The Man Who Fell To Earth
Back in the 1970’s, singer David Bowie was such an enigmatic character that it was only a matter of time before he wound up in the movies. Bowie made his debut in director Nicolas Roeg’s fascinating “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” based on the novel by Walter Tevis.
Working from a screenplay by Paul Mayersberg (“Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence”), Roeg fashioned an erotic fable about how the rise and fall of an alien on Earth whose mission is to secure water for his dying planet. With his wild red hair and pale skin, Bowie excels as Tommy Newton, the androgynous alien. He brings with him a human suit that looks just like, well, David Bowie, and several new inventions. With the help of a lawyer (Buck Henry), Newton patents the inventions and creates a financial empire that will support his mission. Newton stays in the shadows while his lawyer run the company, but does take time to develop a relationship with a dizzy hotel clerk in New Mexico (Candy Clark, taking her “American Graffiti” space case to new heights).
Newton brings in a college professor (Rip Torn) to help his create the craft for his return, which they start building in the desert. While his inventions make him rich, their introduction into the marketplace cause concern with the government, who see his success as their failure.
It doesn’t take long before the powers that be move in on the mysterious Mr. Newton, or for his friends and colleagues to turn on him. Their attempts to disprove his alien status lead to unfortunate consequences. Roeg’s film is filled with gorgeous landscape, both earthbound and alien. His images are thought-provoking and stimulating. The performers are exceptional, especially Rip Torn as the college professor who never met a pretty coed he couldn’t bed.
Clark is fine as the alcoholic hotel clerk who learns far more about Newton than she ever wanted to. Bowie is a natural in front of the camera. He could be an alien. The DVD features the complete, uncut version of “The Man Who Fell to Earth.” I remember seeing the film in a theater, and it wasn’t nearly this long (140 minutes) nor this frank. Almost everyone in the cast gets naked, and I mean naked.
If the sight of a college coed holding Rip Torn’s penis and talking to it like a microphone is your idea of a good time, you came to the right place. Funny, but I can’t remember ever wanting to see Rip Torn’s penis. Candy Clark and David Bowie share numerous love scenes, and they too show the full Monty. There’s even a shot where Clark’s character is so shocked by Newton’s alien skin that she pees all over herself. Like I needed to see that.
COMPLETE CHECK-UP
VISION: [ ] EXCELLENT [ x ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.
Transferred in the film’s original 2.35:1 widescreen ration, the digital mastering looks pretty decent. Roeg shoots his films like an artist, and “The man Who Fell To Earth” is a gorgeous pallette of warm earth tones and striking colors. There were some compressions problems early on (it looks like frames were lost in the transfer), and some of the darker scenes seemed to strobe on occasion, but on the whole, the picture looks sensational. Pleasing flesh tones (and there’s a lot of flesh), natural colors and striking blacks and shadows.
HEARING: [ ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ x ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.
The mono track is okay, but the dialogue mix is awkward. The dialogue is hard to hear at the beginning of the film, and you have to crank up the volume to understand it. Then the John Phillips and Stonu Yanashta musical score kicks in, and you’re lucky if your speakers don’t explode. The dialogue mix improves as the film goes on. The musical score, a quasi mix of ethereal Japanese New Age music and pedestrian rock, serves the film well, but would have been more appreciated in stereo. If you’re just here for the movie and could care less if the sound track busts your chops, you might be satisfied.
ORAL: [ ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ x ] D.O.A.
No closed-captions or subtitles.
COORDINATION: [ ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ x ] D.O.A.
Like some of the recent Anchor Bay DVDs, the chapter stops don’t register on the display. You can access the nine chapter stops (which seems pretty lean for a 140 minute movie) through the scene access menu, but they won’t count off on the front panel display. I kept thinking, gee, 39 minutes is an awfully long chapter. Then I realized the counter didn’t work. Oh well. The DVD feature production credits and filmographies, but the font type is so bold and small that it’s hard to read the information. Even worse, someone spelled director Nicolas Roeg’s name wrong. They spell it “Nicalos” not once, but twice. Their spell check must have been broken that day.
PROGNOSIS: [ ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ x ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.
“The Man Who Fell To Earth” is a fascinating film that needs to be seen in widescreen. If DVD is the only way to accomplish this fact, then by all means rent rather than buy this one.
VITALS: $29.98/Not Rated/140 Min./Color/9 Chapter Stops/Keepcase/#FLV5039
ATTENDING RESIDENT: John Larsen
PATIENT: THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH
BIRTH DATE: 1976
HMO: Fox Lorber Home Video
