Post by klep on Jan 25, 2016 7:42:25 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 1/25: The Man Who Fell To Earth
The Man Who Fell To Earth is like a dream. It flits from moment to moment with little care. It's sometimes joyous, sometimes absurd, sometimes horrifying, sometimes sad, usually beautiful. David Bowie's Thomas Jerome Newton is the dreamer - never aging as events swirl around him. He never ages, but he does change - from the unknowable awkward figure who brings patents to Oliver Farnsworth's door into something all-too-recognizably human.
Nicholas Roeg shoots The Man Who Fell To Earth with this dreamlike quality. It has a narrative - Newton is an alien trying to get back to his drought-stricken planet to save his family - but Roeg is almost entirely uninterested in it. Instead, he wants us to see what isolation in a foreign culture does to Newton, and how that culture reacts to his alien-ness. Bowie was new to screen acting, but he was the perfect person to bring Newton to life. His mismatching, far-reaching eyes and his androgyny already make him seem something other than human, and the touch of dying his hair nearly orange was almost unnecessary. He displays remarkable talent for his first feature film role, conveying a wide range of emotions while keeping those emotions slightly off-kilter, further suggesting his distance from humanity.
According to Graham Fuller's essay in the Criterion booklet, Bowie saw the movie as a love story, Buck Henry (Farnsworth) saw it as a portrait of a misunderstood artist. Fuller himself describes it as a critique of American materialism. I don't think any one of these are right, and I don't think any one of them are wrong. Like a dream, this movie has many layers, and many meanings to find.
What did you think of the film? What did you think of David Bowie? Feel free to use this thread to talk about the film or any remembrances of the man you may wish to share.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 2/1: Black Dynamite
Once again a bridesmaid, Lawrence of Arabia will have to wait another day. Instead we'll be watching this hilarious homage to blaxploitation.
The Man Who Fell To Earth is like a dream. It flits from moment to moment with little care. It's sometimes joyous, sometimes absurd, sometimes horrifying, sometimes sad, usually beautiful. David Bowie's Thomas Jerome Newton is the dreamer - never aging as events swirl around him. He never ages, but he does change - from the unknowable awkward figure who brings patents to Oliver Farnsworth's door into something all-too-recognizably human.
Nicholas Roeg shoots The Man Who Fell To Earth with this dreamlike quality. It has a narrative - Newton is an alien trying to get back to his drought-stricken planet to save his family - but Roeg is almost entirely uninterested in it. Instead, he wants us to see what isolation in a foreign culture does to Newton, and how that culture reacts to his alien-ness. Bowie was new to screen acting, but he was the perfect person to bring Newton to life. His mismatching, far-reaching eyes and his androgyny already make him seem something other than human, and the touch of dying his hair nearly orange was almost unnecessary. He displays remarkable talent for his first feature film role, conveying a wide range of emotions while keeping those emotions slightly off-kilter, further suggesting his distance from humanity.
According to Graham Fuller's essay in the Criterion booklet, Bowie saw the movie as a love story, Buck Henry (Farnsworth) saw it as a portrait of a misunderstood artist. Fuller himself describes it as a critique of American materialism. I don't think any one of these are right, and I don't think any one of them are wrong. Like a dream, this movie has many layers, and many meanings to find.
What did you think of the film? What did you think of David Bowie? Feel free to use this thread to talk about the film or any remembrances of the man you may wish to share.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 2/1: Black Dynamite
Once again a bridesmaid, Lawrence of Arabia will have to wait another day. Instead we'll be watching this hilarious homage to blaxploitation.