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David Bowie

Celebrating the magnetic screen performer whose fascination for film fed an insatiable creative drive.

TV made Bowie a star in 1972 when his glam-rock alter-ego Ziggy Stardust beamed alien sex-magic directly into Britain’s living rooms via Top of the Pops. His engagement with film, theatre and design forged his high-concept approach to pop stardom and supercharged the evolution of music video. Bowie’s big-screen acting ambitions were first realised in 1967, but it was in 1976 that brilliant casting made him The Man Who Fell to Earth. He was drawn to learn from great directors, and worked with Nic Roeg, Martin Scorsese, Nagisa Oshima, David Lynch and Alan Clarke. It can be hard to look beyond Bowie ‘the star’ to appreciate the characters he portrayed, but he was always more interested in personas than in the craft of naturalism. Six years on from his passing, Bowie’s star still sparkles brightly.

- Season co-programmers Rhidian Davis and Leïla Taleb.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

War 1983 123 mins Director: Nagisa Oshima

An unflinching study of brutality and resistance, fear and desire in a Japanese WWII POW camp, directed with verve by Oshima.

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Christiane F. Christiane F.

Drama 1981 131 mins Director: Uli Edel

David Bowie’s image and music gives brooding energy to this tale of a junkie sex-worker in 70s Berlin.

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Just a Gigolo Just a Gigolo

War 1978 106 mins Director: David Hemmings

David Bowie stars as the soldier-turned-drifter-turned-dancer for rent, in David Hemmings' Berlin melodrama set at the end of the Great War.

Bowie at the Movies: Influences and Soundtracks

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Querelle Querelle

Drama 1982 109 mins Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Jeanne Moreau plays a jaded brothel madam caught up in the violent sexual awakening of Brad Davis' naïve young sailor.

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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Horror 1919 77 mins Silent Director: Robert Wiene

One of the most iconic masterpieces in cinema history, Robert Wiene’s expressionist nightmare shook filmgoers worldwide and changed the direction of the art form.