# Man Who Fell to Earth, The (1976)

### reviewed by
David M. Arnold

    The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)
    Nicholas Roeg

I now have two Nicholas Roeg films in my collection: "Walkabout", and "The Man Who Fell to Earth". Both DVD's (new from Criterion and from Fox Lorber) sustain the promise of the new digital videodisc medium: Videophile quality releases at affordable prices.

"The Man Who Fell to Earth" is a science fiction film starring David Bowie as a lone alien from a dying planet who arrives on Earth in search of water. The film is probably more important to David Bowie fans than it is to SF fans since it launched Bowie's career (such as it is) as an actor.

As a science fiction film, TMWFTE is a mixed bag. Like "Walkabout", the theme of the film is the collision between modern, Western culture and a simpler, more innocent alien culture that ends up losing that innocence. And, if you are a SF fan looking for dazzling effects: You will be disappointed -- TMWFTE is more like "Solaris" or "Gattaca" in that it explores ideas rather than providing action-packed SF adventure. And, since the action takes place on Earth in the late 70's to early 80's, there is no opportunity to craft a deeply textured, future or alien world along the lines of "Blade Runner" or "Dark City".

Roeg's films are beautifully photographed. Having seen TMWFTE before as a worn-out, panned and scanned rental copy on VHS, I very much appreciate the wide screen presentation on the Fox Lorber DVD that showcases Roeg's master touch for composition.

The film starts with what looks like stock footage from NASA of a space vehicle launch, only presented upside-down to look like on object's flaming entry into Earth's atmosphere. Then, after a splash-down in a South-Western lake, we catch a glimpse of the Visitor (Bowie). He has taken the guise of a British expatriate by the name of Thomas Jerome Newton, complete with a (presumably) forged UK passport. We see him enter a swap shop and hock a gold ring for twenty dollars. Then, we see him sit by a stream, guzzling water. He takes out a loop of string that holds hundreds of similar rings. Soon he has enough money to travel to New York and hire patent attorney Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry). Newton has technology for sale.

Together, Newton and Farnsworth build a massive, monopolistic technology corporation,sort of what MicroSoft would be like if Bill Gates were also into petrochemicals, for the purpose of amassing resources enough to build another spacecraft for his return flight to his homeworld of Anthea.

Along the way, Newton hires Nathan Bryce (Rip Torn), a philandering, burned out college chemistry professor with an eye for the coeds in his classes, to be his propellants expert. He also falls in with Mary-Lou (Candy Clark), a simple-minded, alcoholic motel maid, and they begin a relationship.

Eventually, the Government suits move in to bust up Newton's monopoly. All his closest friends betray him, and he is taken to a "place" where Government doctors attempt to prove or disprove his origin from another planet. In doing so, they so damage him that he may never return. (Newton's abode while in the hands of the Government doctors evokes a Bizzarro vision of Dave Bowman's hotel-room zoo cage in "2001: A Space Odessy".)

On the plus side, the film is very intelligently organized, and delivers the various layers of the plot obliquely and non-linearly. I always enjoy an film that doesn't insult the viewers' intelligence (I did NOT, for example, enjoy "Independence Day".) Bowie is absolutely correct for the character of Newton: pale, gaunt, androgynous, he looks like he might really be an alien. I also like the score, with musical references to Gustav Holtz's "The Planets", as well as more pop selections.

But, the film has some serious flaws. Roeg's artsy camera and editing work sometimes get in the way of telling the story (as it also did in parts of "Walkabout"). My biggest beef is with the amount of sexuality in the film. The DVD listed the film as "unrated", but it would get a strong "R" rating (perhaps "NC17") today, for long scenes of full frontal female nudity, and glimpses of full male nudity. Granted, some sex in the film is appropriate, especially to lock in the character of Nate Bryce, and to explain Newton's relationship with Mary-Lou (and to explore a sexual relationship between an earthling and an extraterrestrial). Enough is enough -- there's an extended scene of rough sex play between Newton and Mary-Lou involving a gun that I found painful to watch and felt added nothing to the story.

Finally, this may be taken either as a plus or as a minus: The story is ambiguous enough to support an entirely different interpretation (that Newton is really a delusional genius hailing from good old Terra Firma, who only imagines himself an alien.) In a Nicholas Roeg film, you can never be sure that what you see is real or imagined, past or present.

Review copyright (C) 1998 David M. Arnold. All rights reserved.

    -- David M. Arnold                             darnold@execpc.com

A film's not about what it's about. It's about how it's about what it's about. -- Ebert's Law

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