Name Tarsem Singh
Born 6 May 1961
Background Against the wishes of his pilot father, who wanted him to attend Harvard Business School. Singh made his way instead to Los Angeles and won a scholarship to the Art Center College of Design. After graduating he found work as a commercial and video director and travelled extensively.
What’s he up to now?
After making his mark with the horror-fantasy The Cell he has completed his second feature The Fall which he says is based loosely on 3 Bulgarian film he saw almost 23 years ago. He was fascinated with the idea that ‘when you tell a story to somebody, the story you tell, the story that they hear and the story that they remember in 20 years are three different versions. In the 20 years you have put in experiences that were never in the film. You've given it a certain benefit of the doubt that never existed.‘
What he says about the genesis of the film ‘Basically The Fall is two movies in one. The main story is about Alexandria. a young Rumanian girl (Cantinca Untaru) living and working with her family in the orange groves of 1915 Los Angeles. She has fallen and broken her collarbone and while convalescing in hOSpital meets Roy (played by Lee Pace). a Hollywood stuntman who had a similar accident and now cannot walk. Roy begins to tell her an epic tale of heroes. villains. action and adventure. The second part of the film gives Alexandria's view of this fantastical world, populated by people in the hOSpital who become characters in her story.‘ Interesting fact Although he grew up on the output of the prolific Indian film industry, he decided to study film in the States. ‘I could relate to those Bollywood films when l was ten or 12 but after that I did not find them interesting which is why I had to leave. Film school gave me everything. and I did not want to leave. I would go back there in a heart beat — l just absolutely loved and adored it.’ (Richard Mowe)
I The Fall, Filmhouse, Edinburgh Fri 31 Oct.
46 THE LIST 16-30 Oct 2008
DOCUMENTARY YOUNGGHEART (PG) 108 min ooooo
an OAP struggling down the street causes us to experience sympathy for their plight and terror that we are witnessing a glimpse of our own fragile futures. But in Young©Heart, Stephen Walker’s documentary (a Sundance hit which was first shown on More4 in 2006 and now re-edited for a UK
theatrical release), a new positive light is shone on the potential fate of the
aged.
Young@l-leart is a chorus of seniors from Massachusetts which has been
charming audiences since 1982 under the tutelage of director Bob Cilman. But this is no leisurely stroll towards oblivion for the singers, as Cilman pushes them all the way with tunes from Radiohead, Sonic Youth and the Ramones. Though there is a sneaking black humour amid the song titles:
‘Stayin’ Alive’, ‘Road to Nowhere’, ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ are just three of the
delicate ironies being merrily belted out. We meet them as they prepare for their Alive and Well tour which is
overshadowed by serious illness and an inability by some to remember their
lines and make their cues. But as death stalks them, the group take a time out from rehearsal to perform an outdoor gig at a local jail, visibly moving
the inmates with their version of Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’. Indeed, those who are not totally hard of heart should be weeping like a baby from around the
half hour mark all the way through to the triumphant opening night of the tour. A genuinely life-affirming treat. (Brian Donaldson) I Selected release from Fri 24 Oct.
COMEDY THE ROCKER (12A) 102min oo
his last chance to live his dreams.
I General release from Fri 77 Oct.
In Western society we feel awkward and ashamed about the elderly. Seeing
DRAMA LA ZONA (15) 95min em
The titular area is a gated community in Mexico City, and the opening sequence establishes the Eden-like quality of this affluent enclave. with its pristine lawns. rows of immaculate houses, and smartly uniformed schoolchildren. But as the camera climbs ever higher we become aware of the barbed wire atop the perimeter walls. the CCTV cameras. and the surrounding barrios stretching out into the distance.
This taut and visually accomplished thriller from Uruguayan-born director Rodrigo Pla explores what happens when these two polarised worlds collide. On a stormy night. a power cut enables the teenaged Miguel (Alan Chavez) and two friends to slip past the private security guards and enter the zone undetected. Their attempted burglary goes fatally wrong. leaving the only survivor Miguel trapped somewhere within the perimeter. The wealthy residents. led by Daniel (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) decide they will enforce their own justice.
It would have been easy for Pla and screenwriter Laura Santullo. in presenting this cautionary tale. to let the audience off the hook with both Inspector Rigoberto (Mario Zaragoza) and Daniel holding down brutal secrets. And although Daniel's son Alejandro (Daniel Tovar) gradually emerges as the film‘s conscience. La Zona still provides a suitably downbeat ending. (Tom Dawson)
I Cameo, Edinburgh and selected release from Fri 17 Oct.
Twenty years on from being dumped by big haired “soft-cock rock' 80s legends Vesuvius. drummer Fish (Rainn Wilson) still burns with the indignation of the holy. While crashing at his sister‘s house he agrees to be the drummer for his nephew's band ADD. When one of the band's videos becomes a phenomenon on YouTube (thanks in no small part to Fish's penchant for witless exhibitionism) the band set out on tour. Fish realises that this may be
Obviously developed with Jack Black in mind. Peter The Full Monty Cattaneo's lukewarm music biz satire is clearly a work of compromise. Written by veterans of both The Larry Sanders Show and The Simpsons, scored and composed by Chad Garden State Fischer and starring the much beloved (by the US public) second string star of the American version of The Office, on paper The Rocker looks like it should be a blast.
And yet, like Cleveland. Ohio — the city in which it is largely set, there is something dysfunctional, charmless. obnoxious and deeply sexless about The Rocker. Shifting between spoof to gross-out comedy to hard-nosed satire. the film feels both tonally distracted and ill-conceived. Christina Applegate and Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s Jeff Garlin pop up to provide some zest to proceedings with little success. and ultimately all one is left with is an unfunny. slight but not unpleasant pOrtrait of nihilistic optimism. (Paul Dale)