MovieChat Forums > The Fall (2008) Discussion > Come on, it's about the American dream!

Come on, it's about the American dream!

posted 9 years ago by wangzhibin
2 replies | jump to latest

Everybody talks about the visual of the film. Alright. No problem with that. A few has outlined the "plot". But the story is really about the American dream: A young man thrives to make a name in Hollywood (not become a stuntman!), while immigrants struggles for a living in the post WWI period. It's so obvious that I don't think I have to elaborate on this. Just watch the film one more time or think about it real carefully.

Well, for those of you who wouldn't do the mentioned homework, maybe I do have to give away some details:

None of the six revenging characters from Roy's story is from America, all of them have ethnical backgrounds. The prototypes of these five characters are existing characters in the film plot, namely Roy and five other guys living around him or acquainted to him. All of them are from unprivileged or quite humble class. They are: the Afro-American ice man, the comedian, the young war veteran, the Indian Orange picker and another Orange picker.

The girls has an East-European accent. We know that she came with her family from abroad and her mother makes a living picking oranges, a dangerous and meager job. The prototype of the

Odious obviously symbolizes the American dream in its most materialist way: wealth and woman. Odious has a prototype in the film plot as well. The hunt of these guys after Odious is the pursuit of the American dream.

The American society is compared to an rigid, bigott and humiliating institution - the hospital. The nun having affair with the doctor, healthy people being kept in and given sugar pills. And the reality in America in the depicted era certainly is depicted quite devastating.

Anyway, this is just written in five minutes. I haven't given it a second thought. I just wonder why nobody sees something so obvious.

[–] fanatic21 9 years ago

I don't think there is any 'wrong' interpretation to a film, and I think that's the beauty of films, especially ones like The Fall - viewers bring their own experiences and biases to a film and form their own reading of it.

That being said, I am not sure why you think the American Dream parallel is so obvious and clear. In my own opinion, although this is a very obvious reading, is that the film is about the power of imagination and the power of storytelling. I also feel the film touches on the very real relationship between storytelling and reality, and how the two can effect each other.

There IS something to be said about how class plays into the film... But the American Dream? If the film truly is about the pursuit of the American Dream, then it falls flat. It does not go anywhere. The climax obviously ties into the emotional arc of both characters, as the girl begins to participate in the story more and realizes it isn't just simply a story... But how does this tie into anything to do with the American Dream? You say "the hunt of these guys after Odious is the pursuit of he American Dream." But all these characters are, I believe, a different facet of Roy'a character. How do these fictional people wanting revenge against Odious, who stole the girlfriend of the masked bandit, have anything to do with the American Dream? As the masked bandit continues on his journey to kill Odious, so too does Roy continue on his path to self destruction. As Roy is struggling with whether he wants to live or not at the climax, the masked bandit is being choked by Odious.

If the film was truly about the American Dream, wouldn't it explore this a bit more? Besides the fact that the main character was injured in Hollywood and the girl is a poor immigrant, it doesn't have much to do with class struggles or the American Dream. It doesn't explore the girls struggles or her family's struggles in America, at all. The film DOES explore the power storytelling, Roy's depression, and the girls loss of innocence.

Again, not saying you are wrong. But to act as if this is SO obvious and SO right seems odd, when to me at least, it seems like a big stretch.

[–] djtamsin 8 years ago

Catinca wasn't the original type cast. But her audition was so good the script was rewritten to accommodate her accent. I think your reading your own conspiracy theories into it .. fair enough.A shame though as the real message is so much more beautiful.