Casting David Bowie of all people as an alien who, in the brief moments we see of him trying, cannot sing, is possibly one of the funniest circumstances within The Man Who Fell to Earth. A truly strange romantic drama that sees Bowie come to Earth in search of water, a vital resource that will save his home planet. He soon falls in love, becomes a businessman and spends his time trying to figure out how he can reroute some water to his catastrophically dehydrated home planet. Quite the unique entry into film, and considering this is one of the first times Bowie had taken to the big screen, The Man Who Fell to Earth could have become a complete disaster.
But pooling together not only Bowie, but the late Rip Torn, Candy Clark and director Nicolas Roeg made for some ever-favourable odds. The Man Who Fell to Earth isn’t a perfect assembly, but it’s a certainly engaging piece that provides a unique story and some enjoyable performances. Bowie’s leading role is great, it was clear from his first few scenes that he had a real knack for acting. His slicked back, jet orange hair coupled with some of the funkiest wardrobe availabilities and you have a great leading character in the form of Thomas Jerome Newton.
Playing well with the rest of the cast, Bowie dominates more or less the entire movie. Aside from a few scenes building up the youthful life of womaniser turned scientist Nathan Bryce (Rip Torn), Bowie is present in pretty much every scene. He’s often found lingering in the shadows, selling patents of his inventions to secure enough funding to funnel water to his home planet. None of that ever comes to fruition, I don’t think it does anyway. Even if it did, I’m not convinced it would work, but Roeg’s direction isn’t all that concerned about it either. He walks us through some rather typical scenes, nothing out of the ordinary from his direction, but he lets the engaging story speak for itself. It’s quite a nice mixture, he doesn’t cram too much of his vision down the lens of the camera, but that makes it feel more and more like a David Bowie vehicle.
That’s certainly not a bad thing though, especially considering he’s the mainstay of the film. Torn gives a solid performance, he seems a tad aimless in his direction though, dampening any chance of a real character arc rather swiftly. Clark too suffers from being a mere companion piece to the David Bowie roadshow, her scenes with him are either to force a glass of Beefeater down his throat or to help him with his water mission. Either way, it feels that all of the supporting cast could’ve been utilised in a far more interesting and useful manner.
The Man Who Fell to Earth is a tremendously entertaining time. Its visuals are superb, the designs on display are great and the leading performance from Bowie is unquestionably magnificent. The issues around the lack of interest in the supporting performers and consistency in direction are, however, truly detracting from a film where Ziggy Stardust necks bottles of Beefeater whilst trying to save a planet from dehydration.
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