Supporting Actress Blog-a-Thon: Catinca Untaru

Cantinca Untaru as Alexandria in Tarsem Singh's "The Fall"



I don't like this story!

Supporting would be the correct word.  Alexandria is a role that could easily make or break "The Fall". The role was so important, as a matter of fact, that when Tarsem Singh found out that Catinca believed Lee Pace to actually be unable to walk he just went with it... for everyone. Just about everyone working on "The Fall" believed him to be a paraplegic. Watching the film with this piece of information helps one understand the depth of sincerity in Alexandria's empathy... Well, it also helps that she is absolutely, positively, a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e.

A quick recap. Roy Walker has had a tremendous "fall" working on an early Hollywood film.  As he is recovering in the hospital he becomes quick friends with the little girl Alexandria who has a broken arm.  Their relationship blossoms over Alexandria's captivity towards Roy's incredibly imaginative, ad hoc stories. As the stories are told, Tarsem Singh brings the viewer some of the most visually extravagant scenes from all over the world, filmed in actual locations. We find out that underneath the surface, Roy is dealing with debilitating heartbreak that plagues him with much worse pain than his stunt work. As the story progresses, the movie becomes one of the most explosive, over the top, breathtaking and simply undeniably beautiful movies that has ever been made.  The emotional challenges presented to Catinca in what follows are incredible. I was in awe at the ability she shows to stand up under such pressure. The battle of Roy, the battle for us to simultaneously comfort Alexandria and to still "tell the story" in all of its rawness is overwhelming. Her performance is, in a word: brave. 

As always, the inimitable Roger Ebert: 

"And there is the sweet charm of the young Romanian actress Catinca Untaru, who may have been dubbed for all I know, but speaks with the innocence of childhood, working her way through tangles of words. She regards with equal wonder the reality she lives in, and the fantasy she pretends to. It is her imagination that creates the images of Roy's story, and they have a purity and power beyond all calculation. Roy is her perfect storyteller, she is his perfect listener, and together they build a world."

I can't sum it up any better. Wow. "it is her imagination that creates the images of Roy's story". Alexandria will be with me for the rest of my life, because she showed me the true power of a child's imagination. This power is often understood, but equally as much underestimated. It has great potential and great danger. "The Fall" looks it full in the face and doesn't blink.