Creativity and imagination are endangered in today's Hollywood, and when a film comes along that exudes both of them it is almost too much for the mind to take. The Fall, released in 2008, was shot by the director Tarsem over a four year period throughout 18 different countries and the result is an original and beautiful film that tells a wonderful fantasy story that hearkens back to the olden days of movies. Set in an early 20th century Los Angeles hospital, The Fall is about a heartbroken and physically hurt stuntman who befriends a young girl hurt while picking oranges, with the objective of having her steal a deadly dose of morphine for him. In order to do this, he tells her a tale of a group of bandits setting out for revenge against the tyrant who has done them all in. Soon fantasy and reality blend with results no one could have pictured. Every section of this film is handled with care, and as the parallel stories draw nearer and become more clear, The Fall, with its vivid scenery and wonderful fantasy story, becomes a masterpiece.
****
