The story was irresistible: A group of men (eventually joined by a teenage girl) escape from a vicious labor camp in Stalin's Gulag and make their way, on foot, to the safety of India, traveling through Siberia, the Gobi, and the Himalayas - a distance greater than the length of America.
Director Louis Malle made his feature debut in 1958 at age 24 with Elevator to the Gallows (The Criterion Collection; Movie •••½, Picture/Sound •••½, Extras •••½), a coolly controlled tale of a murder plot gone awry.
Nicolas Roeg's 1976 film THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (The Criterion Collection; Movie •••½, Picture/Sound •••, Extras ••) is a poetic, visually resplendent work that gains resonance with repeat viewings. David Bowie (below) is the alien on a mission to save his dying race.
