Review of The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) by Jonathan B — 10 Jan 2017

The genius of David Bowie was in his music rather than his acting but in Nicolas Roeg's movie The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bowie gave perhaps his best and certainly most memorable straight acting performances.

He plays an alien who has come to Earth in search of water in order to help save his own dying world. He uses his knowledge of advanced science to amass a vast fortune as the head of a multinational technology company.

The aim is that he will one day return home and be reunited with his wife and children however, as business interests and rivalries take over, he finds himself trapped on a world that he doesn't understand and is suspicious and jealous of him.

As a movie, stylistically this is very firmly lodged in the 1970s when it was made, with bizarre cutaways and montages and starchy, artificial dialogue. However, for sheer strangeness, this film makes interesting and compelling viewing.

The scenes showing life on the alien planet are intriguing. Bowie is seen with his family, dressed in silver jumpsuits, walking in a desert landscape and getting into a weird vehicle that looks like a cross between a garden shed and the giant Dougal from the Goodies.

There are some distinctly un-erotic sex scenes that are awkward and cold and the alien sex appears to consist of jumping around a bit while writhing in emulsion paint. The confusion and ambiguity in the story is deliberate as it mirrors the bewilderment of Bowie's character and the misunderstanding on the part of the humans he encounters.

The Man Who Fell to Earth may well be a cult movie oddity but remains a telling examination about the nature of corporate greed and exploitation told with a great flair and sense of wit.