MovieChat Forums > The Fall (2008) Discussion > To those who say there's no story

To those who say there's no story

posted 14 years ago by BreakerSeven
62 replies | jump to latest

There seems to be this meme that Tarsem is all visuals and no story. It's been applied to The Fall by some critics, on this message board, and recently by Stephen Dorff and TheWrap.com. While this accusation may have been true with the Cell, it's certainly not the case with The Fall.

I think there is a gap between expectations and reality. Many people hear about the visuals of The Fall or see the trailer, and even hear Roy call the fairy tale an "epic", and that's what they expect. An epic.

But this is an intimate character drama. The heart of the story is about deep pain, cruelty, love, innocence, redemption. There are so many rich details embedded throughout the film it really rewards multiple viewings.

Don't fall prey to lazy thinking and preconceived expectations. This movie has a terrific story.

[–] prplayer 9 years ago

it's just a fantasy story told by a man to a little girl, that's it

so many movies, so little time

[–] eyeandeye-1 8 years ago

It's unbelievable, when people can't look beyond the surface and see it's not just a fantasy movie at all. Most of these beyond the surface movies(unlike LOTR or The Marix for instances) can be "got" in a single viewing if they really open up and start thinking and feeling during the movie.

I guess some of these people are the ones who claim Signs is just another Alien movie. I'm not sure when the audience will live up to the level of the director's intentions and stop being shallow. Both are great under-valued movies imo, and this is mostly attributed to many people not really getting them. Or is not wanting to get them?

Well said! while watching I was thinking it was quite smart how they've essentially told the same story in parallel using a completely different narrative, very creative!

As you intimated, not everyone will understand the sublayers of every movie that has them as we do live in a shallow world plus it's kind of human nature, reality is all about perception. For those that like to delve deeper and look at the archetypes and not the characters, they will always get more than the superficial level, that's who writers and directors hope will ultimately appreciate their efforts.