Tarsem Singh’s genre-defying, eye-candy-packed, endlessly idiosyncratic 2006 movie The Fall is the kind of project that inspires cult fandom. Love it or hate it, it’s bound to get under your skin. It got under Roger Ebert’s skin: He called it “a mad folly, an extravagant visual orgy, a free-fall from reality into uncharted realms. Surely it is one of the wildest indulgences a director has ever granted himself.” Seven and Zodiac director David Fincher, who championed the film and co-produced screenings of it with Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze, called it “what would’ve happened if Andrei Tarkovsky had made The Wizard of Oz.”
It’s an outrageous project on every level, on the screen and behind the scenes. And for years, it’s been nearly impossible to watch — out of print in physical editions and unavailable on streaming.
That will end on Sept. 27, when the new 4K remastered edition of The Fall arrives on MUBI after a film festival run. It’s a new chance to get in on one of the oddest, most visually striking movies ever made — a movie that spent more than 20 years in planning, was shot in 24 countries around the world, and was written in part by a 6-year-old girl who thought she was shooting a documentary. (Unpacking the movie’s mind-boggling backstory with the director remains one of my all-time favorite film-writer experiences.)
Above, see the trailer for the new 4K restoration. Below is MUBI’s summary of The Fall:
Tarsem Singh’s 2006 beloved cult classic set in 1920s Los Angeles chronicles the tale of a little immigrant girl in a hospital recovering from a fall who then strikes up a friendship with a bedridden man. He captivates her with a whimsical story that removes her far from the hospital doldrums into the exotic landscapes of her imagination. Shot in four years over 20 different locations and presented in a glorious 4K restoration, The Fall is one of visionary director Tarsem Singh’s most beloved fantastical tales of cinematic wonder. Exclusive streaming premiere.
There’s a lot more to The Fall than that, most of it much darker and creepier than that wholesome logline suggests: The stuntman (Lee Pace) is in despair after being spurned by the lead actress in the movie he was shooting. He’s plotting to trick the little girl (Catinca Untaru) into stealing drugs for him so he can kill himself. To gain her trust, he improvises that “whimsical story” — openly a self-pitying, self-aggrandizing fabulist version of his own would-be love affair. This movie goes to weird, uncomfortable places, and puts passionate emotions on the table.
But it’s like nothing else out there. In part, that’s because the storyline is so strange and daring. In part, it’s because Singh shot the film around the world in locations so stunning that they resembled CG fantasy creations even back in 2008, when the film saw its U.S. release. It’s exciting to see The Fall coming back into the world. Getting to see it in 4K will be even better.
