The Cracked Actor: Bowie on Screen

Overview

No matter what he's singing, or whether he's crooning tunes as Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane or The Thin White Duke, David Bowie has always been a talent like no other. That isn't just confined to his time behind the microphone, though. On-screen just like onstage, Bowie has always been inimitable, unique and iconic — and he has the filmography to show it.

Only two years back, a fantastic new documentary arrived about that very fact, actually — and Brett Morgen's Moonage Daydream is indeed part of the Gallery of Modern Art's new The Cracked Actor: Bowie on Screen film season. But that's just one of the program's delights, alongside a wide array of blasts from the legend's past that deserve to be seen on a big screen (with some showing on rare 35mm prints).

From Saturday, August 17–Saturday, October 5, playing each Saturday and on most Wednesday evenings, Brisbanites can discover why Bowie couldn't have been better cast in The Man Who Fell to Earth (the movie, not the recent TV series sequel). And, you can dance, magic dance along with Labyrinth, aka the 80s gem to end all 80s gems, plus one of the most wonderful things that Jim Henson has ever made.

Also on the bill: Bowie sinking his teeth into vampire territory in 1983's The Hunger, playing a centuries-old bloodsucker with effortless cool; Bowie heading to World War II with Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence; Bowie teaming up with Martin Scorsese for The Last Temptation of Christ; and Bowie entering a place both wonderful and strange in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

The program takes its name from 1975's documentary Cracked Actor, but features everything from The Prestige and Basquiat to Absolute Beginners and The Linguini Incident as well. Catch short film The Image and you'll see Bowie's first-ever on-screen role. And for a killer double feature, Moonage Daydream is followed by concert film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars on Saturday, August 31.