Fall Back

The plot (such as it is) of The Falls sounds like a science fiction story. Some 19 million people have been afflicted with the VUE, the violent unknown event. The Falls catalogs the history of 92 of the individuals whose surname begins with the word "Fall" (such as someone named "Fallaspy").

Structured as a documentary (one might even say, mocking the British documentary), you learn something of the individuals that were afflicted with VUE, as well as themes Greenaway would come back to explore over and again.

Although it sounds like science fiction, the plot is more like "what would happen if a 'disaster' occurred, and no one noticed". Indeed, life outside these characters goes on as usual. There are no alarms, no alerts. People afflicted with VUE seem to progress on as normal, with a few odd exceptions.

In particular, those afflicted begin to invent new languages, as well as have their body slowly transmorgified to bird like qualities while picking up bird like maladies. There is a fascination with birds that follows.

The Falls has to be the chattiest film ever. The phrase VUE, "violent unexplained event", "ornithology" must be repeated a hundred times in the film.

There is an odd British detachment to the affair. There's a sense that the narrators are trying to accurately catalog what has happened, but they don't seem to care one way or another that there is an apparent disaster. This allows characters to recite nonsense words, or utter lists of things (name all birds that begin with "L").

Greenaway has a fascination with lists, which he says is a reminder to the audience that he is exploring patterns (though not exactly why we should care). Thus, each of the 92 people have a musical interlude as their name and the order they appear in the list are shown (this is typical Michael Nyman music that appears throughout much of Greenaway's work). Fortunately about 20 of the names are mistakes or involve people unwilling to show up.

So, what exactly is the point of this film? My first impression was that it was making fun of British documentaries. There is a seriousness, however, about this fake event that doesn't jibe with what is seen on the screen. Why birds?

I think part of the fascination with birds is the ornithology itself. What's the goal of ornithology? Apparently, to catalog birds. To describe each and every bird, its plumage, its song. Ornithologists and bird watchers are fascinated by this endeavor. Greenaway appears to be applying the same principle to people.

Through the many biographies, we get a sense of how birds have meaning to humans. Not the least of which is the desire of humans to fly. One of the people lists out movies with birds as themes. Others list out bird species. We begin to see some relation of people to birds. But it makes Greenaway seem awfully obsessive compulsive. For example, he has to invent fake languages, a laundry list of illnesses that people have, relations between people.

Greenaway often repeats things to emphasize some commonality. For example, at least three folks like to drive in circles, one on a beach, one on a plane that's grounded, one on a circular road. Several like to list out things. Some sing. Repeated use of black and white photographs. Repeated mention of VUE. Repeated mention of immortality. Repeated use of French and presumably Dutch.

The Falls has to be one of Greenaway's least accessible films, especially since it insists on this odd form of biography. Still, it gives themes to films he makes later on.

Even though it looks rather dated (having been made right around 1980), there are things that suggest ideas that he comes back to as well as things that seem rather modern.

The Falls is unusual compared to most of the rest of his work, which have more of a plot, and typically quite a bit more nudity. But they do share some themes such as calligraphy and lists. For example, Drowning by Numbers involves the numbers 1 through 100 being spoken. A Zed and Two Noughts has a child listing animals beginning with each letter of the alphabet. A Draughtman's Contract has the draughtman drawing a series of pictures with a list of requirements he wants before he draws it. Pillow Book involves a list of parts of stories.

I'm not sure why I watch Greenaway. Certainly, there are more accessible filmmakers. I suppose if I can watch his stuff, I can watch pretty much anything. I've been watching his films since The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover came out around 1989. These days, it's somewhat easier to get a hold of his films. The hardest one to get a hold of is Baby of Macon, which was considered controversial and never had a proper US release. The Tulse Luper Suitecases which is a trilogy has also been challenging to find. Presumably, it will become available soon.

There has been a release of The Falls and Peter Greenaway Short Films to round out his early career.