Streaming has, no doubt, increased our ability to watch movies and television, providing more and more outlets for content. But there have been times when the reduced need for physical media has made getting your hands on lesser-known films a bit tougher. It’s a weird irony to the streaming age, and it puts some classics at risk of going away forever. One movie that’s had an odd distribution history is 2006’s The Fall, which is now, amazingly, getting a full restoration and will be available to stream this month.
A trailer for The Fall’s restored version just came out. Frankly, it looks incredible. The movie has been put into stunning 4K, and if there was ever a film with the bones to hold up in starker clarity, this is the one.
Check out the trailer for The Fall in all of its brilliance.
The Fall in restored 4K formatting will be available to stream on Mubi come September 27th, and it really can’t happen fast enough.
The cinematography in Tarsem’s movie is breathtaking, and each little moment, even from this short trailer, is captivating in a way we don’t often see in films. That this one is almost 20 years old makes it all the sweeter.
Though The Fall starts innocently enough, we are soon thrust into one of the more captivating movie experiences, well, ever. It is originally set in 1920s Los Angeles, where stuntman Roy Walker (Lee Pace – Guardians of the Galaxy) is laid up in a hospital after a trick gone bad. He meets Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) and begins telling her a story.
It’s here that The Fall thrusts us into that story about a group of heroes who are trying to take down the corrupt Governor Odious, who has wronged each of them in some way. The heroes each have their own skills (explosives, strength, fighting, etc) and are all also residents of the hospital, either as patients or working there. The story overlaps in this way.
When it first came out, The Fall didn’t lack for technical prowess or story. Both completely hold up. It was shot over a four-year run and they traveled to 28 different countries to make it happen. Plus, the budget was there, going above the $30 million mark.
The issue was distribution and eyeballs. No one saw The Fall when it first came out, taking in just $3.7 million at the box office. In a different (read: streaming) era, such a travesty would never have happened. But alas, at the time, a movie’s success was tied to its theater run, and The Fall just didn’t get there.
But now, because of Mubi, audiences are going to get a chance to likely enjoy this movie for the first time. It hasn’t been on any streaming service meaning access has been limited to physical copies which, again, are increasingly difficult to find.
Be sure to check out The Fall in 4K when it hits Mubi later this month.
