Synopsis for
The Fall (2006) More at IMDbPro »

Roy Walker (Lee Pace), an early 20th century Hollywood stuntman, lands in the hospital after performing a dangerous stunt to impress his girlfriend. Bedridden, distraught, and suicidal after losing her to the star of the film, he befriends fellow patient Alexandria (Catinca Untaru), a young immigrant girl with a broken arm. He enchants her with a fantastical tale about five heroes: an Indian, an ex-slave named Otta Benga (see Ota Benga), an Italian explosives expert called Luigi, a highly fictionalized version of Charles Darwin accompanied by a monkey sidekick named Wallace (after Alfred Russel Wallace), and a masked bandit. An evil Governor Odious has committed an offense against each of the five, and they all seek revenge. They unite, and are joined by a sixth hero, a mystic, who is depicted emerging from a tree trunk. Their story is presented as Alexandria vividly imagines it; for instance, Roy's "Indian" is supposed to be a Native American, but she sees him as an actual resident of the Indian subcontinent, as she has friends among immigrants from India who work alongside her in the orchards of southern California (where her injury occurred as she was picking fruit).

Although Roy develops genuine affection for Alexandria, he also has an ulterior motive: by telling tales and gaining her trust, he tricks her into stealing morphine from the hospital pharmacy so he can attempt suicide.

As the line between fact and fantasy blurs, real-life people begin to populate Roy's fictitious stories and the stories themselves become a more collaborative tale to which Alexandria also contributes. A hospital nurse (Justine Waddell) becomes the center of a romantic feud between Governor Odious and the masked bandit, who turns out to be Roy. Alexandria herself becomes a character in the story; while Roy is the masked bandit in her imaginary version of the story, she is his daughter. Mesmerized by the epic, ever-changing story, Alexandria returns to the pharmacy to pilfer another bottle of morphine for Roy. While climbing on a ladder to reach the pills high on a shelf, she loses her footing and falls, injuring herself.

After surgery (depicted in an expressionistic stop-motion animated sequence by Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein, typical of their style), Alexandria is visited by Roy in the recovery room, where he consoles her and confesses his deception. He can now only imagine a grim ending to the tale, and encourages Alexandria to ask someone else to tell it. Alexandria insists on hearing Roy's ending.

Roy reluctantly begins the rest of the story. The heroes die one by one, and it seems that Odious will be triumphant. Alexandria becomes upset, and Roy insists, "It's my story." She declares, "Mine too," and in the end is able to exert some influence on the course of the tale. Not only does she change the tale; she helps Roy overcome his real-life issues.

Once they are fully recovered, Roy returns to work as a stuntman and Alexandria returns to picking fruit with her family in the orange groves. The Fall ends with the showing of the film in which Roy appeared.