MUBI, the global distributor, streaming service and production company announced today its acquisition and exclusive premiere of Tarsem’s re-release of the cult classic The Fall.
The film will be available to stream in 4K on MUBI later this September in the US, Canada, Latin America, the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, Turkey and India. The 4K restoration of The Fall will have its world premiere at this year’s edition of Locarno Film Festival where it will play to audiences on the Piazza Grande.
Filmed over 4 years in 20 different locations across the globe, The Fall stars Lee Pace (Foundation, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Captain Marvel) and Catinca Untaru.
The Fall is sent in Los Angeles, circa 1920s, where a little immigrant girl in a hospital recovering from a fall, strikes up a friendship with a bedridden man. He captivates her with a whimsical story that removes her far from the hospital doldrums into the exotic landscapes of her imagination.
Tarsem’s first major breakthrough work was REM’s Losing My Religion video, which won MTV’s Best Video Award.
In 2000, he directed his first feature film, The Cell, starring Jennifer Lopez. This mind-bender of a film also stars Vincent D’Onofrio in one of my favourite roles of his. Worth repeat viewings, in my opinion. He followed up his first feature with The Fall which was released in the United States in 2008 since it was on the shelf for a couple of years.
Since these two films, Tarsem has directed The Immortals (2011) starring Henry Cavill, Mirror Mirror (2012) starring Julia Roberts and Self/less (2015) starring Ryan Reynolds. Most recently, he directed his first feature film in Punjabi, Dear Jassi which won the Platform Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. A film about a bittersweet Romeo & Juliet-like story based on real events. The film has yet to receive a wider release.
It is clear that Tarsem and his work are not for the mainstream. Yet his works continue to garner a following and critical acclaim over the years. I, for one, am super excited about this re-release of The Fall. The film is not widely available to screen but it is one I think about fairly often.
As a MUBI subscriber I can attest to its mandate to discover and feature films from both iconic directors and emerging auteurs – all carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators. It is a service worth exploring for anyone who appreciates movies from all over the world and from various genre types.
The Fall will stream exclusively on MUBI in Canada from September 27, 2024.
Photos courtesy of MUBI.
