The Man Who Fell to Earth

The Man Who Fell to Earth marked David Bowie's debut in a leading film role, playing a beautiful and enigmatic alien who arrives on Earth in search of water to save his dying home planet. A landmark of alternative science fiction, the film brought together two visionary forces: Bowie and director Nicolas Roeg, one of the most distinctive filmmakers of the 20th century. Already acclaimed for bold works like Don’t Look Now (1973), Roeg was looking for someone who could embody Thomas Jerome Newton—a being who is both human and otherworldly, with an androgynous, fragile aura and a sense of alienation from the world around him.