- published: 16 Mar 2011
- views: 578543
Falling Down is a 1993 psychological thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Ebbe Roe Smith. The film stars Michael Douglas in the lead role of William Foster, a divorcé and unemployed former defense engineer. The film centers on Foster as he goes on a violent rampage across the city of Los Angeles, trying to reach the house of his estranged ex-wife in time for his daughter's birthday party. Along the way, a series of encounters, both trivial and provocative, cause him to react with violence and make sardonic observations on life, poverty, the economy, and commercialism. Robert Duvall co-stars as Martin Prendergast, an aging LAPD Sergeant on the day of his retirement, who faces his own frustrations, even as he tracks down Foster.
The title of the film, referring to Foster's mental collapse, is taken from the nursery rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down", which is a recurring motif throughout the film.
William Foster is an engineer, recently laid off in the early 90s recession, and under a restraining order keeping him away from his recently divorced wife Beth and their child, Adele. Stuck in a traffic jam Foster abandons his car, planning to walk across Los Angeles to "go home" and attend Adele's birthday party. He repeatedly calls his ex-wife from a phone booth and runs out of change. Police Sergeant Martin Prendergast happens on the abandoned car, helping moving it off the road while musing about it being his last day before retirement.
Falling down
I'm falling down
I need to sleep
Come a long long way
No time for weeping
No time for weeping
Quiet now
I'm falling down
I'm falling down
I have heard a million tales
I have told a million more
Some of them must have been true
But I don't know anymore
I'm falling down
Do your dance on my head
Heavy steps of the dead
Everything the snow surrounds
Falling falling falling falling
I'm falling
I'm falling
Down
I'm falling down