Grade: B
Director: Tarsem Singh
Cast: Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru
How many movies must a director make before we can say he has a definitive visual style?
In the case of Tarsem Singh, that number might well be two (although a string of striking 1990s musical videos certainly helps establish his reputation). His involving images dwell in strong blues, reds, and purples, swimming in often sandy backdrops (deserts are popular).
What’s been less clear about Singh is whether his stories will ever have the same power as his pictures. His first feature, The Cell, is old enough now to have been made when people still regarded Jennifer Lopez as a bright, rising star with a seemingly endless future. With the help of a futuristic device, a psychiatrist explores the internal landscape of a psychotic’s mind. This story was essentially an excuse for Singh to paint across the screen. Faring better in this regard is his second feature, The Fall, which allows his surrealistic expressions to intertwine with a stronger story. Set in the 1920s, a