I braved the crazy rain storm this Saturday, hauling my ass to the Castro Theatre to see what I thought was just a screening of The Man Who Fell to Earth with a Candy Clark Q&A. What I got was SO much better.
My original movie cohorts were both under the weather, but happily I found out my friends Karekin and Anthony were also going to be there. So I got to sit with two of the most charming men you'd ever want to meet.
So what did I get besides a movie and a Q&A? I got an evening of fabulously awesome drag queens sharing their love of Bowie. Really anyone sharing their love of Bowie is pretty great, but when you think about what a role model/icon this man was for the LGBTQ community...pure gold.
It was parts sentimental and parts irreverent. Oodles of outfits and glitter and makeup...oh my! Just what you'd expect. There were a variety of performers, some were great; my favorite - a long time fave of A & K, apparently - was Veronica Klaus. She announced her songs by saying something about how she listened to Scary Monsters non-stop back in the day and her dad walked by her bedroom and said "I hope that's not what they're teaching you in school!" She swept her beautifully clad arm out, smirked and quietly said "And here we are". Kitten on the Keys also sang a song, which was lovely. I can almost forgive her for NEVER being able to announce Clandestine properly at Tease O Rama (Clandes-TINE). Some performers weren't so great. A choir did a really odd and semi-discordant rendition of "Life on Mars" after which Karekin and I looked at each other and grimaced.
The only disappointing part of the evening (aside from having to sit in wet clothes for 5 hours because of the storm) was the Q&A with Candy Clark. She is the female lead of the film (she was also in American Graffiti - nominated for Best Supporting Actress for that film.) and I discovered (thanks Internet!) that she was also sleeping with the director at the time. Her answers were pretty lackluster and not very well strung together, even though nearly all of them mimicked past interviews. Same anecdotes, different day. But the interviewer was HORRIBLE! Anthony, Karekin and I all agreed that interviewing is truly a skill and this guy completely lacked it. At one point, poor Candy couldn't even make heads or tails of his question and had to ask for clarification. Seriously dude?
Anyway, I'd never seen this film before...so here you have it.
The Man Who Fell to Earth - released in 1976
When first released, the film didn't do that great but over the years has obtained true cult status. Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 stars originally but 35 years later upped his rating to 3 stars. His reason for this was that filmmakers just aren't allowed to make films of this style anymore. Taking chances like that is frowned upon now.
And what is that style? The film is directed by Nicholas Roeg. He directed many films to varying degrees of success, but he started his career as a cinematographer and you can totally tell. The shots in this film are beautiful and expansive. Each composition conveys a lot of emotion, actually, whether it's a sprawling landscape with one broken down house breaking the emptiness or a claustrophobic shot of a New York high rise.
And you know what else is beautiful in this film? David Stinkin' Bowie. Holy shit. He's this gorgeous, stylish, swan-necked beauty. His skin is to die for - luminescent and flawless. Did that guy even shave? His hair is awesome - red with blond roots. And the eyes. Lord have mercy, the eyes.
This is his first acting role and he KILLS IT. I mean he is seriously amazing. Nuanced. Emotionless on the surface but fathomless underneath. The crazy thing I read is that he said he was high on coke the whole time this film was shooting. He felt that he was just being himself on coke and that's what was captured on screen. Damn. In an interesting bit of maybe revisionist history, there is an interview with Candy Clark much later where she maintains that he had been sober prior to and while making this film. Heh.
Buck Henry and Rip Torn (who was surprisingly hot in his youth. Also we see his weenie.) were both really good in this. Candy Clark was...okay, but I'm gonna say that I'm not a fan. I think a slew of other actresses could have done this role better. Sometimes it pays to sleep with the director.
The Man Who Fell to Earth is 100% a 70's movie. It's meandering, non-linear and parts, frankly, are just a bit confusing. There is a bunch of gratuitous nudity, which is kind of a 70's trademark, right? The alien costumes look like white scuba suits and the "space ship" Bowie leaves on is pretty much a trailer on a monorail. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad I saw it. It exemplifies, as Ebert said, how much filmmaking has changed over the years because of audience demand. You'd be hard pressed - post Star Wars - to find a sci-fi film with a slow pace and no space battles.
(My drink pairing for this film is a Beefeaters gin and tonic in a tall glass. The alien's drink of choice.)
My takeaways:
#1 - Candy Clark made some EXTREMELY questionable choices in husbands. She had two. Each lasted one year. One was a drug addict (who was also at one time married to Helen Reddy! I am woman!) and the other was Marjoe Gortner who was an actor and an evangelist (from when he was 4 years old, apparently). Google him. He's freaky.
#2 - The best way to see ANY movie is with a drag show opener.
#3 - I'm putting it out there that Nicholas Roeg is not my favorite director.
xoxo...hashtagSueslife
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