Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Nina Proll, Birgit Minichmayr, Ursula Strauss, Kathrin Resetarits, Gabriela Hegedus ... see more see more... , Ina Strnad , Georg Friedrich , Darina Dujmic , Angelika Niedetzky , Simon Hatzl , Christian Strasser , Erich Knoth , Noemi Fischer

The death of a schoolteacher leads to a reunion between a handful of close friends in this drama from writer and director Barbara Albert. Five longtime friends return to the town where they grew up fo... read more read more...r the first time since they were teenagers in order to pay their respects to a teacher who had a major impact on their lives. However, fate has taken the five women in very different directions since they left school. Carmen (Kathrin Resetarits) has become a working actress, Alex (Ursula Strauss) is a clerk at an unemployment office, Brigitte (Birgit Minichmayr) works as a schoolteacher, Nina (Nina Proll) is out of a job and anticipating the birth a baby is two months, and Nicole (Gabriela Hegedus) has fallen into a life of crime and has been given a furlough from prison to attend the funeral, with her 12-year-old daughter Daphne (Ina Strand) in tow. As the women look back at the possibilities of their youth, they must also consider the circumstances which led them where they are today, and the bonds of friendship which still hold them together despite the physical distance between them. Falling was screened in competition at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

48% liked it

1,109 ratings

Critics

27% liked it

11 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: Barbara Albert

Release Date: September 4, 2006

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: August 7, 2007

Stats: 29 reviews

Photos


None yet... Got one?

Your Rating



clear rating

Flixster Reviews (29)


  • fb1144932598
    September 7, 2010
    fb1144932598
    A difficult movie to understand, as the action moves from a funeral, to a roadside fair, to a wedding reception, to a bar, and back to somebody's house, without any sense of purpose to the meanderings. Meanwhile the viewer is left to untangle the various relationships and underst... read moreand what these five women have in common. Eventually, the lights do begin to come on, but by that time one has forgotten what the questions were. That these five women share a common bond is the one sure thing. Figuring out what forged that bond is the challenge, should you decide to accept it. Mildly entertaining, but no deep philosophical answers to be found here. These women are friends, at different points in their lives, moving in different directions, and will probably not be able to find much common ground for very much longer. But for this one night, they are united in a quest to rekindle what they had in school. Whether that was high school or college is never revealed. Given some of the revelations, one hopes it was college.

Critic Reviews


Manohla Dargis
July 2, 2007
Manohla Dargis, New York Times

Falling is at once a character study times five and something of a generational snapshot.

V.A. Musetto
June 29, 2007
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

Barbara Albert, the director-writer of the Austrian soaper Falling, probably never thought to call her film One Wedding and a Funeral, but it would have been an appropriate title. Full Review

Ray Bennett
September 5, 2006
Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter

It's all quite noisy, but there doesn't seem to be very much going on as the shared confidences and female bonding are not especially convincing.

Derek Elley
September 5, 2006
Derek Elley, Variety

A well-played, cleanly shot but spectacularly empty tale of five female schoolmates reunited at a funeral for a teacher. Full Review

Ted Murphy
July 14, 2007
Ted Murphy, Murphy's Movie Reviews

If it weren't for the fine performances, FALLING might have proven sleep-inducing. Full Review

Eric Monder
July 3, 2007
Eric Monder, Film Journal International

Albert makes her existential study lively and entertaining through a mixture of thoughtful character development and unpredictable storytelling. Full Review

Maitland McDonagh
June 29, 2007
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide

Charging Albert's film with looking too much like an American chick flick is to give it short shrift. Full Review

John P. McCarthy
June 29, 2007
John P. McCarthy, Boxoffice Magazine

Fallen is about listlessness in the face of personal and global turmoil and about gesturing toward a political stance. Full Review

David Fear
October 30, 2006
David Fear, Time Out New York

Part feel-bad cinema and part female-bonding session, Barbara Albert's Big Chill-ish melodrama gathers together five former schoolmates who meet up again at a professor's funeral. Full Review

Nick Schager
October 8, 2006
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Meanders forward with little apparent direction and virtually no interesting drama. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

More Like This


This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts


No facts approved yet. Be the first

Fallen (Falling) : Watch Free on TV


Movie Quizzes


No quizzes for Fallen (Falling). Want to create one?

Video Clips


No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Recent News


No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists


Most Popular Skin


No skins yet. Interested in creating one?