Rediscovering 'The Man Who Fell To Earth.'

Over the weekend I watched The Man Who Fell To Earth three times. Twice it was just randomly playing on the TV when I woke up in the middle of the night and turned it on until I felt sleepy again. And the third was because after watching most of part of it twice I needed to see the whole thing from beginning to end.

I still think it's a criminally overlooked piece of cinema. There is a lot of great stuff in it, and yes the story feels a little fractured but if yo watch the original cut (and especially if you read the book) things make a lot more sense. But the movie is more about the feel f the moments, and the humanness (even the distant Bowie) of the characters. And it also captures a moment in time, a very '70s moment, despite it ostensibly being a science fiction film.

The other thing I discovered this time around is just how fabulous the soundtrack is. It's incredibly varied but every musical piece, even the ones meant to provide a visual / audio dissonance, fits the movie perfectly. It's too bad an actual soundtrack with a all the music was commercially released.

Also, sadly, it's long out of print. I have no idea what Criterion hasn't re-released it. Luckily I still have the DVD version, but I'd love to upgrade. If you have cable you can stream it on ENCORE. If you don't , come on over and I'll have a viewing!