When Paramount+ announced a series adaptation of Nicolas Roeg’s timeless cult classic The Man Who Fell to Earth from 1976, it seemed like another beloved cult classic unnecessarily adapted into a streaming series. ( Picnic at Hanging Rock is the most egregious example of this popular trend.) We live in the age of nostalgia, and studios are looking for any movie that might work as a rebooted miniseries or television show to support the plethora of streaming services. However, the original The Man Who Fell to Earth isn’t exactly “viewer-friendly,” so what’s the need for a remake? If it’s faithful to the movie, will mainstream audiences find it a rewarding viewing experience? On the contrary, would the remake do the revered movie a disservice by changing too many things?
Inhalt
- The role he was born to play
- Love, damnation, or salvation?
- Life is a wasteland
The Man Who Fell to Earth is intentionally challenging, blending bizarre imagery with complex and, at times, convoluted storytelling, resulting in a collection of scenes and events passing for a proper narrative. The Man Who Fell to Earth lacks cohesiveness and has glaring plot holes — surprising, considering the relatively straightforward plot — yet they seem intentional, in keeping with the project’s nature. The film is more interested in asking questions than answering them, leaving fans feeling overwhelmed, not only by the intense and powerful visuals but by the thought-provoking themes that are there to beguile and, perhaps, deliberately confuse.
The role he was born to play
The Man Who Fell to Earth is a combination of factors that came together to craft a one-of-a-kind film, chief among them the casting of David Bowie as the titular alien, Thomas Jerome Newton. With his androgynous looks and inherent out-of-place-ness, Bowie was the perfect choice to bring Thomas to life. He was not an actor, something that becomes glaring in several of the film’s most heightened moments. Still, this inexperience works in his favor; Thomas is detached, aloof, a man very much out of place on a planet he finds both repellant and fascinating.
Bowie — then at the height of his perpetually experimental career — is enigmatic as Thomas. He embodies Newton’s bewilderment without crossing into cartoonish territory. When Thomas is still innocent at the beginning of the film, Bowie is restrained, stoic, almost robotic. As the plot advances and Thomas falls into the trap of sex and alcohol, Bowie lets loose, and the rock star persona comes out without ever sacrificing the alien’s trademark awkwardness. A classically trained actor might have gone big during Thomas’s crucial scenes, but Bowie remains staunchly down to earth, even during the film’s most urgent moments.
The Man Who Fell to Earth lives and dies with Bowie, but the glam rocker glides carelessly through his scenes, never carrying the weight of the movie’s potential success or failure. He fits seamlessly with Roeg’s surreal world, looking like he came out of it. Bowie also plays with audiences’ perceptions in the way Roeg intended, hinting that Thomas might be delusional about his supposed alien nature on more than one occasion. It was a brilliant piece of inspired casting that we don’t see much of in modern cinema, further elevating The Man Who Fell to Earth into classic territory.
Love, damnation, or salvation?
In many ways, The Man Who Fell to Earth is a love story, but love has its limits. Academy Award nominee Candy Clark ( American Graffiti ) plays Thomas’ human lover, Mary-Lou. Bowie remains unaffected, marching to the beat of his own drum, much like Thomas himself, but Clark plays Mary-Lou with an enthusiasm that borders on camp. The dichotomy of their performances is often disorienting, at times frustrating, but always enthralling. The relationship itself is flawed and complicated, a conflict of interests and ideologies disguised as a love story. Mary-Lou and Thomas are both appetites asking too much of each other, ultimately discovering they’ve sucked each other dry.
The relationship perfectly captures one of the film’s central themes: The pursuit of personal satisfaction versus the fulfillment of duty. Thomas goes forward with his plan to build the spaceship that’ll take him back to his home world, but he still indulges in the earthly pleasures that Mary-Lou provides. He mentions he’s married, but neither seems to care as they enter a highly experimental relationship that awakens Thomas’ curiosity about the world.
Mary-Lou and Thomas challenge and tease each other, pushing their boundaries without expanding their worldview. Thomas doesn’t know or care about what Mary-Lou wants, while she can’t understand what he thinks. Roeg asks his audience the timeless question: an love survive with partners that might never fully understand one another? Is it even love, then?
Für Roeg ist die wahre Bestrafung des Lebens, was wir nicht verstehen können. Der Mann, der auf die Erde gefallen ist. Der Film versucht nicht, traditionelle Romantik zu fangen, weil er zu zynisch ist, um daran zu glauben. Liebe ist weder Gleichgewicht noch Frieden, sondern Chaos und Störungen, die so leicht gehen können, wie es einmal gekommen ist.
Das Leben ist ein Ödland
Letztendlich ist der Mann, der auf Erden gefallen ist. Thomas entkommt seinem trockenen und kargen Planeten, der nach Wasser sucht, um sich zurückzubringen, nur um sich in einem völlig neuen und weitaus schmerzhafteren Ödland zu befinden. Seine Reise mit der Erde ist von Elend und Leere des Geistes geprägt, unterbrochen nur durch einige Momente der Freude, die im Nachhinein sinnlos erscheinen. Sein Körper altert nie, seine Körperlichkeit verdorbt nicht, aber sein Geist bricht über die Reparatur hinaus, je mehr Zeit er auf der Erde verbringt.
Schließlich wird Thomas ein Gefangener von sich. Mit seinen eigenen Geräten allein gelassen, wird er verzweifelt und sucht Zuflucht in den Ablenkungen, die ihm das irdische Leben anbietet. Alkoholabhängigkeit ist ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Films und wird schließlich zu Thomas ‚wahrer Falle. Er verbringt jahrelang in einem Elfenbeinturm, aber sein Verstand ist das Gefängnis, dem ihm nicht entkommen kann. Seine jugendliche Neugier wird müde Erfahrung, und sein einst beeindruckender Intellekt wird mutwillige Unwissenheit. Nachdem Thomas die Höhen des menschlichen Lebens erlebt hat, beendet er seine Tage am niedrigsten. Dennoch weigern sich Roeg und Bowie, Thomas, gegen oder zugunsten, eine Haltung gegenüber zu nehmen. Das Duo hält Thomas ‚Reise so ehrlich wie möglich dar und malt eine einzigartige Darstellung von Sucht und Elend, die durch die absichtliche Mehrdeutigkeit des Films verstärkt wurde.
