Another Movie Guide

The Wrong Man Who Fell to Earth – Hitchcock and Roeg

I watched two films at home over the weekend. Saturday night’s Netflix DVD on my computer was THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH; Sunday’s DVD was THE WRONG MAN…two films made 20 years apart by two very different British directors. In one corner we have Nicolas Roeg, a man who never met a story he couldn’t twist and distort. In the other corner we have Alfred Hitchcock…the master of suspense. Born almost exactly 27 years apart, Roeg and Hitchcock both hailed from London, and shared a love for all things cinema…yet that is where their similarity ends.

By the time Alfred Hitchcock released THE WRONG MAN in 1956, he had already made over 40 films in 30 years time. A that point, the world knew what to expect from a new Hitchcock film…suspense, violence, intrigue, suspicion, murder, and a touch of his trademark dry humor. THE WRONG MAN has all of these things, and more. It’s actually a very unique film in the Hitchcock cannon…as it’s based on a true story, and was one of the rare Hitchcock films that do not include a cameo from the famous director (instead Hitchcock announces the film in shadow before it begins).

The plot of the movie is at once simple, and complex…In New York, a low-key musician, husband, and family man named Christopher Emanuel ‘Manny’ Balestrero (played by Henry Fonda) is accused of robbing various stores and insurance companies after he is identified by several witnesses…Despite many claims to his innocence, Manny is booked for assault and armed robbery, and locked up in jail. The rest of the film then focuses on Manny trying to prove his innocence and clear his name. Yet there’s much more to it than that. Never getting past his own childhood phobia of police officers…Alfred Hitchcock truly lets you experience all of the specifics of what it’s really like to be accused of a crime, interrogated, booked, fingerprinted and thrown in jail…all layered with a frightening Bernard Herrmann score, and Robert Burks’ realistic black and white cinematography.

You could feel Manny’s terror and anguish through each step of the incarceration process. Yet just when you think you have a complete handle on THE WRONG MAN, the story takes an unexpected turn…focusing on Manny’s wife, Rose (well played by Vera Miles), and the devastating effect that her husband’s arrest has on her. The story then becomes not just about clearing a man’s name…yet also about saving a family from destruction. THE WRONG MAN haunts and taunts you with its tension…taking its time to build up the various shades of the story. Though not as successful nor popular as Hitchcock’s other movies, THE WRONG MAN is no less great, and stands up with the best of them. I’d never been a Hitchcock fan before, yet I am learning….

In 1976, 20 years after THE WRONG MAN was released, Nicolas Roeg released THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH. Roeg had an illustrious past, having worked for years as a cinematographer and 2nd unit director for the likes of David Lean and Francois Truffaut before he directed his first film, 1970′s PERFORMANCE. By 1976, Roeg established himself as a director of dreams and nightmares. Like Hitchcock, Roeg also focused on suspense, violence, intrigue and murder…yet also adds sex as part of the equation.

In addition, instead of telling a linear tale to serve a great story or theme…Roeg choose to create a collage of scenes and sequences that feel more associated with the subconscious, rather than the conscious mind. It’s with this style in mind that Roeg made THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH…an oddball story about an alien from another planet who comes to Earth to help save his dying family. Our alien, who for some reason is British, calls himself Thomas Newton (perfectly cast David Bowie). Armed with alien technology, Newton makes his fortune holding the patents to several innovated products (such as instant developing film) and forms a billion dollar conglomerate with his business partner Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry).

Along with way, Newton meets a loquacious hotel worker (Candy Clark) who becomes his friend, lover and companion. Juxtaposed with Newton story is the story of Nathan Bryce (Rip Torn), a womanizing college professor who leaves his job to work for Newton’s company. Despite his enormous wealth, Newton has his mind on water…drinking it, being near it, and (perhaps) bringing it back to his dying desert planet to save his wife and two children. Yet something happens… his corporation becomes too big, overpowering the U.S. economy… and Newton gets sidetracked by booze, sex and television…As the years go by, his dream of seeing his alien wife and children once again fades into the distance.

At once fascinating, disturbing and confounding. THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH gives you glimpses into a warped tale, yet provides only just a taste of clarity. It’s not that the film’s story is shrouded in mystery…it’s just that the storytelling itself steers the viewer in tangled ways…never going where you want (or expect) it to. Like a typical Roeg film, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH is neither entertaining, nor necessarily enjoyable…yet it is interesting, and certainly worth watching.