Story telling at its best. Review on The Fall Movie

If you haven't heard of “The Fall”, you are not alone. probability of finding someone who did see this movie is rare. I’ll not summarise the plot here (as I want you to experience it), I’ll get right to my feelings about it.

I feel as though this movie is one that you will not watch for entertainment. It is far too emotional to watch for a Saturday night pastime activity. To clear the air, the only reason I rented this movie in the first place was because it was recommended by a person whom I admire for his taste and understanding of Hollywood cinema. Once the movie started, however, the love of the film became much more than that. And once again, I'm sure you have heard about the breathtaking cinematography. The movie is BEAUTIFUL. Once again, that is not the reason I want to tell you about this movie.

The thing that captured me was the insights into one man's view of his own mortality and belief. Catina is one of the best child actors I have ever seen. She can bring more emotion to the screen than MOST adult actresses I have seen. However, she is not the lead character in this movie. Or she is not the one that this movie is about. It is not her life journey that is in question. It is not her mortality that the movie is following. The true point to this movie was the life and issues of Roy, the man who, after loosing his girlfriend and with paralyzed legs, believes that there is nothing to live for.

Alexandria is a vehicle to see further into the mind of Roy. When the film starts, it is easy to see that Roy does not have the welfare of the girl in mind, but is using her for his own selfish agenda. By befriending her, he uses his intricate and intoxicating stories to bribe her into getting medication (morphine) so that he may end his own life. As the stories he’s weaving for her progress, we can see that Roy is beginning to feel for Alexandria more than he believed he would. After we are led to believe that he has taken a handful of morphine, he begins to realize what his death may do to his new young friend. He tells her that he wants her to leave and not come back. He wants to protect her from what she may see, and we protect the people we have grown to love.

In the final scenes, we see a broken man. He feels so responsible for the damage done to his little friend. He sees that he has hurt her. He wants to simply stop seeing her. He wants to stop hurting her. He wants to kill himself even more, because he sees the damage that he is creating. When the girl insists that he finish the story, he resists. He tells her to get the story from other people. She insists that he finish it, so while in his own misery, he begins killing off the characters. He tells her that they are all cowards. That they have all lied. As she sobs and begs him to stop, he begins the slow death of the main character, the character that represents him. When he states that there is nothing left for him to live for, Alexandria reminds him that the character still has his daughter. Alexandria was erasing the parallel lines of reality and imagination between Roy and the Bandit, and herself and the daughter. As movie progresses and reality and fantasy converge. She states that she loves him, and that she doesn't want him to die. Roy states that it his own story, and he can do what he wants, to which Alexandria reminds him, that it has become her story as well. She makes him promise that he will not kill his main character, the bandit, but in doing so, she is making him promise that he will not take his own life.

A small girl has made him realize that there are still reasons to live. That no matter how bad the situation is, there are still reasons to live, because you continue to touch the lives of those around you. A small friendship that Roy didn't even intend to create becomes his reason to live. She made him believe in her belief.

I don't understand all of the people can be so critical of a film that through its beauty and simplicity teaches the value of life. It teaches that the things than can change who we are come in the most unexpected places. Sure the movie doesn't have the action or fast paced plots of other cinema greats, but that doesn't mean it is any less of a cinematic adventure and brilliance.

I highly recommend the movie. I have seen few other films that travel to such emotional depths in such beautiful and heart wrenching ways. It's a triumph of cinema. It's a rousing adventure, and an emotional trip.The film will make you change the way you view movies. 4/5 material for me, it was like a colorful dream I experienced which over passed my imagination, sheer soul-steering experience.