David Bowie always had an otherworldly quality, even when he wasn’t staying up all night playing with synthesizers and living off of a diet of green peppers and whole milk. When he was, the effect created by his long, thin limbs, white skin, and one eye permanently dilated from a childhood accident — contrary to popular belief, Bowie did not have heterochromia — was downright alien. That made the chameleonic rock ‘n’ roll legend the ideal lead for one of the ‘70s most enigmatic sci-fi films.
The Man Who Fell to Earth — which you can sing to the tune of Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” if you like; the syllables are the same — is based on a 1962 novel by Walter Tevis, who also wrote the source material for the Paul Newman film The Hustler and the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit. This fact becomes apparent early on in Nicolas Roeg’s film adaptation, which follows the plot of Tevis’ novel beat by beat while keeping the characters’ internal monologues and motivations private. As a result, it can feel like the film is keeping secrets from its audience, which is both frustrating and appropriate to the story.
