is also a slave. After he escapes and frees himself he vows to kill the governor.
Then there was the Indian. He vowed to kill the governor because his beautiful wife was kidnapped by the governor and eventually his wife committed suicide.
Then there was Luigi, an explosives expert. When he finds a new type of bomb he is actually expelled from his country by the governor. But when he returns no one wants to meet and talk to him for fear of the governor's rule that will execute anyone who talks or meets him. Even the priest did not want to talk to him. Luigi was angry and vowed to kill the governor.
There was another British scientist named Charles Darwin with his little monkey named Wallace. As a scientist he enjoys observing living things including the rare butterfly Americana Exotica. One day he received a box from the governor containing a dead Americana Exotica butterfly. So since then he intends to kill the governor.
And finally the leader of the Bandit group was the masked hero. He intends to kill the governor because his twin brother, the blue masked bandits, is arrested and will be executed by the governor.
That's how the five men ended up being thrown into a small remote island by the Governor of Odious with the intention that they could finally kill each other to survive. But the opposite happened. Fate and common fate actually unite and strengthen their resolve together that is killing the Governor.
So they made a long journey across the country to find the governor. In fact they also had stopped by to see the beauty of the stretch of rice fields in Indonesia, precisely in Bali. The kecak dance led by the famous Balinese dancer I Ketut Rina was also featured and became part of the story in this film.
Making this film is taking pictures of beautiful scenery in various parts of the world, including from Fiji, Namibia, India, Cambodia to Indonesia. There are no fewer than 26 shooting locations in more than 18 countries in the making of this film. Associated with the surreal scenes in this film the director claims that there are no special effects in the making of this film. The whole shoot is done in the actual location.
I want to look at you until I die ..
As Alexandria is increasingly drifting in Roy's imaginary story, Roy's real intention is to persuade Alexandria to take him a cure for suicide because he feels depressed by an accident that ruined his career in the movie world. And more bitter again: he was heartbroken because his lover loved another actor who became his opponent.
But unexpectedly, as the story flows near the death line, what follows is that Alexandria and Roy actually blend into the world of fictional stories, blurring the boundaries between the real world and fantasy. They are both part of the story in the imaginary world.
Because the beauty of the cinematography is no wonder if The Fall won the Best Cinematography award at the Austin Film Critics Award 2008. At the Berlin International Film Festival 2007 the film also won the Crystal Bear - Special Mention Award and even Best Film at the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival. The lure of the little girl Catinca Untaru was also nominated for Best Performance at Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2009. The internet movie site, IMDB, rated 8.0 on a scale of 10 for this movie. But it seems the value of 9.0 is still worth pinned.
At the end of the film the director also seems to want to convey a bitter message that with this film he also at the same time want to give awards to the actors stuntman (stuntman) in the dangerous scenes in the early days of previous films, when the film is still black and white and technology has not helped much, when the movie is still mute, but makes our hearts vibrate without hesitation ..
