I had seen the poster image for this all over a few years ago, most notably in Facets, a local indie theatre and rental house. I remember wanting the poster because it looked so cool, but I guess the thought never crossed my mind to actually see the movie, which I wish I had, because on the big screen it must be incredible.
Within 10 minutes it had already made a deep impression on me and I was ready to say 8 or 9/10 stars, I was that amazed by it. As I watched I couldn't help noting that it reminded me of "The Cell" which a quick look at IMDB proved that it is by the same director, only on a much, much larger scale. The story is rather simple, its during the 1920's, a Hollywood stunt man named Roy has been injured in a stunt gone wrong leaving him as a paraplegic. Which of course devastates him, but what is really putting him over the edge is that he got broken up with right afterwards, presumably because she couldn't handle him like that. So he is in a hospital looking for a way out, and that's where Alexandria comes in. She is a young girl who is in the hospital because she has broken her arm, in a fall like that of Roy's. They meet and she quickly takes a liking to him because he tells her stories, which she thinks is great. He continues to tell her stories because if she wants to hear the rest of the story shes going to have to get him a bottle of morphine so then he can swallow all of it and end his life.
The parts of the story that are in the tale he weaves for Alexandria are breathtaking, in fact every shot in this movie is carefully planned and motivated, none of it seems to be simply for coverage of the scene. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, it was beautiful. They shot this movie in 18 different countries and 26 different locations, including the Taj Mahal. All of the performances were amazing, especially the girl who plays Alexandria, for a child actor I was very impressed. I cant even try to describe the visuals and I really wish I could because it is just so incredible. If "The Cell" was ground breaking, which I think in a lot of ways it was, then the director Tarsem Singh took the foundation that is "The Cell" and built an incredibly dense and intricate castle on top of it. Any one who worked on this movie should be proud to be a part of it.
They story really emphasises and shows off how important storytelling is to every culture in the world. I think its pretty easy to over look the history of it all, with so many media outlets we have I think people forget that it is simply just another way of telling a story like we used to, orally and perfected. The movie isn't overly sad, or happy, it just gives you raw emotions. Like I had said before I had it ranked at about a 9/10, that was until a very creepy and perfectly placed bit of stop motion animation that jumped this movie for me to a 10/10. I cant say that enough, it was so beautiful and complex. It reminded me of a line from "The Fountain" that goes as follows "Our bodies are prisons for our souls. Our skin and blood the iron bars of confinement" Roy cant walk, but in his mind he can fly away and go where ever he wants. The story is a love letter to the human mind and imagination, and that's a message that I don't think we hear enough. It also had a message about the beauty and innocence of being a child, Alexandria doesn't understand why Roy is so upset, but she understands the story and expects a happy ending.
The make-up, and costumes were great, why cant this movie be nominated for an Oscar? Set design, art direction...everything it is more than just a solid movie, its concrete, its a diamond. I couldn't find a chink in the armor. If you read this then watch this movie, period. It was that good. 10/10 stars. You wont regret it. If I can get at least one more person to see this I will be happy because its to good to go ignored.
Watch this trailer and then watch the movie.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2511470873/
Director: Tarsem Singh
Starring: Catinca Untaru, Lee Pace, Justine Waddell
No comments:
Post a Comment