The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Directed by Nicolas Roeg
Only David Bowie could be said to be typecast in the role of an aloof alien conquering the world through cultural innovations. Roeg’s typically impressionistic structure frames the extra-terrestrial’s benign invasion as War of the Worlds as written by Marshall McLuhan, in which the creature enchants humans with gimmicky technology while ultimately succumbing to the homegrown pathogen of television. The cutting stabilizes only when Bowie turns to stare at screens, his purpose receding in favor of the mind-numbing thrall of mass entertainment The fractured editing of Don’t Look Now embodied the cruel persistence of memory, but here it reflects the equally horrific consequences of forgetting. Jake Cole (May 7, 7:30 at BAM)