Isabel and I undertook one of my favorite pastimes of late -- rooting through the four-for-$20 used movie bin at Blockbuster (I am quite disappointed to see that the newer movies usually classified as three for $20 have gone up to two for $20).
Usually, these are movies from two summers ago...and most of them are movies I didn't bother seeing anyway. Every now and then, though, you find some diamonds in the rough. For example, today's film recommendation: The Fall, directed by Tarsem. He likes to go by just "Tarsem." Evidently, it's his thing.
The movie is set in early-twentieth-century Los Angeles during the rise of the film industry -- I usually don't take well to metatheatrical movies about movies, but this one plays the meta-factor pretty low-key, until the movie concludes with extended tribute to the stunt men of silent films. That's not really a spoiler -- the movie literally ends with a collage of what are probably now public domain black and white clips. It could have been saved for ending credits...but there is some narration in the background that preserves its integrity to the rest of the film.
Anyway...where was I?
LA...1920s...right.
The main story follows an immigrant girl who has broken her arm and is recuperating in a religious hospital (assumably Catholic) where she befriends an infirmed stunt man. Their friendship centers around an improvised fantasy tale that he contrives to entertain the girl, and she visits him every day to hear the next part. The fantasy then becomes an episodic film within the film, and provides the director an opportunity to show off his cinematographic talents as the cast is whisked from one exotic location to the next. The sequences are very stylized, using minimalist special effects -- any computer graphics have been hidden well if there are any. The film's take on imagery is a refreshing return to a more elegant age, proving that delightful spectacle does not require giant killer robots, freakish creatures, or urban devastation. The fantasy sequences also play well off the completely believable and gritty presentation of 1920s healthcare. Actually, the film is so visually effective that I started to forget that the hospital scenes, with their sets, costumes, and props would have required as much if not more art to construct as any of the fantasy bits.
And, of course, the fantasy narrative also serves as an effective distraction from the main plot, or framing device, depending on your perspective. As charming and whimsical as the premise appears to be, one quickly discovers that the real world as darker, more...well...realistic problems going on.
The director makes extremely creative use of dramatic irony, forcing the viewer to have to assemble information about the main plot from bits and pieces of information that the little girl hears, but most likely does not understand. For instance, one of the most charming scenes in the film happens when the little girl, who is, I think, a Russian Jewish immigrant (but I could be wrong on that), steals an unconsecrated communion wafer out of a sanctuary and feeds it to the injured stunt man. He at least recognizes it as the Eucharist and thinks she is trying to save his soul, but she doesn't have clue what he thinks she has done (it doesn't help that her English is broken and faulty). As a Catholic, I also appreciated that the director took the time to make sure we see her stealing an unconsecrated host...otherwise, I would have obsessed over the scene for the rest of the movie.
In other scenes, there were important pieces of information that were pretty much delivered as through away dialogue by people in the background of the scene--in some cases, during dialogue that was actually being spoken over by other characters. That probably makes it sound far more confusing than it is...
The movie is also a tear-jerker. I don't think Isabel saw me crying, though. It gets very dark, very quickly--and you realize that most of dramatic suspense and conflict comes from anticipating whether or not the little girl will achieve what Aristotle calls the tragic recognition -- an understanding of just what has been going on around her. It is rated R, so it's not for the kids -- but the rating mostly comes about because of the darker themes which start to manifest. Like I said -- they are very, very dark.
To conclude: the movie boils down to The Princess Bride meets Pan's Labyrinth meets Last Action Hero (the good parts) meets Life is Beautiful.
The Fall: Recommended.
Comments