The Man Who Fell to Earth is a daring exploration of science fiction as an art form. The story of an alien on an elaborate rescue mission provides the launching pad for Nicolas Roeg’s visual tour de force, a formally adventurous examination of alienation in contemporary life. Rock legend David Bowie, in his acting debut, completely embodies the title role, while Candy Clark, Buck Henry, and Rip Torn turn in pitch-perfect supporting performances.—The Criterion Collection
London-born Nicolas Roeg served in the military as a projectionist, and entered the movie industry immediately after World War II as a gofer and apprentice editor. He joined MGM’s British studios in 1950, and eventually became a cinematographer in 1959, working on a multitude of films of all types, from second unit work on Lawrence of Arabia (1962) to primary photography on the rock & roll exploitation films Just for Fun (1963), Every Day’s a Holiday (1965), and The System (1966). He moved into the director’s chair with Performance (1970), which he co-directed with Donald Cammell, and made a major impression with the low-keyed, eerily compelling drama Walkabout (1971). By the mid-‘70s, Roeg was one of England’s most respected filmmakers, responsible for the unsettling thriller Don’t Look Now (1973), and the sci-fi drama The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). With the possible exception Insignificance (1985) and the compellingly obscure Track 29 (1988) Roeg’s output throughout the 1980s… read more
More wonderful, highly original weirdness from the brilliant Nic Roeg. After earlier working with Jagger on Performance, he gets another effective performance from a rock star with Bowie in the lead role as the androgynous alien who falls to Earth with the purpose of saving his own planet from drought. The film is ambitious and imaginative and a visual treat throughout as it portrays the loneliness of the outsider...
i first saw this as a kid and have had the odd suspicion that bowie is an alien ever since. of course he hasn't done much to dispel that :P
A fascinating science-fiction film with benefits from a beautiful use of imagery, stunning performances from Bowie, Torn and Clark and an intelligent screenplay which finds a perfect balance between a character study and a piece of science-fiction. It doesn't work all the time but when it does, it really is superb.
A science-fiction film, told from the point of view of the alien, where Earth becomes as strange and confusing as any forbidden planet. Although the critique of American consumerism now seems dated, since the whole of the western world is one big shopping centre, the film is still powerful enough as a comment on alienation - like Walkabout - with its characters numbed by loneliness and their inability to connect...
Revisiting the icon’s impact on pop and, to a lesser degree, of course, cinema.
With Insignificance (1985) out from Criterion last week (see the roundup), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) opening at Film Forum in New York
"It's much easier to run a hospital with all the patients sleeping." “Easiest way to run the world, for that matter.” The Final Programme
