I've been extolling on the merits of non-linear stories recently, but I think I've recently met my match... and my limit. In The Man Who Fell To Earth, the diverse themes bounce in freefal from topic to topic as loosely as the screenplay itself. It's as if Oliver Stone, Clive Barker, Ridley Scott and Ken Russell were shoved into a blender and smeared all over the screen. Still, it is a compelling film, always pushing envelopes and certainly challenging the viewer not so much to translate what is said, but to connect plot points from all that is not said.
It's a wild ride, and as directed by Nicholas Roeg it spirals out of control on more than one occasion. It is stylish but jarbled; visually stimulating, but erratic and temperamental. Roeg leaves some subplots dangling for the rest of the movie, and it seems others are introduced out of left field -- maybe even further than that. The result is an unsatisfying mid-section that lumbers on to a clunky conclusion.
The story is about an extra-terrestrial named Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) who comes to Earth in hopes of bringing much-needed water back to his home planet. He introduces patents and equations to the unsuspecting human race, and immediately becomes an introspective tycoon. A chance encounter allows him to meet Mary Lou (Candy Clark), a woman who knows Thomas is eccentric and different but for whatever plot reasons doesn't suspect he's an alien until he replaces his eyeballs and removes his eyebrows. Rip Torn plays the under-developped character Nathan Bryce, a university professor who decides to help Thomas in his quest for water, then he somewhere near the end of the picture marries Mary Lou. In between are some truly bizarre sequences, including an orgiastic ritual on a bed with a gun, psychedelic flashbacks, dream sequences galore and moody music.
It can be said that, of any celebrity to play an alien, David Bowie is the most likely candidate. While he's played better parts, here he is easily the most versatile actor in the movie, conveying complex human characteristics despite his alien insides. I must confess, however, the nudity I could have done without. Seeing David's little Bowie or Ms. Clark's Candy is completely unnecessary and frankly a little disturbing. Neither should ever have agreed to wag those wares in public, in my opinion.
The Man Who Fell to Earth never really begins or ends. For the first half of the movie, Thomas drinks water constantly. After that, he drinks liquor. Is this a morality dig at the evils of alcohol addicition? He loses sight of his plans to transport the water back to his planet, and for some reason there is a flash forward to Mary Lou's aged self, like the viewer even cares at that point. Their relationship is devoid of compassion or any length of attention span, but then, how else would it be with an alien?
I liked the movie. I did not understand it, but I liked it. Maybe someday it will make more sense to me. On its own, it is still wonderfully photographed and a kaleidoscopic interpretation of the truest boundaries of sci-fi.
