THE FALL *

Visually Tarsem Singh's "The Fall" is one of the most beautiful films ever made. The credit sequence, shot in slow motion and in black and white, is breathtaking and when it goes into full colour it is never less than gorgeous. It's a kind of Arabian Nights phantasia as Lee Pace's hospital patient, (he's an injured stuntman with suicidal tendencies), tells a series of tall tales to a another patient, a little girl with a broken arm, (an enchanting Catinca Untaru), The problem is the stories are too 'adult' for children, as are the sequences set in the hospital, and too inconsequential for an adult audience. However, imagery this beautiful is rare, (Singh shot the film in a number of world-wide locations), and if there isn't much here to tax the brain, the eye is constantly dazzled. Unfortunately, in this case, that really isn't enough.