“The Fall” Part Two

A few more things about “The Fall,” because it was so cool.

The entire movie was incredibly beautiful. The colors were awesome—very organic; gorgeous. The lighting was, too. Each frame seemed like it could be made into a painting. It kept you captivated with the somewhat slow storyline.  At the same time, it never seemed forced like some artistic films. It seemed to be accentuating the beauty of life, even in the middle of a hospital. It also showed the reality of death. Characters in “real life” and in the story Roy tells die. There are many tears proclaiming the trails and sadness of life. But through it all, the cinematography, colors and lighting proclaim the beauty in life.

 Part way through the film, Alexandria falls and knocks herself out. During a short sequence immediately following the fall, they used stop-motion animation. Using dolls and symbolic items from the rest of the movie, they show her confused thought process during her unconscious state. This effectively separates the last part of the film from the beginning, and creates a truly chaotic feel. Again, it’s artistic, but doesn’t seem forced. It’s truly beautiful in its portrayal of the story.  Often I think filmmakers get so caught up in the medium and having the medium make the film that they overuse it or underuse it and forget about actually telling the story. In “The fall,” however, the filmmakers effectively used the medium to truthfully tell the story. This scene is shocking at first, but seems to naturally portray her state of mind. It was a very clever use of medium that really caused me to see how it can be used positively.

Alexandria left a picture she drew of some of the characters in thier story with Roy when he fell asleep.

~ by amazingracie on December 1, 2008.