One decade ago, the world of music lost the great David Bowie. A true pioneer of alt-rock, Bowie wasn’t just one of the greatest musicians of the 1970s or 1980s, but of all time. Minor missteps with Tin Machine aside, Bowie’s discography is filled with classic after classic, and his sudden death in January 2016 from liver cancer, which he hid from fans and audiences, was shocking. Bowie was a true visionary, not just in the world of music but also in the world of film.
Like most major musicians, Bowie had a fairly healthy career in film, though his career was more extensive than most, featuring in several major films and television shows, over the course of four decades, many of which have gone on to become cult classics. As we look back on Bowie’s passing, let’s also appreciate his contributions to the world of film, many of which can be found on streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and HBO Max. If you’re longing to honor Ziggy Stardust and his legacy in the world, pay your respects with these five films.
Zoolander (2001)
Most of Bowie’s filmography is home to cult classics and underrated gems, but Zoolander is one of the few films he starred in that you can say was both a commercial and critical hit.
Zoolander sits alongside Dumb & Dumber (1994) as one of the greatest idiot comedies around, and for good reason. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson do wonderful jobs playing some of the dumbest human beings to ever exist on the planet, yet look completely cool at every opportunity. That’s what you would expect from a satire of the world of fashion, but seeing Bowie cameo as the judge in a walk-off fashion competition is the icing on the cake. He knows he’s a star and exudes a sense of class and style that makes him come across like a god amongst men. Bowie adds some legitimate star power to Zoolander, making it a comedy that Bowie fans and low-brow comedy enjoyers can have fun with, even if his appearance here is more of a cameo than anything else.
The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)
Few sci-fi movies are as experimental as The Man Who Fell To Earth. It was a film that could only have been made in the ‘70s and somehow was able to match Bowie’s strange and esoteric persona beat for beat.
While the plot of The Man Who Fell To Earth is straightforward on paper, you’d be remiss to think it’s more complicated than it is solely for its presentation. There’s an otherworldly aura that the film emits, which almost makes it come across like a transcendental experience, in the same way that 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) does. It can be a bit hard to follow solely because of how evocative the imagery is, which does limit its placement from being any higher, but it helps make the film feel like a lucid dream. You’re watching it, and then suddenly two hours and eighteen minutes have passed, and you have no idea why. The ‘70s were the decade of experimentation, and if you want to see the textbook definition of experimental sci-fi, Bowie’s debut performance more than clears that bar.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
While David Bowie would stand apart from his contemporaries thanks to his unique style, another David would be doing the same in the world of film. David Lynch is a director who needs little introduction, so it should come as no surprise to know that the two collaborated on Lynch’s magnum opus, Twin Peaks (1990-2017), specifically on the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Despite Bowie only being present in a handful of scenes, his portrayal of Phillip Jeffries was anything but conventional. In an already strange series, Jeffries is by far one of the series most puzzling characters, and that was before he turned into a giant tea kettle! Frankly, everything about Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is an enigma, and it’s clear that the film raises more questions than it answers, but that’s exactly what makes it so compelling. At its core, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is still easier to follow than The Man Who Fell To Earth, even if Bowie’s sequences may seem nonsensical. Similar to movies like Donnie Darko (2001), it’s a film that prioritizes mood and atmosphere above all else and delivers a surreal film that’s great if you want to get lost in a cacophony of strange sights and sounds.
The Prestige (2006)
There are a whole lot of moving pieces in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige. There are a lot of sleights of hand, tricks, lies, and death, and while Bowie appears in a relatively small role, it’s a role that is fundamental in understanding Nolan’s tribute to stage magic.
While Bowie is only present in a few minutes of the film’s two-hour and 10-minute runtime, he presents himself as more of a wizard than the magicians the film depicts. Using science and a somewhat cold and dispassionate delivery, Bowie presents Nikola Tesla as a man above the personal grievances that define the rivalry between Hugh Jackman’s Algier and Christian Bale’s Borden. The film would serve as his last major role before his death, but very much like his appearance in The Man Who Fell To Earth, Bowie would leave the world of acting with a character who seemed unreal and unnatural, perfectly befitting a man who was both in real life. Lovers of movies about magic like The Illusionist (2006) will easily find a lot to appreciate with how The Prestige delivers its magical tricks, but fans of Bowie will love it for how it reinforces Bowie as this uncanny, once-in-a-generation talent both on and off stage.
Labyrinth (1986)
If you had to think of one movie starring Bowie, chances are it’s Labyrinth. It’s by far his most popular role, and Bowie’s turn as the goblin king Jareth was simply iconic, and no, it wasn’t because of his wardrobe that left nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to the imagination.
What made Bowie’s performance in Labyrinth so endearing, even after all these years, was how much fun he clearly was having. Bowie wasn't the center of attention in The Prestige or Zoolander, but Labyrinth is clearly Bowie’s film. The film is dark, much like Henson’s previous work, The Dark Crystal (1982), but there’s also a sense of fun that Bowie brings to the performance. You can tell that Bowie is enjoying singing and dancing alongside Henson’s puppets, with Bowie himself even getting involved in the writing to make the film a little bit brighter and more comical. Without Bowie, Labyrinth would have been just another fantasy movie from the ‘80s. With Bowie's charismatic energy, Labyrinth is the perfect campy and fun fantasy movie ideal for both kids and adults, making it his best film.
