Roeg. Though he’s not quite in his class, Roeg reminds me of Godard who had a great run and then fall off. He’s a supernova who burned brightly and died out quickly. Roeg worked as a top DP on many 1960’s British films (Far from the Madding Crowd, Petulia — worked on Lawrence and Zhivago but wasn’t DP) and then went on a run as director/auteur from 1970-1980 that gave him 2 of the best 163 films of all-time. He struggled in the 1980’s and then eventually couldn’t get work in the 90’s. Many auteurs on this list can’t match The Man Who Fell to Earth (a fascinating and striking film) as their third best. I wish his filmography had more depth but 5 of his 6 archiveable films make the top 100 of their respective decade.
Best film: Performance Somewhere between (from a time stand point, not quality) Persona and Mulholland Drive lies Performance—doppelgänger masterpieces. It’s a stunning debut that’s got all of the Roeg traits and when the “music video”— “memo from turner” –comes on… you’ll be blown away.
total archiveable films: 6
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 3 (Performance, Don’t Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth)
top 100 films of the decade: 5 (Performacne, Don’t Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bad Timing, Walkabout)
most overrated: None. The TSPDT consensus has his top 4 films all in the top 1000 and none of the 4 are overrated.
most underrated: The Man Who Fell to Earth is #965 on TSPDT that is entirely too low for a film this inventive and brilliant. I have it at #316.
gem I want to spotlight: Don’t Look Now. If you haven’t seen it I hate to say that it might take 2-3 viewings to fully appreciate this visual exhibition- at least it did for me. When you’ve had a chance to fully study it you’ll come to the conclusion that Don’t Look Now is one of the 10 most beautiful films of the 1970’s. The incredible and justifiably famous slow-motion opening will not slip past you.
stylistic innovations/traits: I’ll be the first to admit that those who say things like “ultimately it’s about the storytelling” and love movies for their quotes aren’t going to love Roeg. He’s a former DP and his photography is his essence. Don’t Look Now is the most picturesque of the 70’s horror masterworks. His films are elliptically and jaggedly edited (another Godard comparison) but brilliantly so— as his films are purposefully fragmented films. Roeg is a visual artist who seems to take pleasure wreaking havoc with conventional screen narratives. I think you could call “Memo to Turner” the first real music video (most would argue Lester in A Hard Day’s Night) but either way Roeg is synonymous with rock and roll (2 of his best 3 films star icons Mick Jagger and David Bowie), personality transformations (before Bunuel and Lynch), and drugs (and everything that comes with it including paranoia).
top 10
- Performance
- Don’t Look Now
- The Man Who Fell to Earth
- Walkabout
- Bad Timing
- The Witches
By year and grades
| 1970- Performance | MP |
| 1971- Walkabout | HR |
| 1973- Don’t Look Now | MP |
| 1976- The Man Who Fell To Earth | MS |
| 1980- Bad Timing | HR |
| 1990- The Witches | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Wonderful assessment of Roeg’s work.
@Finn- thanks for saying that- much appreciated
In that intro I’m surprised you wouldn’t compare him to Coppola as well (bright star that burned out quickly), especially considering they were contemporaries.
Drake have you seen Eureka (1983)?
@Harry- I have- but maybe 15 years ago- once and only once.
I like his 80s output a fair bit.
Bad Timing can be a tough film to watch at times but Roeg is firing off stylistic with his trademark editing.
Eureka and Castaway are also gems I feel. Eureka is big and ambitious, absolutely loaded cast and some beautiful imagery. Continues his fragmented puzzle-like narratives – Gene Hackman hates his son in law (Rutger Hauer) and the film just gives you a few pieces to work with narratively. The film is built from 3 parts: the There Will Be Blood like opening with Gene Hackman prospecting for gold in Alaska, then the Citizen Kane influenced part where Hackman is cooped up in his epic mansion on a beautiful tropical island, then the third part set in the courtroom where Rutger Hauer’s marriage and relationship to his father in law is dissected. The courtroom act could fall into the trap of just being wordy, but Roeg doesn’t let up his trademark zooms keeping the cinematic energy high.
Castaway is also really good. Opening credits are excellent – title cards phasing in and out with Oliver Reed setting up the film’s narrative by putting an ad in the paper, all while Kate Bush’s song for the film sweeps you in (Hans Zimmer also works on the soundtrack but it is not as memorable musically). Roeg pulls off two great magic hour shots that could be straight out of a Malick film. His greatest achievement is a very strong close-up shot of Oliver Reed’s fist, which leaves the frame to then focus onto a sea-bound boulder shaped like a hand – it’s a jaw-dropping moment from a master director. His editing creates that dream-like flow of the time passing which works well here. Ultimately its sorta like a marriage saga, the two leads learning how to live together in an enviroment that is completely new to them. They both give great dueling performances.
1. Walkabout – MP
2. Don’t Look Now – MS
3. The Man Who Fell to Earth – MS
4. Performance – MS
5. – Eureka – MS
6. Castaway – HR
7. Bad Timing – HR
8. The Witches – unranked
I really want to see Performance, Don’t Look Now and The Man Who Fell to Earth again as I think with a second viewing they can all go to masterpiece level.
@Harry – good stuff, I’ve seen 4 of the 8 films you have listed. His films are challenging and require being in a certain mood. If you really liked Walkabout I would recommend Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, gorgeous film set in Austrilia.
@James I have seen Picnic at Hanging Rock but I do not consider it a masterpiece or think it is terribly close to Walkabout’s level. I felt like what the film had going for it dropped off after about an hour and it doesn’t recover the excellent atmosphere it starts with.
@Harry – In what way do you think it drops off? The atmophere is consistent througout with a dream like vibe similar to Days of Heaven (1978). This is achieved both by the cinematography and score. Weir achieves this by using soft focus lens, blurred footage, and slow motion and uses soft focus lens to make the girls white clothing more noticeable. The white being a sign of purity, sexual repression is one of the films themes (similar to Campion). The location as character is similar to Antonioni’s Red Desert. An ominous score and low angle shots of the rock create a haunting atmosphere filled with constant dread.
@James I would have to watch it again to be sure, I just roughly remember the experience of my last watch.
@Harry – Tremendous add to the page here. Thanks for sharing this.
Rewatched Performance (1970), Quite audacious to go with something this experimental for a director’s debut film. You could certainly point out that something like say, Breathless (1960) was also a bold film in redefining genre rules. Except with Breathless there is at least an on the surface a linear conventional plot to follow whereas Performance is a film bound to be extremely polarizing and is extremely confusing. It seems that most aueturs will “play it safe” with their bebuts, going with something safe and conventional; think the Coen Brother’s with Blood Simple (film noir) or Mann with Thief (caper film). Credit to Roeg for this.
I noticed Insignificance (1985) did not make the archives. Have you seen this and just did not archive it? I’ve been on a Roeg spree (not full on study) and noticed this on Criterion Channel.
@James Trapp- Saw this one and did not archive it
question for anyone – I am strongly considering a Roeg Study after I finish PT Anderson. Are there any films beyond the 6 in the archives that anyone considers worthy of a viewing?
@James – you should see Eureka, its one of the most unique films I’ve seen in terms of structure and the opening is very similar to There Will Be Blood’s. Actually if you like TWBB I think you will be able to make many solid comparisons. Even the cast is appealing Gene Hackman, Rutger Hauer, Theresa Russell and Joe Pesci.
Castaway is really solid.
Remember that Roeg began as a cinematographer, Far from the Madding Crowd by Schlesinger is an excellent film and I think there’s a case for Roeg as an artist behind it.
I haven’t seen it yet but I’ve heard really good things about Petulia 1968 Directed by Richard Lester. It’s meant to be Roeg’s true debut and he had a lot of control over it I believe.
Roeg shot Fahrenheit 451 1966 Directed by François Truffaut if you didn’t catch that during Truffaut study
@Harry – thanks for the suggestions, I will definitely add Eureka. I did catch Fahrenheit 451 during my Truffaut study and was quite impressed, just checked I gave it a HR and was impressed by the use of orange and red in the mise en scene. Petulia 1968, has an impressive cast and even if its not directed by Roeg I think I’ll check it out even if not officially part of the study. I have actually seen all the Roeg films in the archives with the exception of The Man Who Fell To Earth. However, a recent revisit of Performance (1970) has sparked my interest in a more thorough look at Roeg’s work.
My ranking of Roeg`s films that I`ve seen:
1. Don`t Look Now MP
2. Performance MP
3. The Man Who Fell to Earth MS/MP
4. Bad Timing HR/MS
5. Walkabout HR
5 Best Performances
1. Bowie- The Man Who Fell to Earth
2. Sutherland- Don`t Look Now
3. Christie- Don`t Look Now
4. Fox- Performance
5. Garfunkel- Bad Timing
Performance (1970)
Notes:
Starts with overhead shot of black car driving on open road set to rock and roll song, this is cut back and forth with a sex sequence and montage using rapid editing; all of this is completely disorienting
James Fox as Chas, a London based gangster, who likes rough sex
5:02 rapid zoom out as car enters garage
7:07 low angle shot slightly tilted of a jury
7:44 intense music conveys sense of danger
8:03 extreme low angle shot of defense attorney arguing in court
10:24 close up shots of Chas staring down and threatening defense attorney
15:34 mise-en-scene with symmetrical shot with black and white framed pictures of boxer and a painting of a horse
15:55 impressive composition with a close up shot on back of Chas neck which is on in left side of frame in the foreground and a blurry right side of the frame with face in background; rapid edit with right side of frame showing Chas through mirror reflection
17:03 slow zoom in on Chas in blue tint followed by a series of shots with blue tint reminding me of shots from Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972)
22:09 great block with the bottom half of Harry’s face in foreground on the right side of frame and shot of his associate in background in center of frame
23:19 beautiful shot with deep focus and frame in frames, cut to red splatter resembling paint though it could be blood
25:05 vicious beating interspersed with sex montage similar to the one opening the film
25:18 dissolve edits to shot of open house with Mick Jagger in background
27:04 amazing zoom out from Chas’s face with gun in foreground and his head behind as he delivers fatal gun shot
33:53 editing back and forth between Chas and Mick Jagger character who is straying paint inside house
39:20 high angle shot of Chas; camera lingers longer than normal before Chas makes way to room
40:15 first shot of Anita Pallenberg’s character named Pherber, the right side of her face is obscured
44:38 sex montage with Pherber adn Mick Jaggar character who is named Turner, a reclusive rock star living in his Notting Hill flat
47:30 slow zoom out from white and black stone wall along bathtub leading to stunning composition with Turner and Pherber in bathtub in background while the foreground contains brown sugar on left side of frame amongst other objects
53:38 upside down shot with Turner in upper right-hand corner of the frame
55:45 overhead shot with camera spinning, disorienting
57:56 great blocking and depth of field with 3 characters, triangle composition
1:02:25 nice blocking of 3 characters faces
1:09:50 blurry image with frame in frames
1:10:00 Turner takes photo of Chas sitting by himself resulting in shot of two Chas’s shown in a holographic image
1:12:35 Turner playing guitar with blues song
1:20:15 triangle composition using mirror reflection
1:22:28 great composition with half of Chas face covered by mini mirror held up to his face by Pherber
1:25:41 stunning composition as frame split horizontally as mirror images of one another
Memo to Turner:
1:27:02 peep hole shot with rapid zooms leading to Turner sitting behind desk from earlier in the film
1:28:50 Turner in full control of room
1:31:00 back to Turner speaking with Chas
1:38:50 camera pans to right showing Harry’s thugs
1:42:00 score thumping leading to Chas shooting Turner and camera following bullet into Turner’s head
1:44:10 bookend with opening song playing again as a car travels across country roads
Thoughts:
Performance is a stylistic explosion as well as an all-time great doppelganger/split identity film joining the likes of Mulholland Drive (2001), Persona (1966), 3 Women (1977), The Servant (1963), amongst others
I have never seen another film that looks like this in terms of the editing; not only does it make use of frequent montages, but there are also rapid zooms, unconventional angles, overhead shots, and changes of colors in a frame
The Memo to Turner scene is just awesome and arguably one of the first music videos, Mick Jagger playing a bizzarro version of himself is just straight up genius
This is definitely not a film I would recommend to a non-Cinephile, apparently audiences at the time of release were annoyed with this film since they were expecting a conventional rock and roll film similar to The Beatles with A Hard Day’s Night (1968)
This film is all about atmosphere and style with little in the way of plot and it is all the better for it. The film creates an underworld that would be used by future directors such as Guy Richie and Quentin Tarantino. Half of the film takes place in this criminal underworld and the other half in this counterculture world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll
The compositions are really first rate with great blocking using close up and medium shots similar at times to Kurosawa, there are also shots that are mirror images of one another and shots where character’s faces are completely or partially obscured
The visuals are stunning, the infusion of music is amazing as well, the bizarre images are appropriately accompanied by equally ominous music
Mirrors, shots through glass windows serve as motif for this film which is largely about identity
I love the Rolling Stones, I mean who does not, but they are one of my 4 favorite bands of all time along with Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles
Verdict: MP
@James Trapp- Quite right on the Memo to Turner sequence
Walkabout (1971)
Notes:
Jenny Agutter as the girl
Luc Roeg as the white boy
David Gulpilil as the black boy
Starts with note explaining a “Walkabout” as a particular rite of passage for aboriginal Australians
Camera pans across city including high rise buildings and then into the classroom
The opening set to a strange audio, the score from John Barry, a British composer who is better known for doing the scores for several of the Bond Films
3:08 camera pans away from City to open landscapes of barren land
3:57 tree with wide outgrowth cover most of frame
4:08 low angle shot of beautiful apartment complex located along water
5:13 high angle shot of the two children swimming in a pool next to the water while the father overlooks from the balcony
5:33 elliptical editing from kitchen to the father and his two children sitting in car
6:41 extreme close up on lizard
8:08 lower angle camera setting as the girl places the food including Fresh fruit on a blanket out in a desert area
9:39 father out of nowhere starts shooting at his own children
11:14 father dies as car is set on fire
12:30 close up on ants eating fruit
12:44 camera pulls back as Jenny and brother walk forward
15:32 haunting dissolve of the boy and girls faces with the land
16 min beautiful imagery with dissolve edit as sunset during magic hour with purple/red/orange sky
18:50 camera pans across desert landscape
21:31 long shot of their walking through desert in background of the frame, strong orange/red/brown land
22:04 heads of boy and girl shown as small and insignificant compared to desert sand which takes up most of the frame
25:53 inverted shot of lone tree in desert, POV of the young boy
29:43 spectacular photography of distant sunset with eerie
30:05 museum quality painterly shot of red sky set along with eerie music
34:30 first shot of David Gulpilil as the black boy, he is hunting
36 min language differences as they ask for water
39:32 holographic images
40:23 montage of Gulpilil character hunting
41:36 hunting vs butchers chopping up meat
44:04 high angle shot from above tree
45:47 close up on face of characters with heavy blue tint leading to series of shots heavily hinting at sexualized thoughts
47:35 dissolve edits from Gulpilil character walking away camera in background of frame to far left of frame in one of the film’s most famous shots
47:38 shot that would appear on the films cover, Gulpilil character on left side of frame during sunrise
47:50 toy truck replaces thought of real truck
49 min shots resembling early scenes from Kubrick’s 2001
52 min shots capturing the 3 of them traveling in areas now with green grass filling out the frames as opposed to arid desert
56:28 nice foreground/background work
58:14 girl swimming in water with no clothes, followed with zoom out
58:35 another great dissolve edits, after zoom in on the boy
1:01:35 gorgeous silhouette image with intense orange frame
1:09:50 girl enters abandoned house, first time inside of house since early in film
1:11:56 strange multicolored glare in eyes of Gulpilil
1:12:06 frame in frames using doorway
1:14:44 brilliant composition using shadow and high angle
1:17:15 Hunters shooting buffalo followed by montage of various animals
1:18:30 freeze frames of various animals intercut with low angle shots of Gulpilil who is clearly upset by the impact of the hunters
1:20:30 camera slowly pans over various bones spread out in landscape
1:21:26 strange scene likely a mating ritual that bothers and upsets the girl
1:24:06 mating ritual continues as girl tries to ignore from inside house
1:29:04 the dead body of Gulpilil character is found by boy and girl hanging from a tree looking like a suicide, similar to incident with father there is strange lack of emotion
1:32:16 discover of houses
1:36:56 return to civilization with shots resembling opening only now the girl is a woman and is married
1:38:10 flash backs to sequences during the film
Thoughts:
Roeg shoots a beautiful looking film in the Australian Outback with many thematic interpretations including primitive vs civilization, failures in communication in modern society, colonization
The film can be described as an adventure film of sorts but one that is quite different in terms of mood and also due to a lack of conventional plot, the film makes no attempt to answer particular questions like the father’s bizarre actions early on
There is a cold detached mood present throughout the film, this stood out especially in the early scene where both the girl and boy did not seem very affected by their father’s attempts to kill them and his suicide after lighting his car on fire, in fact this entire scene is not really referred to or thought about for the rest of the film. The same can be said following the discovery of the dead body of the Gulpilil character who is found hanging from a tree looking like a suicide
While some may be bothered by it the detached mood makes the film very un-Hollywood as it is very non-sentimental and there is not a great deal of dialogue
Beautiful photography start to finish, but especially during scenes in the Australian Outback which comprises the majority of the runtime, great use of color in particular shades of reds and oranges during the daytime and blues during the night sequences
Eerie music at times reminiscent of Red Desert (1964)
I like the elliptical editing near the end which skips exactly how they get back to city and instead is years later with the girl now married and doing domestic chores as her husbands enters the kitchen after returning home from work, in fact there are shots from the last 5 min that are identical to first 5 min
Frequent use of zooms although not the rapid zooms that were used frequently in Performance, but slower zoom outs and zoom ins that are constantly altering the viewers perspective of the land
There are magnificent dissolves used throughout the film as well as silhouette images
Verdict: MS/MP
@James – love seeing that MP grade for Walkabout, I don’t have it in the same tier as Don’t Look Now or Performance but its a really strong work that I’m not sure why cinephiles underrate.
@Harry – Yeah, I was really impressed, there are few cinematically quiet stretches in this film. The dissolve edits are really first rate. I love how Roeg is constantly manipulating the surrounding landscape using zooms, montages, and constant changes in camera angles. He almost entirely disregards establishing shots which probably would be a much more conventional approach toward portraying the beauty of the Outback.
Don’t Look Now (1973)
Notes:
Starts with gorgeous painterly shot of pond with color palette of blues and grays during steady rainfall
Family of 4 with a young girl and boy
1:12 young girl in bright red coat walking toward pond, intercut with shots of young boy on bike
2:07 Shot of beautiful British Country House with pond, young girl in bright red coat in foreground stands out as the frame consists of grays/blues/green
2:10 camera zooms in and captures reflection shot in water
2:24 zoom out, Donald Sutherland character, John sits in study speaking with his wife Laura who is played by Julie Christie
3:09 John looks a photo under magnify instrument and notices person in red coat sitting inside a Church
3:18 camera captures young girl moving along shore by tracking inverted reflection in pond
3:32 tranquility of mood broken upon young boy riding his bike over piece of glass
5:11 girl in red captured submerges underwater and slowly sinks
5:52 thick red line spreading along foreground in low angle shot of religious building, probably a church, with glass window in background
6:00 Donald Sutherland character lifting daughter out of pond intercut with growing red line
6:08 slow motion of John lifting daughter out of pond, intercut with the thick red line spreading in Church
7:33 The film abruptly moves from England to Italy where John and Laura are trying to move on with their lives after the terrible tragedy
9:15 two older women in café looking over at the married couple
11:36 Laura and 2 women from table, one is blind, are shown in bathroom through the mirror with a strange woman in background
12:11 3 images of blind woman in the frame using mirror
12:28 dissolve edit
12:50 zoom in on raining over lake from opening of film
14:00 Laura is shocked when blind woman claims to be psychic and talks about Laura’s daughter
16 min Laura fainting in café following conversation in bathroom
17 min zoom out shot of water in Venice
19:20 John wearing dark blue suit
20:58 Laura in between flames of 2 candles in the foreground as they visit Church
25 min dark blue jacket stands out
27:55 mirror shows series of reflections, deep focus shot
30:30 famous sex scene shot with Roeg signature fragmented editing
34:05 shot of hotel lobby
35:35 silhouette image as the couple makes way through series of tunnels in Venice
36:23 deep focus captures girl in red after series of rapid zooms
38:18 John uncomfortable after spotting blind woman and her sister while atop a ladder
45:48 nice blocking with 1 head in foreground and 2 heads in background, perfect composition
47:37 series of shots create claustrophobic atmosphere with John traveling in maze like area with narrow pathways and random people appearing into frame
51:16 John tired of Laura’s growing fascinating with psychics and the idea that they can see Christine
58:10 eerie score as Laura departs on a boat back toward England
59:12 nice blocking with heads of 3 characters
1:06:20 Roeg fills out frame
1:07:21 slow zoom in out Laura’s body being removed from water
1:09:35 shaky camera as John tries to leave boat
1:15:35 slow zoom in on John talking to police
1:16:38 isolated profile shots of John and Inspector
1:20:17 beautiful shot of canal
1:20:38 silhouette image of detective following John, impressive framing with use of narrow
1:21:48 dissolve with reflection in channel of Christine inverted walking along pond
1:27:38 impressive pan along empty hotel room with ticking noise
1:37:42 ticking noise returns as zoom out shows John in room with psychics
1:41:00 reflection of person in red dress
1:41:22 John sees reflection of Christine in water followed by John chasing after her
1:42:37 multiple frames in frames
1:45:05 the horrifying reveal and montage of shots from earlier in film that can now be reinterpreted
Thoughts:
The opening 7 minutes are a film in and of itself, Roeg uses 102 shots in the opening sequence which depicts the tragic death of the couple’s young daughter Christine, so much information is present in these opening 7 minutes that will make sense later
What makes this film so effective I believe is the perfect marriage of form and style with genre; the concept of déjà vu is a frequent Horror Film trope and Roeg creates an entire film centered around this with his trademark fragmented editing. This creates a puzzle of sorts that does not make sense for much of the film and even after is still confusing
The film has the Roeg style, but it also has many conventional horror tropes; the rational man who rejects supernatural explanations, a grieving couple with different approaches to dealing with their grief, skeptical police, an abrupt and shocking ending, etc.
The film uses a color palette consisting of blues and grays much of the time which achieves two purposes; it contributes to the somber atmosphere, and it sets up an opportunity for a noticeable contrast for the sequences containing red
The “chase” scene contains not only great editing but also framing as Roeg uses narrow alleys near the water/canals to experience the same sense of disorientation that Sutherland’s character is going through as he desperately tries to make sense of what is happening around him
Water serves as a crucial motif during the film, the murky pond where Christine drowns in the opening scene to the canals of Venice
The infamous sex scene probably does not really shock audiences today the same way it did 50 years ago but the fragmented editing makes it memorable none the less
There are some similarities to Dario Argento Giallo films even if the violence is limited to just one final scene, you also have the Italian Police Inspectors who are somewhat dismissive and a little suspicious toward Sutherland’s character who is a “fish out of water”
Funny enough Criterion just announced a release date for Don’t Look Now (1973) in a few months, it was previously a Criterion film until it went out of print, they are now offering a 4K version
Verdict: MP
Excited to check out The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) next but man what a ridiculous start to a career. I have his first 3 films
Performance – MP
Walkabout – MS/MP
Don’t Look Now – MP
auteurs who started their careers with comparable quality of first 3 films
Francois Truffaut (the greatest first 3 films in Cinema History
The 400 Blows – MP
Shoot the Piano Player – MP
Jules and Jim – MP
Terence Malick (the 2nd greatest first 3 films in Cinema History
Badlands – MP
Days of Heaven – MP
The Thin Red Line – MP
PT Anderson
Hard Eight – R, even with this being a simple R the 2 below are so great that they make up for this
Boogie Nights – MP
Magnolia – MP
Orson Welles
Citizen Kane – MP
The Magnificent Ambersons – MP
The Stranger – R even with this being a simple R the 2 a are so great that they make up for this
Jean-Luc Godard – MP
Breathless
A Woman is a Woman – I haven’t seen this yet so just going on reputation
Vivre sa vie – MS
Quentin Tarantino
Reservoir Dogs – MS/MP
Pulp Fiction – MP
Jackie Brown – MS/MP
Perhaps I’m missing 1 or 2 but regardless, starting a career with 3 films this great is rare
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Notes:
Starts with bright orange flickering resembling a fire followed by an object which appears to be moving into planet, earth, from outer space
1:44 slow motion following unknown object which is soon revealed to be an alien who looks human played by David Bowie
2:02 slow zoom
2:48 overhead shot
3:34 dissolve edit
5:20 slow zoom out showing Bowie character upside down
7 min Bowie character goes by Thomas Jerome Newton
7:49 beautiful shot with silhouette outline with intense orange sunlight and rainbow glare on bottom left of the frame
10:06 extreme close up on Bowie’s face with shadow over left eye
12:55 nice skyline shot at night
18 min bizarre sequence with man and woman having sex is intercut with Bowie character sitting around an Asian woman performing ritual
20 min dissolve edit
23:16 beautiful dissolve
32:16 dissolve followed by zoom out from painting
36:08 blue/purple tinted frame
41:13 Bowie character watching 5 or 6 TVs at the same time
42:24 great shot showing disconnect between 2 characters a la Antonioni, there is some nice background/foreground work as well
43:41 low angle shot of Bowie
43 min window as frame
44:05 mirrors are frequent Roeg motif
48:15 overhead shot of car moving through open highway
49:12 Bowie character recalls area as shots from earlier in the film are repeated
58 min sex sequence between Bowie character and his love interest
59:00 close up double profile shot
1:01:16 now he’s watching up to 9 TVs at the same time
1:08:30 beautiful shot inside space vehicle, great blue/gray used in mise-en-scene
1:09:37 great framing of characters faces
1:15:15 dissolve edit to location appearing to be on foreign planet
1:18:00 montage of foreign planet followed by zoom in and dissolve edit to the American Flag and inside government building
1:23:28 triangle with 3 images of Bowie, 2 are mirror reflections
1:25:15 image of Bowie character with no hair on head or body and yellow eyes horrifies girlfriend
1:25:53 beautiful dissolve edits using red and blue tints, showing various transformations
1:31:44 shot of Bowie’s character on home planet saying goodbye to wife and 2 children, shot then dissolves into desert on Earth
1:33:28 zoom out with Bowie character speaking to Doctor Nathan Bryce
1:38:00 montage of public focus on the knowledge of Bowie’s character with various voiceovers from TV news reporters and radio shows, etc.
1:39:01 beautiful shot with holographic image of spaceship
1:42:44 slow motion fall intercut with various slow-motion scenes
1:49:38 the 3rd Man playing on TV
1:57:30 montage of sex and firing of an actual gun; blue strobe light blinking throughout
2:04:10 montage of Bowie’s character in restraints at hospital unit
2:09:32 dissolve edit
2:09:46 frame in frame
2:09:58 tracking shot in profile view
2:10:33 Bowie walking down empty hallway as clock ticking noise is accentuated
2:11:31 Bowie walking down empty street
2:14:10 camera tilts up toward sky then moves to shot which a quickly dissolves
2:17:57 an abrupt ending
Thoughts:
Similar to his other films Roeg uses dialogue sparsely for long stretches of time, here particularly early on in the film
Zoom outs used effectively as Roeg focuses on object and then zooms out to bring additional context to the shot. The dissolve edits are used effectively, particularly in changes of locations
The film gets off to a slow start, the pacing picks up after the 1st 45 minutes or so. Many of the best shots come after this period as well.
A montage of sex and a firing of a gun is brilliant, Roeg uses several great montages in this film
There are some great Antonioni style shots with 2 characters sharing a frame but with body language indicating a disconnect of sort, the character study aspect of the film seemed to focus on this as the Bowie character becomes progressively more disconnected as the film moves forward
I love British rock and pop music from the 60s and 70s but had not listened to much from Bowie previously, not due to dislike but rather just had not gotten around to it so making up for that this past week and it’s amazing. Pretty much all my favorite rock stars are British, and from that particular era.
Despite the impressive visuals, particularly in the 2nd half, the film does stagnate at times, and I think could have trimmed off some of the scenes. Obviously Roeg is not for everyone, but I actually think Roeg should have committed further to the narrative revolving around Bowie’s character and his original mission of bringing water to his native planet or instead focus more on the film as a character study. I think Roeg goes sort of halfway at times which is one major reason why I don’t think it is quite at the level of his first 3 films but still very strong
Verdict: HR/MS
Bad Timing (1980)
Notes:
Starts with art collage then silhouette images of Art Garfunkel who plays the character Alex Linden and Theresa Russell who plays Milena Flaherty
2:18 inside ambulance
2:50 nice doorway frame
5:12 red splatter and quick zoom out shows the red is simply the red paint on the exterior of an ambulance
5:58 crosscutting of Alex and Milena
6:30 quick zoom out shows Milena flirting with man at party
11:53 zoom in on over the shoulder shot from Alex POV during interview with Inspector after overdose
12:40 Harvey Keitel character introduced in shot through hospital window followed up with zoom out
15:30 shot inside art Museum with left side of frame with different depth of field
15:54 close up on image in Art Museum similar to shot from film’s opening
21:10 low angle shot of Keitel character who is playing Police Investigator
22:08 face to face shot with 2 characters taking up entirety of frame
29 min heavy use of red in mise en scene in dance club including scene with stripper
30:27 cut back to scene in hospital is noticeably contrasted with gray and blue color palette
32:14 zoom in on water dissolves to sex sequence
34:07 overhead shot of lovers in bed smoking cigarette
36:21 white and red crucial to mise en scene
47:47 Antonioni like positioning to emphasis character disconnect with Alex and Milena positioned on opposite ends of frame looking in different directions
49:02 low angle shot from Alex POV lying in hospital bed
49:33 zoom in on red
58:08 rough sex sequence which makes an interesting contrast with the sex scene in Don’t Look Now, it has same fragmented editing as Don’t Look Now but is far more intense as it features rough and violent sex instead of the tender one in Don’t Look Now
1:03:40 great zoom out followed by doorway frame
1:11:18 fragmented sex scene
1:14:08 slow 360 camera plan around hospital bed
1:14:50 zoom out followed out by window frame
1:18:16 change to shallow focus
1:24:16 nice blocking
1:31:40 split diopter shot
1:36:07 laid back vibe at Jazz Bar
1:37:35 shallow focus, cutting and back with Alex and Investigator inside car
1:39:16 great low angle shot of Alex from his shoulders up in the foreground after being dropped off in the city at night
1:40:02 I love the mise en scene here with a messy and scattered bedroom that paradoxically feels like meticulously assembled frame
1:46:06 nice blocking of faces with Alex looking opposite direction of Inspector
1:48:05 Alex and Milena on purple bed followed by another strange montage
1:57:57 dissolve edit
1:59:12 great series of rapid shots ending of Milena walking away from Alex
Thoughts:
Roeg uses a flashback structure to illustrate the intense relationship between the films 2 main characters and how they arrived at Milena’s suicide attempt
This film seems to be polarizing in terms of its critical response and I can see why some found this tasteless although I found plenty to be impressed by, there are some similarities of later Polanski films which focus on the complexity of human sexuality and societal power structures between men and women
Thematically some similarities with Antonioni regarding disconnect between characters and ennui, the film has a slow pace and much of the conflicts are character’s internal conflicts creating a sense of non-plot related mystery
Red is frequently featured in mise en scene, red often used to represent passion
3rd Roeg film along with Performance and Don’t Look Now that features sex scenes with fragmented edits and with intense and even violent scenes puts it closer to the scenes in Performance
Verdict: HR
The Witches (1990)
Notes:
Starts with camera gliding over snow filled mountains in Norway
2:20 shot of village with voice over talking about witches followed by zoom in on house in village and we see woman named Helga and her 7-year-old grandson
4:13 zoom in on young girl named Erica who is in grandmothers’ story
11:33 zoom in and slow dissolve edit
12:06 police car shows with bad news, the boys parents were killed in car accident
14:30 low angle shot of boy atop tree house and change to high angle shot of woman below near base
14:50 woman removes sunglasses and has purple eyes that quickly change to brown, this same woman shortly after takes out a large snake
24 min Rowan Atkinson aka Mr. Bean makes an appearance, good choice as he’s a comedian with appeal to different ages
26:35 close up on Anjelica Huston’s face as she sits in dining room
28 min series of nice interior shots of ballroom with red in mise en scene
29:08 strong use of frame as a group of women walked into the room that is soon revealed as a Witches Convention with Anjelica Huston’s character as the head Witch
31 min exterior layers of skin and hair are removed as we see The Witches are presented in their authentic form, its very disturbing
46:40 rolling baby carriage rolling down hill
47:05 sweeping pan across beach shore followed by zoom in on Luke
48:30 strong use of wide lenses in this great composition with witches completely filling frame
48:40 low angle shot from Luke POV of witches standing above followed by the best sequence of the film so far with the use of distorted shots, spinning camera, use of green lighting, and of course zooms
50 min Luke transforms into mouse
52:54 low set camera at a slightly canted angle
57:32 another low angle shot on a slightly canted angle
1:09:39 rapid zoom in and window frame
1:09:57 low angle shot with head taking up most of frame
1:17:00 another impressive POV shot from Bruno/mouse with shaky camera
1:18:57 low angle POV shot as Bruno’s parents look down in horror upon Bruno speaking as the mouse
1:19:38 green smoke in background of frame and red in foreground
1:21:00 sequence with frequent cuts as all of the previous order breaks loose upon discovery of Bruno as talking mouse and revelation of the Witch Convention
Thoughts:
Roeg goes with a horror/fantasy film
There are several low angle shots with slightly canted angles which seems fitting for a film set largely through POV of child, there is also the convention scene with Luke discretely watching on underneath a table like a kid playfully hiding from their parents
The editing is not as inventive or interesting as the prior films I’ve covered in this study but still has some nice dissolve edits
There is some shaky camera used here and canted angles, many shots use wide lens
I like the use of color, green gases, purple eyes of the witches, and frequent use of red throughout
The costumes are effective in giving the witches a disturbing look, according to Anjelica Huston’s memoirs “the elaborate makeup effects for Huston’s Grand High Witch took six hours to apply, and another six to remove
Verdict: R/HR
Final Ranking and Grades:
Study Summary:
Nicolas Roeg has a distinct style that is uniquely his own and that is definitely a sign of high praise for an auteur. Of the 6 films in this study, I am not sure you could call any of them conventional, even the ones with clear genres; Don’t Look Now is obviously a horror film but an unconventional one
This was a challenging Study as watching a Nicolas Roeg film is more like a puzzle than your typical viewing experience. However, like most challenging tasks there is a particular satisfaction upon completion; this is not to say that the Roeg study was not enjoyable because it was, it’s just that Roeg’s films don’t go down easy like say The Coen Brothers or Tarantino
Roeg uses zooms frequently and in a way consistent with his puzzling visual style as he will show an image and follow up with zoom out as a way of showing an image and then providing context for that image
I actually posted the following on the Roeg page about a year ago in reference to Performance (1970):
“Quite audacious to go with something this experimental for a director’s debut film. You could certainly point out that something like say, Breathless (1960) was also a bold film in redefining genre rules. Except with Breathless there is at least an on the surface a linear conventional plot to follow whereas Performance is a film bound to be extremely polarizing and is extremely confusing. It seems that most auteurs will “play it safe” with their debuts, going with something safe and conventional; think the Coen Brother’s with Blood Simple (film noir) or Mann with Thief (caper film). Credit to Roeg for this.”
Roeg films reward multiple viewings, especially Don’t Look Now (1973) given all of its foreshadowing and clues revealed early on
There is a cool detachment with Roeg, his films are often extremely unsentimental, and his characters often show little emotion, for example in Walkabout the girl and her younger brother seem almost completely unaffected following their father trying to kill them and after failing to do so killing himself
Thematically there are similarities with Antonioni as Roeg’s films amongst other things focuses on the human condition and the way people deal with tragedy or difficult situations and really just the disconnect and communication failures in moder society, Walkabout illustrates the ladder as the indigenous boy and the British girl have trouble understanding one another. The Man who Fell to Earth illustrates these issues even more with a character who is literally an alien who struggles in maintain relationships. Bad Timing looks at a man and younger woman who use sex to give their life’s meaning
Obviously, Francis Ford Coppola is on an entirely different level but there is a strong case to be made for Nicolas Roeg as the 2nd best director of the 1970s with 3 MP level films
I have Roeg with 2 clear cut MP. I have Don’t Look Now in the top spot followed by Performance but there is very little separating the two. Between the 2 of them they feature the 2 best Roeg scenes. Performance has the Memo from Turner scene and with Don’t Look Now Roeg has that opening 7 minutes which is one of the most spectacular edited sequences in any film, it’s a film within a film really
Dialogue is not one of Roeg’s strengths which is fine as he for the most part is able to keep you mesmerized with the visuals that it does not hurt his films too much with occasional exceptions, I thought The Man Who Fell from Earth suffered a bit from some quiet stretches with little happening both cinematically and narratively
Here are my Final Grades and Rankings
MP
# 1 Don’t Look Now (1973)
# 2 Performance (1970)
MS/MP
# 3 Walkabout (1971)
HR/MS
# 4 The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
HR
# 5 Bad Timing (1980)
R/HR
# 6 The Witches (1990)
@James Trapp – great work here yet again- love getting these updates. Thank you.
“I’ll be the first to admit that those who say things like ‘ultimately it’s about the storytelling’ and love movies for their quotes aren’t going to love Roeg.”
Perhaps the quotes part, but otherwise I’m not sure I agree. (I certainly don’t equate movie quotes with storytelling, however. Seems like an odd connection to make.) I’m one who looks at films more holistically and finds your extreme emphasis on visual aspects of cinema misguided. However, I like Roeg’s work a lot. I’ve only seen three of his films, Don’t Look Now, Walkabout, and The Man Who Fell to Earth, but I think his visuals usually enhance the storytelling and meaning of his films. The editing style can be jarring, but in a way that adds layers of meaning to his movies and enhances the understanding of the characters and narrative. I think it works better sometimes than others, but whereas, eg, I have a problem with Godard’s use because it usually feels random and arbitrary and doesn’t add to the film, Roeg’s feels intentional and additive, not just a gimmick or ostentatiousness. It’s in service of the film as a whole.
@extramsg- Thank you for continuing to come to the site and comment despite the differing opinions on what the essence of cinema art is here. You set up a bit of a straw man here with “extreme emphasis” comment – but hey- I’d call your approach short-sighted or shallow, so I get it – it stems from that root difference of opinion. But glad we can both appreciate the work of Roeg despite those differences.