In 1915 Los Angeles, stuntman Roy Walker is hospitalized, bedridden and possibly paralyzed after taking a jump in his first film. He meets Alexandria, a young Romanian-born patient in the hospital who is recovering from a broken arm, and begins to tell her a story about her namesake, Alexander the Great. Alexandria is told she has to leave, but Roy promises to tell her an epic tale if she returns the next day.

The next morning, as Roy spins his tale of fantasy, Alexandria’s imagination brings his characters to life. Roy’s tale is about five heroes: a silent Indian warrior, a muscular ex-slave named Otta Benga, an Italian explosives expert called Luigi, Charles Darwin with a pet monkey called Wallace, and a masked swashbuckling bandit. An evil ruler named Governor Odious has committed an offense against each of the five, who all seek revenge. The heroes are later joined by a sixth hero, a mystic.

A story about storytelling and the mind’s ability to conjure up ravishing images, the film was made over 4 years and shot on locations in 24 different countries. Both for budgetary and aesthetic reasons, Tarsem eschewed post-production special effects. The film also had poor distribution, not being released in the US until 2008, two years after its premiere at the Toronto Internationl Film Festival.

“Either you are drawn into the world of this movie or you are not. It is preposterous, of course, but I vote with Werner Herzog, who says if we do not find new images, we will perish.” Roger Ebert