An Overlooked Movie of Beauty
December 30, 2010
by Henry Makow Ph.D. The local video rental store is a place where I can escape and explore something unusual.
"The Fall" (2006) is a movie that fell into this category. From the cover it seem phantasmagorical. My wife and best friend dismissed it as "something silly like that Adventures of Baron Munchausen movie."
"OK, let's not guess. We'll watch for ten minutes and stop if it's not good."
Most movies are like cakes. One bite tells the story.
We started to watch and were captivated immediately. The opening scenes, shot in black and white, were both elaborate and artistic. They depicted a railroad bridge over a river and a horse being hoisted from the water. Turns out this was the set of a silent movie where an accident had transpired.
Next we are transported to a hospital on the outskirts of Los Angeles in 1915 where the stuntman/ rider "Roy" is recovering from his injuries. He befriends a precocious young Romanian girl who broke her arm picking oranges in the Valley.
Roy convinces the girl to steal morphine from the hospital dispensary to relieve his pain, which is partly spiritual. In return, in his altered state, he spins a fantastic tale for her. The movie alternates between the hospital setting and this fantasy which was shot in sumptuous and exotic locales in 19 countries.
The story blends Roy's personal crisis of purpose with the child's own traumatic history using characters borrowed from other patients in the hospital.
Even more beautiful than the visuals is the child's love for Roy which eventually convinces him to live. Her love is like a woman's love for a husband, or a child's love for her father. Although she sits at the end of Roy's bed, their relationship epitomizes innocence and trust.
Nine-year-old Catinca Untaru, left, deserves an Oscar. Instead, not part of the Illuminati club, she has not acted since. Indian director Tarsem Singh made his name making commercials and the Jenifer Lopez feature, "The Cell." Here he has created a masterpiece which leaves a glow long after it ends.
Roy convinces the girl to steal morphine from the hospital dispensary to relieve his pain, which is partly spiritual. In return, in his altered state, he spins a fantastic tale for her. The movie alternates between the hospital setting and this fantasy which was shot in sumptuous and exotic locales in 19 countries.
The story blends Roy's personal crisis of purpose with the child's own traumatic history using characters borrowed from other patients in the hospital.
Even more beautiful than the visuals is the child's love for Roy which eventually convinces him to live. Her love is like a woman's love for a husband, or a child's love for her father. Although she sits at the end of Roy's bed, their relationship epitomizes innocence and trust.
Nine-year-old Catinca Untaru, left, deserves an Oscar. Instead, not part of the Illuminati club, she has not acted since. Indian director Tarsem Singh made his name making commercials and the Jenifer Lopez feature, "The Cell." Here he has created a masterpiece which leaves a glow long after it ends.
Brigitte said (December 31, 2010):
You are always complaining that the West has abandoned traditional moral values, and here you are extolling a movie where an adult male convinces a female child to STEAL MORPHINE FROM THE HOSPITAL PHARMACY.
Then you say the relationship between the man and girl is like husband and wife OR father daughter. It can't be both!
And it's the girl who does the work of a psychologist to give the man a taste for life? It is not the job of minors to cure adults. Any adult, even a parent, using a child to get better emotionally is abusing the child.
I don't care about the story these events take place in, they are wrong in the absolute and no amount of circumstances will make them right in my book.
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Thanks B
I guess this proves the saying, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" !
h