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The Man Who Fell to Earth
Nicolas Roeg’s cult sci-fi stars David Bowie as an alien attempting to amass a fortune to save his home planet, but unable to escape his decadent earthly lifestyle.
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Overview
David Bowie cemented his unearthly persona in Nicolas Roeg’s startling cult film; playing in alien stranded on earth while on a mission to find water for his own world, he initiates a plan to amass a fortune to help save his home planet.
Perfectly cast in a role that suits his aloof acting style, Bowie portrays the alien as a detached observer of human folly, decadently devouring 1970s culture on multiple television sets. But it’s Nicholas Roeg’s direction that defines The Man Who Fell to Earth as a cult sci-fi classic, in a film full of startling compositions, inspired editing and a warped alien's perspective of 20th-century insanity.
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