Wall

Roeg has generally decreased in stature as my tastes have changed, but this film has remained his most constant. Is it his chronological ellipses, each tragic in their loss of ideals and hope, every new, artificial wrinkle adding levels of loneliness and despair. Is it my increased experience with Bowie? This film is an exceptional formal exercise, probing modern alienation. Regardless of its slightly aging aesthetic, it remains a masterwork.

Lights in the Dusk and HKFanatic like this

Adrian Mendoza

12Mar12

uhm... what the fuck have i just seen?

Chris Jones

7Mar12

Its blistering '70s-ness is both its biggest appeal and ultimately its greatest downfall.

Myles O'Mara

6Mar12

I walked out of this movie four times. I thought it was terrible, but had nowhere to go, and therefore kept returning to the theatre. I'm not even sure this will be one of the movies that grows to be understandable and enjoyable with time, as most movies I initially dislike eventually become, but I'll find out soon enough.

trolley freak

2Feb12

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...

ruby stevens

3Feb12

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

meancreek

22Dec11

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.

Lights in the Dusk

4Dec11

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...

Varun Anisetty and 3 others like this

fiona_huffman, ruby stevens, Jack Lehtonen

Gerald

1Nov11

Hmmmmmmm...

Franklinton Underground Cinema

1Sep11

The film could have benefited from some kind of suspense. I don't know whether he (Newton) chose not to go home, or if circumstances (friends, enemies?) prevented him from succeeding in his mission. Without such dilemmas, the film fails to realize and sustain the "modern isolated man" symbolism. I believe Roeg should have first watched a film about a modern isolated taxi driver in New York that same year.

Brittany Dobish

3Aug11

Insanity at it's finest, but I think this is a film that needs to be watched maybe a second or a third time.

bibi *

18Mar11

really quite an uninteresting film. Visually quite pretty + with lovely costumes, there was just not much to grab my attention + the acting of Bowie isn't the best

CroMartin

3Mar11

This movie terrified me.

Publius

31Jan11

The only Roeg film I have not enjoyed. I'll give it another go sometime because I know it's very highly rated.

StellaWasaDiver

3Jan11

"Does the space cold make your nipples go pointy, Bowie?" "Do you use your pointy nipples as telescopic antannae to transmit dah-ta back to Earth?" "I'll bet ya do, you freaky old bastard, you!"

StellaWasaDiver

1Jan11

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen Bowie give a good performance in a film. There's this one, Last Temptation of Christ, Prestige, and he's pretty bad in all of them. Let's not even talk about that music video where he and Mick Jagger are prancing around that pole, dear god, the horror...

StellaWasaDiver

1Jan11

Some very arresting visuals, mostly of the New Mexico landscape and celebrated nudes. While watching I couldn't help but be reminded of Flight of the Conchords' song about Bowie as his nipple antennae. I thought that was where the film was going during the surgery scene but they were kindda inconclusive about that, as well as a number of other things, like why he never left in the spaceship when it was ready.

Francesca Perry Carboni

31Oct10

This strange sad story was the perfect vehicle for Bowie's other worldish, edgy persona at that period of his career. Although there are technically better actors in the film, Bowie is so utterly compelling that he dominates the film entirely.

catch_33

29Jul10

A lucid, fascinating film about an alien (Bowie perfectly cast) crash landing on Earth in an attempt to save his family. A comment on the corruptible nature of modern life; corporations, drug abuse, lust, the film presents us with the deterioration of something pure at the hands of human ambition. The editing, the sound design and the imagery all form an amazing collage of film. Bowie's penis also in there somewhere.

Vince Noir

20Jul10

Bowie shows his Johnson!

soiwaswrong

14Jun10

I didn't expect it to be like Mulholland drive!!!! Really amazing, but I didn't quite get it.... Maybe another viewing is required....

Ben Simington

11May10

Philip K. Dick went and watched MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH with his friends, and then it inspired him to write a pivotal segment of this, published 5 years later: http://www.american-buddha.com/dick.VALIStoc.htm

Mr. Arkadin and Kaan. like this

Andhika Eka Buana

24Apr10

too ambitious ? i don't think so. Sure, The Man Who Fell to Earth offers no easy narrative. the story is kinda jumpy, and there's no clear timeline. but again, Roeg display a very ambitious work of art, which also happens to be entertaining. And by casting Bowie in this, Roeg has probably makes one of the most perfect casting in the history of cinema. Bowie isolated face works well with the film core !