The Fall

I saw "The Fall" on Monday night. Of the movies I have seen this year, this was by-far the most beautiful cinematographic-ally. (Is cinematographic-ally a word?) It was gorgeous. It was absolutely striking and wonderful. This movie has entered my top 4 of the year along with Iron Man, Son of Rambow & Young @ Heart. This movie has inspired me about film making. At the same time, it depressed me about the movie industry.

I felt really lucky because I saw the movie with the director, Tarsem, in attendance. He had a Q&A session afterwards that was, by-far, the most entertaining Q&A session I have attended this year. He was absolutely fantastic. His passion for this movie was unparalleled. The breathless rate at which he spoke about his film inspired me. It made me want to pursue my film ideas without fear, without hesitation. He was also really funny. During the movie, he sat in the second row. During the Q&A, a woman in the second row raised her hand to ask a question. Tarsem told the lady that he would not be answering her question because she received & typed about 10 text messages during the movie. Everyone in the theater burst out in applause. It was a beautiful moment of public shame. It is too bad she had to learn theater etiquette in front of such a large group of people. As a film lover, I really appreciated that he stood-up for other movie-goers. Way to go, Tarsem.

At the same time, I was wildly depressed about the state of the movie industry. How could this film not be picked up for major distribution? This movie is showing on only two screens in Austin. Does anyone know the reasons why this was not picked up by a major distributor (no offense, Roadside Attractions... you are doing a great job & thank you for bringing it to Austin)? But if anyone knows why this did not get picked up by one of the biggies, let me know in the comments.

In the Q&A session, Tarsem said the movie was panned by some critics and then no major studio would touch it. First, who are those critics. Second, did they watch the same movie I watched? Third, critics who panned this movie, please send me your home address so I can kick you in the private parts.

Please watch the trailer here.

Here is a link to the cities in which it is playing. These cities include Louisville, Milwaukee, Chicago, Seattle, Columbus, Kansas City, Tucson, San Francisco... I am calling to my friends: go see this movie.

This was a beautiful movie. Way to go, Tarsem. Really nice job.