Tarsem Singh, in his movie The Fall, shows exceptional usage of visual story telling, or mise-en-scène. Characters and themes are introduced within the first two minutes of the film without any usage of dialogue. These beginning moments, while upon first viewing, are not so easy to make sense of, but subtly hold foreshadowing for the future events of the film. The opening scene of the film starts with a series of people yelling and panicking in black and white. The black and white filter alone is a choice that upon first viewing, may be lost to the viewer, but later makes sense, as the events occurring during this opening montage are on the set of an old film. As the scene unfolds, shots of people’s reactions to a certain event are shown.
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The setting is Los Angeles, Once Upon a Time. The Once Upon a Time is foreshadowing even to how Roy tells Alexandria stories. The scene opens up on a palm tree then pans down to a hospital. A truck full of oranges drives by. This is a nod to Alexandria’s injury, which was the effect of Alexandria going to pick an orange and falling. We are shown that this is a hospital by the introduction of Alexandria with a large cast on her arm surrounded by crying and coughing children laying around in beds. We are shown that Alexandria is a friendly child who knows the names of her favorite nurse. She brings her a note that is written “in English”, which implies that English is not her first language. As she explores the hospital, a man with a large helmet is revealed going into an x-ray room. Later in the film, the soldiers who fight for Odious are wearing similar helmets, showing that she is afraid of this man or thinks he is an intimidating figure. She sees Roy with her note and goes to ask for it back. Within the first six minutes, there is almost no dialogue, but there is still a story. This is what makes The Fall such an exceptional film. The introductions of characters, the foreshadowing, and the overall story telling is all visual. Tarsem does a phenomenal job of using mise-en-scène. The Fall is not only a beautiful film, but also a beautiful usage of telling a story without
The setting is Los Angeles, Once Upon a Time. The Once Upon a Time is foreshadowing even to how Roy tells Alexandria stories. The scene opens up on a palm tree then pans down to a hospital. A truck full of oranges drives by. This is a nod to Alexandria’s injury, which was the effect of Alexandria going to pick an orange and falling. We are shown that this is a hospital by the introduction of Alexandria with a large cast on her arm surrounded by crying and coughing children laying around in beds. We are shown that Alexandria is a friendly child who knows the names of her favorite nurse. She brings her a note that is written “in English”, which implies that English is not her first language. As she explores the hospital, a man with a large helmet is revealed going into an x-ray room. Later in the film, the soldiers who fight for Odious are wearing similar helmets, showing that she is afraid of this man or thinks he is an intimidating figure. She sees Roy with her note and goes to ask for it back. Within the first six minutes, there is almost no dialogue, but there is still a story. This is what makes The Fall such an exceptional film. The introductions of characters, the foreshadowing, and the overall story telling is all visual. Tarsem does a phenomenal job of using mise-en-scène. The Fall is not only a beautiful film, but also a beautiful usage of telling a story without