The Falls (1980)

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The world has been affected by a mysterious occurrance known as the Violent Unknown Event or VUE. It has caused immortality and disability...

Plot Keywords:

Bird | Film Industry | Fake Documentary | Surrealism | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Peter Westley
Aad Wirtz
Michael Murray
Lorna Poulter
Patricia Carr
Adam Leys	...	Narrator
Mary Howard
Sheila Canfield	...	Narrator
Evelyn Owen
Hilary Thompson	...	Narrator
Carole Meyer
Monica Hyde
Colleen Thomas
Neil Hopkins
Dewi Thomas

Runtime:

195 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | UK:PG

Company:

British Film Institute (BFI)

Trivia:

The recurrences of the number 92 throughout the film (the number of VUE victims, the number of artificial languages, etc.) was partly intended as a homage to composer 'Cage, John''s "Indeterminacy," which Greenaway believed contained 92 stories. Cage later informed the director that there were only 90 sections and was much amused by Greenaway's error.

Movie Connections:

References The Birds (1963)

absolutely different

only one word comes to mind after watching The Falls. DIFFERENT.then again, Peter Greenaway has never ceased to surprise us (even those of us expecting the surprise). from victim 1 through 92 (including the few who are barely mentioned, along with a very convincing excuse as to why they don't have a full feature mention), the viewer is trapped in this make belief world of this plague that has struck part of the population. The entwining of some of the victims stories gives one a feeling of "now-that-makes-sense", the feeling we get when watching real documentaries.

the musical score left me speechless. and after three hours of listening to it, i am sure it will be stuck in my head all day tomorrow at work. the way it progresses from one victim to the next is fascinating.

i thought that i would struggle to remember individual cases. however, the closing scenes show a quick recap of the victims, and each case is remembered individually. i think that goes to show that the magical moviemaking techniques in this movie left a good imprint on my memory. the absurd tongue-in-cheek eccentricities of each case reminded me of classic british comedy. like the games in Drowning By Numbers, it was amusing to keep up with the humour.

after seeing several Greenaway movies, this one has left the biggest imprint. "The thief, the cook, ...." had a similar effect. however, the effects differ. one is of shock, the other is of brilliance.

I am not holding a drink in my hand at the moment, but if i were, i would be toasting Peter Greenaway in thanks for 3 hours of pure excellence.