"You always stop at the same part, when it's very beautiful. Interesting," Alexandria complains to Roy while she waits for him to continue a story of epic proportions. Alexandria, played by Catinca Untaru, recovers in a Los Angeles hospital after falling from a ladder at work in an orange orchard. She befriends another patient Roy, played by Lee Pace (who also starred in the charming and fantastical, yet sadly short series Pushing Daises). As their story deepens, so does Alexandria's confrontations to the horrifying realities that have been present in her life all along. The cinematography is nothing but stunning. Filmed all around the world in over eighteen countries, the surroundings do jump right out of a magical mythology, and yet they are places from our very own world. We often forget the beauty in what surrounds us, and with our every day
marathon (particularly in America) we may never get to enjoy that beauty unless we make the time (there's a new year's resolution for you!)If you have not seen The Fall, go, right now, and watch it. How refreshing was it for me to watch a movie with an original script, cinematography, and even casting (thank goodness it wasn't the same child actors that keep showing up in American films). Untaru gives one of the most sincere, believable, and heartbreaking performances I've seen. Pace also delivers, bringing the audience to tears as you feel his character's pain while also aching for the girl who cannot fully understand what has happened. The pacing of the film keeps the plot rushing ahead with the intermittent wanderings into the fantasy realm, with simple yet lush story telling and revealing moments of character. Even in the "present-day" portions, the audience is taken back to another time of a young Hollywood clamoring for attention with its films, stunt men searching for their place in the industry, the poorest migrants laboring in the vast orange groves, and a bustling hospital that brings them all together.
So thank you. Thank you for a beautiful movie that took me to another time and place, not only in our world, but in a world of a child's imagination. This gets my rating of "A Great Movie."
