THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH A Lad Insane
released OUT NOW! 1976 | 18 | Blu-ray/dVd Director Nicolas roeg Cast david Bowie, rip Torn, Candy Clark, Buck Henry
Nicolas Roeg’s cult classic casts an outsider’s eye on ’70s America. His viewpoint character is a literal alien, Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie, in his first screen role). Newton has arrived on Earth in the hope of finding a source of water for his barren home planet. Instead, he finds – and quickly succumbs to – a surfeit of booze, sex and TV, before the military take an interest…
Both funny ha ha and funny peculiar, Roeg’s film is a disorientating experience, its plot minimal and at times opaque. It’s unquestionably dominated by Bowie, with the director coaxing an astonishing performance from his star. Glassy-eyed and remote, he’s also vulnerable and naive, bewildered by this mad world and the venal hangers-on who try to exploit Newton’s genius. Ironically, he’s one of the most recognisably human characters here.
Extras New to this 40th Anniversary release: four new interviews and a piece on the confusing history of the score. You also get four archive interviews, a 2003 Making Of, and trailers. The Blu-ray comes with a CD of some of the score, booklet, four artcards, press book and A4 poster. Will Salmon
A pilot for a Man Who Fell To Earth TV show (starring Lewis Smith) aired in 1987, but didn’t go to series.