Review of The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) by Daniel H — 30 Aug 2008

Disjointed and self-indulgent, this film conveys its story poorly, expounds lengthily while delivering little of value, and makes brave stylistic moves for styles sake. One may very well argue that the film conveys, if not coherency, then at least the "spirit" of alienation and disjointedness that the plot revolves around. In that regard, the film succeeds, but at the blatant risk of disregarding the plot entirely in an attempt to find its "soul." This isn't to say it tells no story... the story is just poorly told, constantly crippled by misplaced cinematic license.

This film at its worst fails to tell a story at all, and increasingly this is the case as the film progresses, becoming so enraptured with its capturing the essence of alienation that it alienates good portions of its audience.

This film is a cult film, indeed, but a cult film in the truest sense of the word: it is enjoyable to an elite who enjoy its rarity and odditiy, or by those who find kinship with its disjointed, dilated, and eerie essence. Unlike better cult films, there is little being said of value, little that can be gained by investing the time to understand it, and no true narrative (which is merely a foil, an excuse to indulge in an exercise of thematic expression) or meta-narrative (it tackles no real issues or cultural phenomena) to speak of beyond the phenomena of its heavy-handed effect.

Over-rated.